CATHOLIC bishops are waiting to see the details of guarantees on the Lisbon treaty before indicating their position on it, Most Rev Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, has said. The bishops were criticised during the last treaty referendum for delaying their response and for failing to endorse the document.
However, Archbishop Martin said the Catholic Church would not be telling Irish voters how to vote in the referendum, expected to be held in October.
He would not say how the Church stood on the document or whether they will make a statement when the guarantees are finalised at an EU summit in June.
"A lot will depend on the way in which these protocols, or whatever they are going to be called, are negotiated and if they provide the clarity that people feel, that we feel, are necessary," he said after a meeting of Church representatives with the presidents of the European Parliament and commission in Brussels.
Dr Martin would not say what clarifications the Church wanted, saying they have been analysed following the outcome of the last vote rejecting the treaty.
"I believe it is probably a good idea not to begin the debate until there is some clarity in the Irish Government and the other partners," he said.
Archbishop Martin said he would be very careful about actually telling people how to vote, and emphasised that bishops respect the rights of people to vote whatever way they choose.
But as Ireland needed Europe, he believed that Europe needed Ireland. "Ireland has been extremely pro-European in a very positive way. We do not need a Europe of just the powerful countries, we need the contribution that is very varied that comes from different backgrounds and that would also include a religious background."
Archbishop Martin’s statement before last year’s vote talked about the need for a Europe of values and regretted that there was no explicit recognition of the Christian heritage of Europe in the treaty.
European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering said that dialogue with religious groups would be mandatory under the Lisbon treaty.
Archbishop Martin was among a group of Christian, Jewish and Islamic representatives discussing ethics and the economic crisis.
He said that the Irish Government must ensure poorer people do not suffer unjustly in its recovery programme and added that education must be provided to ensure a future for all strata of society.
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