The Catholic Church called yesterday for the public to be given a detailed explanation of the Amsterdam Treaty, saying it could have implications which were not clear from the text.
In a major statement on the May 22nd referendums, the bishops also said the Belfast Agreement was well-balanced and pointed a way forward from the conflict in the North.
But they said the Amsterdam Treaty was "more than usually difficult to understand" and, in recent newspaper advertisements, the Referendum Commission had given different interpretations of the meaning of its clause on non-discrimination.
The statement was issued by the four archbishops - Dr Sean Brady, Dr Desmond Connell, Dr Dermot Clifford and Dr Michael Neary - in the name of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference.
They said it was not their role to support any political viewpoint or tell people how to vote. "We do, however, have a duty to place Gospel values before our people in respect of both referendums."
The statement said the Belfast Agreement was unique in the range of parties and governments which had participated in the negotiations and ultimately agreed the terms of the final document, which was "complex and carefully balanced" and should not be cited selectively.
"It points a way forward from the conflict which has left so many people heartbroken in both the nationalist and unionist communities, so many lives wrecked and so many families, Protestant and Catholic, devastated."
But peace inevitably had its price. "Both sides of the community are asked to make sacrifices, perhaps sacrifices of deep and long-cherished political attachments . . . But for some the price will be very painful. We think particularly of those bereaved by the murder of loved ones; the prospect of seeing their killers released from prison is a very distressing one.
On the Amsterdam Treaty, the bishops said the European Union and the Belfast Agreement had both been forged out of the trauma of conflict.
The Catholic Church had in general supported the "far-reaching endeavour" that was the EU. "As has been said recently, it is a noble effort to replace the law of force with the force of law. The EU has yielded the great prize of peace in Europe for over 50 years."
The Amsterdam Treaty was a further stage on the way to closer European integration. "In providing a legal basis for measures to support social cohesion the treaty would move in a positive direction. It is vital, however, that strong and effective measures to combat poverty and deprivation be actively developed, otherwise there will be more and more people marginalised and alienated."
The bishops said the treaty was more than usually difficult to understand because of its complex layout, wording and structure.
"This puts an additional responsibility on the authorities and other competent sources. They should explain as fully as possible the meaning of the treaty, which may have implications which are unclear from the generalised language of the text.
"For example, all faith traditions in Ireland regard the protection of ethos in religious-run institutions to be very important, and this principle has been upheld by our Supreme Court. However, two different interpretations of the non-discrimination clause in the Amsterdam Treaty have been offered by the Referendum Commission in recent newspaper advertisements."
The statement said that for Irish people the question of EU security and defence policy was of particular sensitivity.
Each voter had to assess the treaty's implications. "Our purpose is to remind people that issues of security and defence in the EU context raise profound moral and spiritual issues and it is not only proper, but important, that they continue to be publicly debated."
