EU: Catholics from 10 EU countries have written to the president of the European Parliament opposing the appointment of Mr Rocco Buttiglione to the European Commission, writes Patsy McGarry,Religious Affairs correspondent.
Organised by the Catholics for a Free Choice group, the letter is signed by 140 Catholic representatives from France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Portugal, and Sweden, who attended a recent meeting of the European Social Forum. Included are representatives of 10 lay Catholic organisations.
In the letter, to the European Parliament president, Mr Josep Borrell, they said they opposed Mr Buttiglione's appointment because of "his dismal record" on human rights and dismissed claims that criticisms of him represented "anti-Catholicism".
They wrote that "as European Catholics concerned about human rights and social justice we want to thank you for publicly defending the EU consensus on sexual rights and women's rights".
They continued: "We are deeply concerned about a possible appointment of Rocco Buttiglione as Commissioner for Freedom, Security and Justice, because Mr Buttiglione has a dismal record on women's rights and the civil rights of homosexuals and as a Minister of European Affairs for Italy has not upheld the EU principle of non-discrimination in his own country.
"As European Catholics we disagree with Rocco Buttiglione's positions on the family, on homosexuals, on women, as well as on his promotion of camps for asylum-seekers at the borders of the EU. His positions on these issues do not reflect mainstream Catholic attitudes.
"Rocco Buttiglione claims that the strong resistance to his nomination to the European Commission is a discrimination against him as a Catholic, and these claims have been echoed by some MEPs as reflecting anti-Catholicism. We strongly disagree with this false complaint of 'anti-Catholicism'.
"It is not because of his affiliation to the Catholic Church that he is opposed but because his political record does not demonstrate that he has the qualifications to be a Commissioner who will promote justice and civil rights in the European Union.
"We would further like to stress that as Catholics, we do not agree with some claims that the EU institutions are anti-Catholic.
"Two Catholics presided over the European Parliament in the past legislature, France's Nicole Fontaine and Ireland's Pat Cox.
"The current president of the Commission is an Italian Catholic, the previous a Catholic from Luxembourg and the incoming one a Catholic from Portugal. They have all contributed to advance the human rights agenda of the EU."
They concluded: "We trust that the European Parliament will have the courage to defend the European values of freedom, solidarity, and equality of rights for women and men, and the principle of non-discrimination."