This morning Benedict XVI received a group of bishops from the United States from Regions 4, 5 and 6 who are in Rome on their “ad limina” visit, and focused his remarks to them on religious freedom.
He said the U. S. was founded on a consensus “on certain ethical principles” that “is enshrined in the nation’s founding documents, … a consensus that has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.”
The Pope said the Catholic community must “come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.” He said separation of Church and State is legitimate but “cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues.”
“It is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.”
The Holy Father highlighted “the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-a-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would de-legitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society.”
The Pope said he appreciated the bishops’ efforts “to maintain contacts with Catholics involved in political life and to help them understand their personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith, especially with regard to the great moral issues of our time: respect for God’s gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights.
“No one who looks at these issues,” concluded Pope Benedict, “realistically can ignore the genuine difficulties which the Church encounters at the present moment.”
A must-read for American Catholics, click here for the Pope’s entire address in English: http://press.catholica.va/news_services/bulletin/news/28665.php?index=28665〈=en
Joan’s Rome blog: http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blog_ID=1
1/19/2012
