At the first audience for the Presidency of the EU Council of Bishops COMECE, these tensions were one of the topics discussed, as was reported at a subsequent press conference.
The Italian Bishop Mariano Crociata, Chairman of COMECE, spoke of the "difficult situation" in which the EU finds itself in the face of President Donald Trump's policies, which is "a cause for concern" for the bishops. Other topics included populism, current wars and defence issues.
With regard to the Russian-Ukrainian war, Lithuanian Bishop Rimantas Norvila explained that the bishops had expressed their concern to the Pope that this war was affecting the whole of Europe. They had spoken about the desire for peace and possible ways to achieve it.
According to Bishop Crociata, Leo XIV expressed his concern in the conversation that the weakest members of society and the poor would have to pay the price of a possible arms race.
Do not deny Christian roots
After the meeting, the President of the Nordic Bishops' Conference, Bishop Czeslaw Kozon, told the Vatican News portal that Leo XIV had called on the bishops to enable young people and children to have a "living encounter with Jesus".
In a pluralistic society, it was important not to deny the Christian roots. For Pope Leo XIV, this was a question of identity - and the future viability of Europe.
According to Vatican News, the bishops also spoke with the Pope about the topics of migration and aid for refugees. They also discussed secularisation in Europe and relations between the state and the Church.
A special topic was the "emerging demands in some EU countries for the deletion of entries from baptismal registers".
According to COMECE, the Vice-Presidents of the Council, Antoine Hérouard (Dijon), Rimantas Norvila (Vilkaviskis), Nuno Brás da Silva Martins (Funchal) and Czeslaw Kozon (Copenhagen) took part in the meeting in the Apostolic Palace together with Crociata.
They were accompanied by Secretary General Manuel Barrios Prieto and his assistant Alessandro Calcagno as well as the Pope's Ambassador to the EU, Bernardito Cleopas Auza.
The COMECE Presidium meets with the Pope once a year in the Vatican.
A meeting with Pope Francis scheduled for February had to be cancelled due to his illness at the time.