WHO/Europe and the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) officially signed a Letter of Intent on 23 June to establish a strategic partnership for promoting pan-European dialogue to reduce inequities, enabling every child and adult to live in health, safety and dignity.
“The evidence is unambiguous, and it demands that we act: 138 million Europeans live in extreme poverty; millions of older women and men face their final years in severe isolation. Loneliness is not a personal failure – it is a public health emergency, one that raises the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia by up to 30%,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
“No health authority can solve this alone. That is precisely why our partnership with CCEE is so significant. The Church’s presence touches communities that health systems often cannot reach – rural parishes, urban margins, the households of the most vulnerable. By combining WHO/Europe’s region-wide technical expertise and evidence base with CCEE’s trusted local pastoral networks, we are seeking to build something new: a pan-European response to health inequity, rooted in science and solidarity.”
“Every life has equal value. Every person deserves human dignity. That is not an aspiration – it is a shared duty and the foundation of societal peace,” he concluded.
Co-signing the letter to cooperate, Archbishop Gintaras Grušas, CCEE President, highlighted that the agreement to collaborate is borne out of the shared goal of the CCEE and WHO/Europe to ensure that the most vulnerable 187 million women, men and children in Europe today are not left behind by digital gaps, underfunded services, social isolation and exposure to violence in their homes and communities.
The signing is in follow-up to the first ever joint event between WHO/Europe and the CCEE, which was held in Rome on 18 March 2026. At that event, Catholic Bishop’s Conferences from 24 countries participated in a round table dialogue on “Health as a bridge to peace and resilience”.
“This is not yet a formal commitment or an institutional agreement in the strict sense. Rather, it is the expression of a shared willingness to walk together, to listen to one another, and to explore common concerns in the vast and delicate field of health, care, human dignity and service to our neighbour,” said Archbishop Grušas.
“I see today’s signing as a sign of hope. It is a modest step, but also a promising one. It says that we wish to remain in dialogue. It says that we are ready to identify areas of common interest. It says that we want to promote a deeper culture of care in Europe – one that respects human dignity from beginning to end, accompanies the suffering, supports caregivers, and helps our societies rediscover the meaning of being responsible for one another,” he added.
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has recognized the importance of health as a vital good for societal resilience and cohesion. In his remarks to the first joint WHO/Europe–CCEE pastoral/health-care conference at the Vatican, His Holiness highlighted the need for action stating that “Health cannot be a luxury for the few, but is an essential condition for social peace”.
Both entities advocate for an ethical framework where technology is used to close health-care inequities, ensuring that artificial intelligence tools do not leave poor, rural or elderly populations further behind.
The Letter of Intent establishes future technical exchanges on reducing health equity in Europe. This initial framework lays the groundwork for a formal memorandum of understanding, anticipated in late 2026 or early 2027.