Sunday, January 15, 2017

Malta: prelate sees renewed hope for EU as Church identifies 3 ‘normative objectives’

Representatives of the bishops’ conferences of the European Union met with Malta’s prime minister on January 6 as Malta began a six-month term presiding over the Council of the European Union—that is, the EU legislature’s upper house.

“Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union offers our nation the opportunity to give a strong impetus to revitalizing faith in the European project,” said Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta.

The Church in Malta published an 11-page reflection for the occasion, focusing on the single European market and social inclusion, energy efficiency and climate change, and migration.

The document stated:
Both the Catholic Church and European Christian Churches (CEC) identify three important normative objectives: a return to the values of the founding fathers of the European Union, the need to solve common problems together building on the Member States’ shared history, and to look at the European project as being more than just a common market.