Holy See diplomat calls for renewed commitment to religious freedom

July 13, 2015

A Holy See diplomat has called for a renewed commitment to religious freedom on the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, in which the Communist nations of Eastern Europe professed respect for human rights, including religious freedom.

Religious freedom “is an area that calls for reconsideration in the present national and international context, faced with a culture that seems to regard belief and the religious dimension as superfluous, restricting these to acts of worship or rituals permitted by civil authorities, thereby limiting their presence in the public sphere,” Msgr. Antoine Camilleri said at a July 10 meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

“The Helsinki process, however, teaches us that the right to seek God, and thus find in religious faith the inspiration for moral conduct, is both a freedom belonging to individuals and to communities of believers,” he added. “This freedom cannot be marginalized or excluded from social life, either in the name of tolerance or out of fear of fundamentalist tendencies. Believers can be a positive resource for the life of our societies, in as much as they offer an upright conscience which can guide and ensure pluralism, democratic ideals, social cohesion, public morality, and effective justice.”

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Statement by the Head of the Holy See Delegation to the High Level Informal Meeting of the OSCE (Helsinki, 10 July 2015)
• Helsinki Accords (Wikipedia)