(Brussels) “On behalf of COMECE Bishops and staff”, Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, new General Secretary of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), “expresses great joy for the announcement given by Pope Francis” of the appointment of Mgr. Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and President of the same COMECE, the ecclesial body based in Brussels, as Cardinal. In a letter sent to Bishop Hollerich and to the Bishops of COMECE on his first day of mandate as General Secretary of COMECE, (1^st September), Fr. Barrios Prieto assured the Cardinal-designate of his prayers for “this new responsibility” for “the whole Church and for the Church in the European Union”. Mgr. Hollerich, 61, – the COMECE website reports – has been “committed to the common good in Europe and in the world, devoting himself to key-issues including youth, migration and asylum, climate”. “His appointment can also be seen as a recognition of the important role played by COMECE at the EU level and within the Church”. On Monday, 16 September, Bishop Hollerich will participate, together with Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, in a press conference organised at the COMECE Secretariat in Brussels.