He is increasingly stating its importance. At a time when Christians in various places - yes, I'm talking about Britain - sense that their right to work and pray and teach and speak out from the vantage-point of a living faith is being challenged or denied, Pope Benedict XVI has made religious freedom the theme of his 2011 Peace Message. Read here for more...and understand the significance of what is being said.
Addressing the United Nations a couple of years ago the Holy Father said: "Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom, understood as the expression of a dimension that is at once individual and communitarian – a vision that brings out the unity of the person while clearly distinguishing between the dimension of the citizen and that of the believer."
The Church is not asking for priviledges but just for the right of everyone to play a fair part in common life: the Pope noted that asking that some one renounces religious beliefs in order to take part in building up the social order is unjust, and fragments the human person. Of course it also denies to society the benefits brought by all that is being produced through the zeal and commitment of those who work from a position of faith: schools, hospitals, universities, all sorts of provision for the poor and marginalised and so on...
And while on the subject, Vatican II's Declaration on Religious Freedom is authoritative and extraordinarily prophetic and wise...
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In America, we've always considered ourselves citizens of a Christian nation, and tolerant of religious pluralism. Now President Obama states that we're just a nation of citizens, and while we're told the religious freedom is still a right, it seems that the semantics will change the whole meaning. It is becoming clear that those in power want to move from religious freedom to fredom of worship. As it is in Britain so too it is becoming harder to live out one's faith, especially Christian faith. I fear that we'll be restricted to our homes and churches to live our faith freely. The public will have zero tolerance for any outward display of anything Christian from jewelry to clothing. I don't know if others from different faith traditions will receive the same scorn and threat of legal action, but I suspect not. Sadly much of what the Holy Father says falls on deaf ears in the states even among catholics.
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