Nichols sets out EU doubts in Polish interview

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has accused the European Union of abandoning values enshrined in Catholic teaching, but predicted the Church would be able to help maintain Europe’s community bonds after Brexit, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

“The EU has become an economic bloc, a bloc striving for political unification – and none of this fully measures up to the founding vision of a European community,” the Archbishop of Westminster said. “As a Church, we can bring to the new situation the wealth of relationships and structures we have in our church community. These don’t change, and they provide paths for rediscovering that we still belong together, as brothers and sisters in the open reality of Europe”.

In an interview with Poland’s Church-owned Catholic Information Agency (KAI), Cardinal Nichols said that last week’s triggering of Article 50 had unleashed “a feeling of excitement and alarm”, which the Church could help ease by encouraging “an attitude of greater openness”.

“Britain’s inhabitants are disappointed at some EU decisions – but I don’t think they wanted to separate from Europe,” the cardinal told KAI. “While I don’t think changes will happen suddenly, I sense society is beginning to understand the key issues connected with this process, on the economy, migration, the situation of EU citizens living in Britain and the British living in the EU.”

He said he respected the preference of many Polish migrants to attend Mass at the 217 parishes and pastoral centres run by the Polish Church in England and Wales, adding that claims of an upsurge in anti-migrant feeling since the referendum last year had generally not come from practising Polish Catholics.