TheCatholic Church in Europe is part of the worldwideCatholic Church infull communion with theHoly See inRome, including representedEastern Catholicmissions. Demographically, Catholics are the largest religious group inEurope.
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About 35%[1] of the population ofEurope today is Catholic, but only about a quarter of all Catholics worldwide reside in Europe. This is due in part to the movement and immigration at various times of largely Catholic European ethnic groups (such as theIrish,Italians,Poles,Portuguese, andSpaniards) to continents such as theAmericas andAustralia. Furthermore, Catholicism has been spread outside Europe through both historical Catholic missionary activity, especially inLatin America, and the past colonization and conversion of native people by Catholic European countries, specifically theSpanish,Portuguese,French andBelgian colonial empire, in regions such as South America,the Caribbean,Central Africa andWest Africa, andSoutheast Asia.[2]
As the Vatican State is atheocracy, it cannot become a member of the European Union. However, traditionally there are very strong ties of the Holy See with the only neighboring country of theVatican City,Italy and also with the European Union. Since 1970 the European Union accredits an official representative from the Holy See (an ApostolicNuncio) to the EU. Even though the Vatican City is not an official member of the European Union, it has adopted theEuro as its currency and has open borders with theSchengen Area.
In 2016 Pope Francis was awarded with theCharlemagne prize. During his speech of thanks Pope Francis criticized a "crisis of solidarity"[3] in Europe and condemned "national self-interest, renationalization and particularism".[3]
In December 2018 CardinalReinhard Marx, archbishop ofMunich and Freising and former president ofCOMECE, called for a deeper European integration and condemned the harmful consequences of nationalism.[4][5][6]
The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (Latin:Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europae) (CCEE) is a conference of the presidents of the 33Roman Catholicepiscopal conferences ofEurope, theArchbishop of Luxembourg, theArchbishop of Monaco,Maronite Catholic Archeparch of Cyprus, theRoman Catholic Bishop of Chişinău, theRuthenian Catholic Eparch of Mukacheve, and theApostolic Administrator of Estonia.[7] TheCCEE Secretariat is located inSt. Gallen, Switzerland.
The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (Latin:Commissio Episcopatuum Communitatis Europaeae; COMECE) is the association ofCatholic Churchepiscopal conferences inmember states of the European Union (EU) which officially represents those episcopal conferences at EU institutions.[8][9]COMECE bishops are delegated by Catholic episcopal conferences in EU member states and has a permanentSecretariat inBrussels, Belgium.[8][10] It was established in 1980 and replaced the European Catholic Pastoral Information Service (SIPECA, 1976–1980). Discussions during the 1970s about creating an episcopal conferences' liaison organization to theEuropean Community led to the decision, on the eve of the1979 European Parliament election, to establishCOMECE.[11]
FimcapEurope (International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements): Fimcap is anumbrella organization forcatholic youth organizations, especially for youth organizations which are based at parish level. (See also:Fimcap Europe)
MIJARC Europe (International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth): MIJARC Europe is a platform representing the catholic, agricultural and rural youth movements in Europe.
CIDSE (International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity): CIDSE is an umbrella organization for Catholic development agencies from Europe and North America.
World Movement of Christian Workers consists of Catholic workingmen and workingwomen.
According to theCatholic tradition,Saint Peter, one of theTwelve Apostles ofJesus Christ and leader of theearly church, was crucified and buried inRome under EmperorNero Augustus Caesar. On the place supposed to be the burial site of Saint Peter theSaint Peter's Basilica was built.Rome is also the residence city of thePope, the leader of the Catholic Church, who at the same time is also theBishop of Rome. Until today the Pope rules over an ecclesiastical state, theVatican City, which encompasses 44 hectares of the city area. Rome hosts also the PapalMajor basilicas. Besides theSaint Peter's Basilica there are three otherMajor basilicas:Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran,Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls andBasilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
One of the most important and famous sites forpilgrimages for the Catholic Church isSantiago de Compostela inGalicia,Spain. Thecathedral of the city hosts theshrine ofSaint James, one of theTwelve Apostles ofJesus, and traditionally considered the first apostle to bemartyred. Santiago de Compostela is the final destination of theWay of Saint James (Galician:O Camiño de Santiago).
Assisi, a town in theUmbria region inItaly, hosts two morepapal basilicas: theBasilica of San Francesco d'Assisi and theBasilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is themother church of theOrder of Friars Minor, commonly known as the "Franciscan Order". Assisi is the town in which the founder of the order,Saint Francis of Assisi, was born and died.
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