Religious freedom threatened, by aggressive secularism in the West, says Bagnasco

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