In January five bishops went, as part of our Clergy Ministerial Development, for a three day intensive visit to Brussels to learn about the work of the Church of England representative at the European Institutions. Canon Gary Wilton went from Yorkshire three years ago to fulfil this role. Previously he was a senior lecturer at York St. John University. He enabled us to ask questions of senior members of the European Commission and Parliament, and to explore what the European Union is for.

There was a resounding and interesting first answer to that question. The EU‘s first priority is peace: peace in a continent which has known little peace over the centuries, and where national vested interests remain immensely strong. We started the three day visit in Ypres, reminded forcibly of its destruction in the First World War, seeing the massive Commonwealth War cemeteries, and reflecting at the Menin Gate Ceremony on the vicious loss of
human life. That was the background for the rest of the visit, and we discussed, more recently, the accession of Eastern European countries to the EU, 'without a shot being fired'.

The second answer to 'why the EU?' was trade - the building of European economies which can support each other through Free Trade – and we discussed at length whether and how that economic stability (despite recent setbacks) could be shared with the rest of the world.

We learned much else – and I had two further lasting impressions to think about. The first was that lack of ethnic mix compared with British institutions. The Parliament and its staff were almost entirely white. There was little sign of the benefits provided by people of different ethnicities working together in a single culture. The second was the acceptance of religion – or at least Christianity – and the place of the Roman Catholic Church as a partner, with leading commissioners known for their faith. Secularism was much less obviously prevalent than in Westminster.

All of that gave much food for thought, and stressed the need for prayer for Gary and the Anglican contribution to the European Institutions – as well as the importance of his role there.

John Packer
Bishop of Ripon & Leeds