On 30 January, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day in an official ceremony during a plenary session. Francesco Di Lillo,
Director of the European Union Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was among representatives of churches and religious organisations invited to attend.
During the ceremony, Jewish leader Charlotte Knobloch, former President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and former Vice-President of the European Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress, called on MEPs to fight “growing antisemitism in Europe".
A minute of silence was observed in memory of all the victims of the Holocaust.
Immediately after the Plenary sitting, Ms. Mairead McGuinness, First Vice President of the European Parliament, invited representatives of churches and religious organisations to meet and greet Ms. Knobloch.
Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon,
provides a legal basis for an open, transparent and regular dialogue between the EU institutions and churches, religious associations, and philosophical and non-confessional organisations.
