Speaking to the annual Rimini meeting organized by the Communion and Liberation movement, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi observed that critics of Christianity regularly claim that the Church tries to interfere with the freedom of individuals.
The truth is the reverse he said: that “certain forms of ideology are preventing the free exercise of religion on the part of Christians, Catholics in particular.”
“It becomes also more and more evident that the intolerance that is increasing is not only based on conflict or violence, but it also is based on more subtle strategies like the attempt to eliminate the influence of persons with religious convictions from contributing to the common good by participating in public life,” the archbishop continued.
He said that Christians must find more effective ways to persuade their neighbors that the faith does not limit human freedom, and that limits on religious liberty endanger other human rights.