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ishtartv.com - catholicnewsagency.com
By Elise
Harris
Vatican
City, Dec 15, 2016 / 03:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While violent persecution against
Christians assails swaths of territory the Middle East and Africa, one Vatican
official says that Western nations face a different type of oppression, marked
by the push to eliminate religion from public life.
“To
act and speak out publicly as a committed Christian in one's professional life
has never been more threatened,” Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Under-secretary for
relations with the States, said Dec. 14.
He
gave the keynote address at the opening of daylong conference hosted by the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna titled
“Towards a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: A Regional
Perspective.”
Religious
freedom is the “litmus test” of respect for all other fundamental human rights,
since it is their “synthesis and keystone,” he said, adding that safeguarding
this freedom ensures that other rights will also be guaranteed to all people,
regardless of belief, since it involves consciousness and dignity.
Pointing
to the “barbaric persecution of Christians” happening in the Middle East, he
said “the atrocities committed against Christians in Syria and Iraq are so
horrific that words cannot adequately respond, and their plight must not be
forgotten.”
He
referred to the gruesome bombing of a Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo Sunday
that killed at least 25, saying it offers proof of the “shadow of violent
extremism and terrorism” in the country. Yet, he also cautioned that such
persecution is also taking place “at the very doorstep” of the OSCE
headquarters in Vienna.
“We
must recognize that discrimination and intolerance, including hate crimes,
impact many Christians and Christian communities, despite a frequently
encountered notion that in this part of the world such discrimination or
intolerance does not occur,” he said.
Simply
belonging to the majority religion seems to exclude Christians from being
considered victims of intolerance, Camilleri said, but stressed that such a
view “is not based on reality.”
“The
continuous attacks against Christian churches and religious buildings, time and
time again...easily disprove the notion that Christians do not suffer
intolerance,” he observed.
He
referred to the many cases of premeditated acts of destruction against churches
and religious spaces and symbols, including crosses and other Christian
artifacts, as well as the theft and “sacrilegious misuse” who what Christians
consider holy, as an example.
All
of these, the priest said, are examples “of not only disrespectful, but
intolerant, and in most cases criminal acts committed with a bias motive.”
Camilleri
then pointed to new forms of intolerance popping up in Western nations. Quoting
Pope Benedict XVI, he said that religion “is not a problem for legislators to
solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation.”
“There
are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at
least relegated to the purely private sphere,” he said, noting that others
argue “that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be
discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of
other religions or none.”
A
recent example is the case of a priest who serves as chaplain of the cemetery
in the Italian city of Cremona, who refrained from setting up the traditional
Nativity scene for fear of offending Muslims and those of other faiths.
Still
others “paradoxically” argue with the intention of eliminating discrimination
that Christians who have public profiles “should be required at times to act
against their conscience,” Camilleri said.
These
examples are all part of “what may rightly be called 'anti-Christian sentiment,'”
and represent “a new form of intolerance and discrimination against
Christians...based on setting the freedom of religion or belief against some
general notion of tolerance and nondiscrimination.”
When
it comes to tolerance and non-discrimination, these things should never be used
or interpreted in a way that would restrict religious freedom or belief, he
said.
“Every
right entails obligations and duties,” he said. “Therefore, a self-professed
Christian cannot claim that freedom of religion or belief entitles him to call
for violence against non-believers.”
However,
the same goes for the other side, Camilleri said, explaining that a Christian
preacher “who respectfully and faithfully teaches the religious or moral tenets
of his Church” is still protected by freedom of religion, even if the majority
of people are “uncomfortable” with what he has to say.
“We
must raise awareness of discrimination against Christians even in regions where
international public opinion would normally not expect this to exist,” he said,
adding that Christians, as well as others, must be allowed to express their
religious identity publicly, “free from any pressure to hide or disguise it.”
Any
discomfort or opposition the public role of religion, he said, is what Pope
Francis has referred to as “the polite persecution of Christians” in many
countries.
“In
the guise of 'political correctness,' Christian faith and morals are considered
to be hostile and offensive, and therefore, something to be removed from public
discourse,” the priest noted, stressing that this fear of Christianity playing
its “legitimate role” in society “betrays a reductionist view or approach to
the freedom of religion or belief, confining it merely to the freedom of
worship.”
Despite
challenges intolerance brings, Camilleri stressed that religion, Christianity
included, has an endless capacity for good, not only for individuals and
communities, but for society as a whole.
The
Church, he said, “does not pretend...to substitute for politics. Nor does the
Church claim to offer technical solutions to the world’s problems since the
responsibility of doing that belongs elsewhere.”
What
religion does, then, is offer specific guidelines to both the community of
believers, and to society as a whole.
Religion
by its nature “is open to a larger reality and thus it can lead people and
institutions toward a more universal vision” and a “horizon of fraternity”
capable of enriching humanity, Camilleri said.
The
Holy See, then, “is convinced that for both individuals and communities the
dimension of belief can foster respect for fundamental freedoms and human
rights, support democracy and rule of law and contribute to the quest for truth
and justice.”
Dialogue
and partnerships between religions and with religions, he said, “are an
important means to promote confidence, trust, reconciliation, mutual respect
and understanding as well as to foster peace.”
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