In anticipation of the International Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January (the day that Soviet troops liberated the extermination-camp at Auschwitz in 1945), the Chaplain-President, in his capacity as Bishop Robert's adviser for EU affairs, was humbled and honoured to attend a Holocaust memorial conference in the European Council buildings, organised by the European Commission on 23 January. An array of senior EU officers and diplomats were present, chaired by Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission. The most moving part of the beautifully-constructed evening was a conversation between Katharina von Schnurbein (European Commission coordinator against antisemitism and well-known in the parish of Holy Trinity Brussels) and Regina Sluszny, a Holocaust survivor from Antwerpen, a Jewish girl hidden for years from the Gestapo by her Catholic neighbours. An exceptional speech from Sergey Lagodinsky MEP powerfully outlined the need for peace in both Israel and Palestine, a peace to end both antisemitism and islamophobia. For this peace the Central Committee prays earnestly.