“The Churches are accompanying the Brexit process, by promoting dialogue and encounters with citizens and civil society actors”, Mgr. Treanor told SIR news agency, commenting on the hot topic of Brexit and its impact on the island. “And I think that the leaders of the Christian Churches here – Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians and Methodists – will meet together with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and political parties to voice the concern of the Christian community and ensure the reconciliation and peace-building processes are strengthened and an agreement is reached between the UK and the EU, despite the difficulties and the challenges of the negotiations”. According to Mgr. Treanor, who is also the vice-president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences the EU (COMECE), “it is very significant” that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her State of the Union address to the European Parliament on 16 September, referring to “our friends across the Channel”, stressed the need for a “new beginning with old friends”: her words tell us that “the president supports the desire of the EU to pursue dialogue”.