European Bishops to elect new President of COMECE

Delegates of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union will gather in Brussels on 7-9 March 2018 in order to participate to the 2018 COMECE Spring Plenary Assembly. They will elect a new President and four Vice-Presidents.

The EU Bishops will elect the new President of COMECE for a mandate of five-years covering the period 2018-2023. The future President will succeed to H. Em. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who held the reins of COMECE for two terms and, among other things, drove the process of the (Re)Thinking Europe Dialogue.

Delegates will have to elect among them members of their new presidency reflecting the diversity of cultures prevailing within the European Union.

Parallel to the new presidency, the Bishops will also elect the Chairmen of the COMECE Commissions on Social AffairsLegal Affairs and External Relations of the EU. The Plenary Assembly will also have to vote on the mandates of the three COMECE Commissions as well as on the Working Groups on Migration and Asylum and on Ethics.

In addition to the elections, this closed-doors meeting will allow COMECE Bishops to discuss reports from the Secretariat on recent activities and to dialogue with high ranking officials on future EU challenges.

In this perspective, H.Em. Mgr. Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States within the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, will address them on the 7th of March, and Ms. Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will brief the Assembly on the Geopolitical challenges for Europe on the 9th of March.

On Wednesday 7th of March, COMECE and the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU will host a farewell reception in honor of H. Em. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, with the participation of Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the EU Commission.

www.comece.eu