COMECE - At the beginning was the Idea

Content:

At the beginning was the Idea

At the beginning was the Idea, the grand plan for peace of the Founding Fathers of Europe - actually building this area so often dreamed about of reconciled nations, joined together by consensus with due consideration for their own peoples and the Christian values that unite them. But the road to achieving this Idea was not always smooth and trouble-free. The Church offered her support to the building of Europe as it took its very first steps. In 1950 Pope Pius XII welcomed the Schuman Declaration with enthusiasm and in 1957 he hailed the signature of the Treaties of Rome as "the most important and significant event in the modern history of the Eternal City."

The little COMECE ...

In 1979, the European Parliament's first elections with universal suffrage opened up new horizons. The Bishops' Conferences focused their attention on the European Community. On 3 March 1980, with the approval of the Holy See, a college of bishops created COMECE to monitor and provide assistance in European policy-making. This was organised with great daring in the spirit of the Vatican II Council and following the principle of supranationalism. Once established in the avenue Père Damien at the SIPECA offices, COMECE began to explore its new environment.

...grows up

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the upheaval in the institutions foreseen by the application of, first the Single European Act, then the Treaty of Maastricht, obliged the new European Union to rethink its identity and the meaning of its construction. Jacques Delors' instinct led him to call upon the Churches, among other instances de sens, to take part in the European debates. A dialogue - chaotic at times, but no less rich for that - was started up between the competent religious bodies and successive Commissions. There COMECE took its seat at the table, becoming increasingly active over the years. Under the aegis of personalities such as Mgr Homeyer (Hildesheim), President from 1993 to 2006, and Mgr Treanor, General Secretary from 1993 to 2008, COMECE underwent some deep-seated changes in its organisation and operating methods.

Search

Content:

At the beginning was the Idea

The little COMECE ...

...grows up