The European Union has announced the appointment of Mairead McGuinness as its new Special Envoy for Freedom of Religious Belief outside the EU.
McGuinness has a background in Irish politics and served as the European Commissioner for Financial Services between 2020 and 2024. Her appointment to the role was welcomed by the Catholic Church.
Mgr Mariano Crociata, President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), said in a statement, “COMECE knows Ms McGuinness well and has had the privilege of working closely with her during her time as a Member of the European Parliament, including in her capacity as First Vice-President responsible for the implementation of the dialogue with Churches and religious communities.”
Crociata also urged that the new post be provided with all of the resources that it needs to be effective.
This particular Special Envoy role has been vacant since 2024, a sign according to some that the EU has been dragging its feet on the issue of religious freedom.
Earlier this year the European Parliament passed a resolution affirming its commitment to fighting “Christianophobia”, along with other forms of prejudice and discrimination. That resolution also noted that, while the EU had appointed someone to combat “Islamophobia”, no one had been selected to deal with anti-Christian prejudice.
While welcoming the appointment of McGuinness, Human Rights Without Frontiers said it was concerned that historically the EU had not taken religious freedom as seriously as it could have.
In a statement the group said, “It cannot be kept silent that during the 10 years and a few months of existence of the post of EU Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief in the world, the mandate has only been carried out for 5 years despite all the pressing calls of MEPs and civil society. This shows a persistent lack of political will to defend freedom of religion or belief outside the EU.”
