Vatican foreign minister opposes Brexit

THE VATICAN Secretary of State for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, has weighed into the EU membership debate saying that Britain is “better in than out”, writes Megan Cornwell.

In an interview with ITV News at the Apostolic Palace, the Liverpool-born archbishop told Julie Etchingham that the Holy See respects the decision of the British people, but leaving the EU “is not going to make a stronger Europe”.

A spokesperson from the Leave.EU campaign told The Tablet: “What has Archbishop Gallagher to say to the 23 states that are not in the EU – including of course the Holy See itself? His intervention will not influence a single vote, indeed it might be counterproductive and convince some that Church and state are best kept separated and there are times when the Vatican would be better keeping its counsel.”

A spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said Archbishop Gallagher was expressing the Holy See’s view that Britain is an important part of Europe, but added: “The Holy Father, in his visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg vigorously called for reform of its institutions.”