Cardinal attacks EU treatment of immigrants

The german president of the Commission of European Union bishops’ conferences (Comece) has bitterly criticised current EU policy on refugees and migrants, and urged the Church to mark the Christmas season by demanding greater fairness, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

“As long as people are drowning in the Mediterranean and refugees not receiving equal treatment in EU member states, Europe is not yet made [as it should be],” said Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who also chairs Germany’s bishops’ conference. “We cannot absorb all the world's refugees in Bavaria, Germany and Europe – only a small number will reach our island of prosperity. But we can provide vital support and help tackle the causes of their flight and suffering.” Writing in the Christmas edition of Münchner Merkur, Cardinal Marx, the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, said 51 million people were now “on the run from war, persecution and economic hardship” worldwide.