British lawmaker raps European bishops' group, defends nationalist parties
February 23, 2015
A British lawmaker has reacted angrily to a statement from a group of European Catholic bishops who denounced the rise of nationalist parties.
Steven Woolfe, a member of the European Parliament, said that the the Commission of Episcopal Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) is “a federalist fan club based in Brussels which endorses every EU treaty and power.” He charged that COMECE has become “a cheerleader for the secularizing EU.”
Woolfe is a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), one of the groups targeted by the COMECE statement. Woolfe, who is Catholic, defended the UKIP stand.
“UKIP is rising in the polls among churchgoers because it has defended religious freedom, the institution of marriage, and our Judeo-Christian culture as the basis for a shared civic space,” Woolfe argued. By contrast, he charged, COMECE “has done nothing over many years to stand up for Christian beliefs and values.”
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Further information:
- Ukip MEP clashes with European bishops after report on ‘belligerent’ politics (Catholic Herald)
- European bishops' conference lament rise of nationalist parties, skepticism about EU (CWN, 2/20)
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Posted by: geoffreysmith1 -
Feb. 24, 2015 10:17 AM ET USA
Certainly, UKIP is now the only political party in the UK to whom British Catholics can conscientiously give their support. The three main parties - Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats - all supported the legalization of institutional sodomy (aka gay marriage), not to mention the continuation of the Abortion Act (1967) and the upcoming consent to assisted suicide. British Catholics are now virtually disfranchised, unable to vote for anyone except UKIP.
