Bishops downbeat on Brexit

Bishops from Britain and Ireland gave a sombre assessment of the aftermath of the Brexit vote to a meeting of bishops in the European Union, stressing the uncertainty it has brought and expressing their concern about rising hate crimes and possible  effects on Northern Ireland.

They spoke in Brussels last week at the autumn plenary meeting of Comece, the association of Catholic Bishops Conferences in the EU. Comece president Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who is Archbishop of Munich and head of the German Bishops’ Conference, said Brexit was not only a British problem.

The UK and the EU should “start moving towards each other again” and the Church should always focus on “what people have in common, beyond borders”, Comece quoted Marx as telling the meeting,
Birmingham Auxiliary Bishop William Kenney, representing the England and Wales bishops, said there was “very little clarity as to what is going to happen or what consequences will ensue”. As the UK negotiates new trade deals, he said, “the Church needs to give a voice to the marginalised and underprivileged”.

Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Auxiliary of Westminster Archdiocese, said hate crimes against foreigners were on the rise in Britain since the Brexit vote. “We as Church need to firmly condemn these crimes,” he said.

Representing the bishops of Scotland, Aberdeen Bishop Hugh Gilbert discussed the renewed support the Brexit vote has given to the independence camp, but said that was not the most important impact. “There is rather a pervasive uncertainty,” he said.

Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor, representing the Irish bishops, echoed that assessment. “Uncertainty reigns in Ireland,” he said. “Young people in particular feel disenfranchised.”

Bishop Treanor, who was secretary general of Comece from 1993 to 2008, discussed the impact of the Brexit vote on the peace process in Northern Ireland, the issue of a hard or soft border between the North and the republic, and the effect it could have on Ireland as a whole.

Cardinal Marx said Comece planned to hold a conference on “rethinking Europe” in Rome in autumn 2017 to bring bishops and lay people together with policy makers.

The bishops noted rising anti-EU sentiments in many member states and said European institutions had to serve the people, especially the poor. “Europe must again embody a community of solidarity – the very survival of the European project depends on it,” said Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg.