Euro bishops -pilgrims to Compostela

[m j anderson]

Greetings peregrinos,
below see the news snip about European unity urged by bishops on eve of
acceptance of 10 new members of European Union.  The bishops chose
pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela as the symbol of how/where European
community/culture was forged.
Best to all,
MJ Anderson
* * *  Efforts to Unite Continent as Union Prepares for 10 New Member States

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain, APRIL 26, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The prelates of
the
Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community expressed
their gratitude to John Paul II for his "great commitment" to the unity of
the Continent.

The commission, known as COMECE, chose Santiago de Compostela -- the
"spiritual capital of Europe," in the Pope's words -- as the site for its
plenary assembly in order to underline the importance of the enlargement of
the European Union.

On May 1, the European Union will accept 10 new members: Slovakia; Poland;
the Czech Republic; Hungary; the three Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia
and Estonia; the former Yugoslav Republic of Slovenia; and the Mediterranean
islands of Cyprus and Malta.

In a letter dated last Saturday, COMECE told the Pope: "We have come on the
Way of Santiago to celebrate, in this Holy Year, the important occasion of
the entry of 10 new member states in the European Union."

Bishop Josef Homeyer, president of COMECE, as well as the group's other
prelates, signed the letter.

"From each country a delegation has participated including bishops, priests,
religious and lay people," the letter stated. "We have walked together on a
path which for centuries has been traveled by numerous pilgrims of the whole
of Europe to the tomb of the Apostle, in order to confirm their own faith."

In fact, Santiago de Compostela "is highly representative of the cultural
and spiritual unity of our Continent, faithful to its Christian roots from
the first apostolic teaching," the prelates said.

"We concluded our pilgrimage with the congress 'European Union: Hope and
Responsibility. The Development of European Unity from a Theological
Perspective,' in order to deepen our sense of the duty of Christians to the
service of the new Europe that is emerging," the bishops told the Pope.

"We wish to express special gratitude to Your Holiness for the great
commitment shown during your pontificate to the unity of our Continent in
reconciliation and solidarity," they added.

The prelates said: "If today we can rejoice, at this moment when the
boundaries of the European Union are going to be enlarged," it is also due
to the force with which the Pope "has declared the need for Europe to
breathe with its two lungs of the East and West."
ZE04042607