(from Brussels) “I think Bishops have a role to play in explaining people what is at stake. Usually, the turnout at the European election is lower than at other types of elections, because people mistakenly think that such election is less important than the others, but thinking it is a bad mistake. We are deciding who is going to rule Europe, and this has to do with their lives. The Churches can play an important role in explaining people that voting is very important”. This was said about the 2024 European election by Pedro Silva Pereira, vice president of the European Parliament during the meeting he had in the Brussels premises of Comece this morning with the delegates of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, convened for their plenary assembly. “I think – he added – that dialogue and cooperation between the European Parliament and the other European institutions and the leaders of the Catholic Church here are very important. We have had a good exchange of views about the forthcoming European election and about the challenges. When we look at the election, it is natural to ask oneself who is going to win, what the trends and political majorities will be. But what I tried to explain is that the election also concerns contents, policies and values. There will be a debate on policies. But apart from the political debate we will all be called to confront selfishness and solidarity, humanism and activism, what inspires politics. Only if we can win the battle for values will we have policies and may be not too bad election results”. Vice president Pereira then said words of gratitude and respect for Pope Francis. “One of the things I said here today is that luckily Pope Francis’s speeches are always very relevant to all of the most important items on the European political agenda. The themes of peace, the themes of poverty and inequality, the themes of climate change and the theme of migration. In all the main political and divisive discussions in Europe, Pope Francis has been a very inspiring voice, and I hope he may be listened a little bit more”.