Meeting of the EU Catholic Organizations based in Brussels

Brussels, 19 February 2026

Every year in February or March, the various Catholic NGOs working with the European institutions in Brussels gather to share their activities and their thoughts on the EU.

This year, the participants had the change to meet the new Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union, H. Exc. Bernardito Auza. Before being named to Brussels in March 2025, Mgr Auza was Apostolic Nuncio to the Kingdom of Spain. The nuncio explained shared its experience as diplomat for the Holy Church, and also shared some analysis as a Filipino in the EU.

The papal diplomacy is not very known, but its a the crosspoints between bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, between political dialogue and ecclesial governance. An interesting situation now is that with the election of H.H. Pope Leo XIV, many representatives want to be received in audience in the Vatican. Some political groups were then granted the request to meet the pope in the apostolic palace.

Following its speech, the Apostolic Nuncio celebrated the day’s Holy Mass in the Chapel of COMECE. The homely was given by Rd. Fr. Alberto Ares sj, Director of Jesuit Refugee Service Europe.

All the NGOs then made a long “tour de table” to explain their activities or future projects and to share some thoughts on the current situation of Catholic organisations at the EU level. Among the topics, the spaekers talked about the new projects of the Multiannual Financial Framework, the reduction of funding from US Aid and the refusal of EU grants to Christian organisations such as FAFCE.