Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Experts warn about growing global crisis of religious freedom

Experts warn about growing global crisis of religious freedom

Last updated on: June 14, 2012 at 4:10 pm by CNA Daily News

Experts warn about growing global crisis of religious freedom 2012-06-14T16:10:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Atlanta, Ga., Jun 14, 2012 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The growing perception of religion as a threat to a free society is leading to persecution of believers around the world, according to speakers at a recent meeting of the U.S. bishops.

“Religious liberty is in global crisis,” said Thomas F. Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University.

He explained that the crisis has “enormous consequences for the Church, the United States, the fate of democracy worldwide, the defeat of religion-based terrorism and the cause of international peace and justice.”

Farr spoke June 13 to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as part of a two-hour discussion on both domestic and international religious freedom concerns.

His address came during the conference’s June 13-15 general assembly in Atlanta, Ga.

Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, chairman of the bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, noted that Christians around the world face threats ranging from Church bombing to discriminatory legal restrictions.

Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad, president of Caritas Iraq, also spoke at the bishops’ gathering, discussing the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

He offered accounts of priests being kidnapped, tortured and held for ransom, as well as churches being attacked and worshipers being killed.

There has also been a “huge diaspora” of Christian communities in the region, he added.

“Some wonder if there is a big plot to empty Iraq, if not to empty all of the Middle East, of Christians,” he told the American bishops.

Bishop Warduni said that leaders in U.S. “bear a special responsibility” towards Christians in Iraq because the United States led the 2003 invasion that caused some of these problems between the religious groups.

“We ask you to do your best” to raise awareness and support for Iraqi Christians, he urged, explaining that the people in the region simply want to live peacefully with “no more war, no more death” and “no more explosions.”

Farr cautioned the U.S. bishops that a negative view of religion is leading to a continued erosion of religious freedom around the world, with disastrous consequences.

“Both history and modern scholarship demonstrate that a robust system of religious liberty in both law and culture is indispensable to individual human dignity and to the flourishing of civil society and nations,” he said.

He pointed to a Pew Research study indicating that 70 percent of the world’s population lives in a country where religious freedom is seriously restricted.

And the problem “is getting worse,” he said, citing studies indicating that “social hostilities” towards religious minorities are rising in many areas, including much of Europe.

Although this does not match the level of violent persecution seen elsewhere, “the root cause is quite similar,” Farr explained. In such countries, the free exercise of religion is not only seen as unnecessary, but is even viewed as a threat to democratic society.

While this view has commonly been held by tyrants and authoritarian regimes throughout the ages, the alarming development is that it is now being held by democratic majorities, he said.

Religion today is commonly treated as “merely an opinion” and possibly “dangerous,” he alerted the bishops, pointing to Europe, where an “aggressive secularist majority” refuses to allow religiously informed opinions to enter the public square.

This view is also growing in the United States, he cautioned, as religious freedom is increasingly being depicted as the mere right to worship privately.

Farr argued that American policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations is failing to alleviate infringements upon religious freedom around the world.

He observed that the current U.S. State Department has devoted “far more energy” to supporting gay agendas overseas than to addressing religious liberty concerns.

The American bishops can make a great contribution in “strengthening our understanding of the value of religious freedom,” Farr said, explaining that Church teaching on “the fundamental dignity and equality of every person in the eyes of God” is powerful for society.

The Church is “uniquely positioned” to help proclaim the importance of religious liberty and must work immediately to do so, he urged, because “the stakes are high.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 14, 2012

Former spy's Congress bid fueled by her Catholic faith

Next Post

June 14, 2012 Vatican confirms SSPX is being offered Personal Prelature

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, who ignored the injured man before the Samaritan helped?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A priest and a Levite A farmer and a shepherd A Roman soldier and a scribe A fisherman and a tax collector