Card Angelo Bagnasco,
president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), opened the latter’s
assembly Monday.
In the opening speech, he spoke about the threats to
religious freedom and to the lives of Christians in various parts of the
world, especially in the Middle East, mentioning the attacks in Baghdad
and Alexandria.
He also focused on the West, slamming “devious threats
to real religious freedom in democratic nations, starting in Europe.” In
his view, “We must guard against the subtle tricks of hypocrisy that
lead to seek faraway what is instead nearby”.
Card Bagnasco mentioned the controversy of the
crucifix in schools or public places, saying that “religious freedom is
an essential and very delicate linchpin. If it is compromised, society
as a whole may actually have to pay the consequences. Annoyed, some make
specious arguments about the neutrality of the state.
A certain
aggressive secularism betrays attitudes inspired by ideological
obsessions that we left behind without regrets. In light of this, we are
surprised by complaints made last month at an OSCE conference in Vienna
that claimed that an abstract application of the principle of
non-discrimination could paradoxically limit the rights of believers to
express publicly their faith.
For the CEI president, “A subtle evil afflicts Europe,
causing a slow, unseen marginalisation of Christianity. Sometimes, this
involves clear cases of discrimination, but also a silent stifling of
fundamental freedoms. The case in point is the right to conscientious
objection on ethical issues, a matter that is belittled in many nations.
This constitutes a retreat for freedom. To marginalise symbols, isolate
contents, and denigrate people is a weapon that leads to conformity.
Unpopular views are sidelined and those who bear witness to values they
freely believe in are mortified.”
Speaking about the problem of Christianophobia, the
prelate said he hoped that the “issue of basic religious minority rights
in many countries would be addressed.”
He added that
the matter of “reciprocity must be dealt with but not with threats of
retaliation or by weakening the guarantees given to people who come from
nations where equal treatment is not provided.”
Instead, what is
necessary “is to raise the issue of religious freedom in international
fora like the European Union, the United Nations [. . .], to open eyes
and keep them open so that individual states may uphold minimum
standards of freedom for all faiths.”
SIC: AN/INT'L