Zagreb, (IKA) – The Presidency of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) met in session at the Residence of the Archbishop of Zagreb on Monday, June 8, with the president of the CCEE, Archbishop Péter Erdö of Esztergom-Budapest presiding. The other participants were the two vice presidents of the CCEE, the host, Archbishop Cardinal Josip Bozanić of Zagreb and the president of the French Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Cardinal Jean Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, together with the general secretary of the CCEE, Fr. Duarte da Cunha. The main topic was the preparation of the program for the plenary session of the CCEE, to be held from October 1 to 4 in Paris. Current issues in Europe were also discussed. The president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences issued a statement from the session following the elections for the European Parliament, as follows:
“The Presidency of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE)
sends its best wishes to the new Parliamentarians elected to leading
roles within the European Parliament. To the new Parliamentarians is entrusted the task of making the Union a more just society founded on respect for human rights, the dignity of the person, mutual cooperation, solidarity and subsidiarity, justice and the defense of life. If the Union is able to provide just answers to the concerns and hopes of the European citizens, it will be able to respond to its original calling. Gathered here in Zagreb, we hope that soon Croatia, too, will be able to be part of the European Union. To the Council of the European Episcopal Conferences belong, as members, the current 33 European Episcopal Conferences of this Continent, represented by right by their Presidents, and the Archbishops of Luxembourg and of the Principality of Monaco and the Bishop of Chisinau (Moldavia). The President is Cardinal Péter Erdö, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Primate of Hungary; the Vice-Presidents are Cardinal Josip Bozanić, Archbishop of Zagreb, and Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux. The General Secretary is Fr. Duarte da Cunha. The Secretariat is based at St Gallen (Switzerland).”