Catholic World News

Cardinal Marx laments European election results

May 28, 2014

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, the president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community, lamented the results of the May 22-25 European Parliament elections in which nationalist and “euroskeptic” parties gained ground.

“A matter of concern is the significant increase of support for parties which reject the project of European integration,” said Cardinal Marx, who also serves as a member of Pope Francis’s Council of Cardinals, coordinator of the Vatican’s new Council for the Economy, and president of German Bishops’ Conference.

“A number of them were even able to secure a majority of votes in some Member States including France, Denmark and the United Kingdom,” he continued. “Some of these parties are not only populist but nationalistic and xenophobic. Such positioning is unacceptable for Christians and is a threat to the peaceful coexistence of the peoples of our continent.”

“Europe is and remains, despite any criticisms on some specific points, a project of peace and reconciliation and as such is accompanied and supported positively by the Catholic Church,” he added.

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