Welby highlights Church’s EU role

THE CHURCH of England has launched a new blog aimed at promoting constructive debate about the future of Europe.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, wrote the first article for the blog, on the subject of “learning to disagree well on Europe”.

Archbishop Welby anticipated “passionate arguments on both sides” ahead of a promised referendum on UK membership of the EU. “The only certainty is that there will be much heat, probably slightly less light, but it is a hugely important decision, with thoughtful and committed people, including Christians, on both sides,” he wrote.

Ideas such as sovereignty and subsidiarity were formed out of Christian faith, he argued, and political dimensions could capture their meaning only in part. He hoped that the blog – a joint venture between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland – would play a mediating and reconciling role in the debate.

Catholic contributors to Reimagining Europe (reimaginingeurope.wordpress.com) include Werner G. Jeanrond, Master of St Benet’s Hall in the University of Oxford, and Philip Booth, director at the Institute of Economic Affairs.