By Holy See Mission
Religious Freedom
The First Freedom
on Which Democratic Societies are Built
Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt
Before the United
States House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global
Human Rights, and International Organizations
Mr. Chairman,
Thank you for this opportunity to address you
and the Committee today. Your recognition of the consequential need to consider
and respond effectively to existing and emerging threats to religious freedom
in the world today is commendable. Such threats manifest not solely under
authoritarian regimes or in traditional societies but even, I regret to say, in
the great democracies of the world. The Constitution of the United States apprehends
well what the Holy See consistently affirms, namely: that religious freedom is
also the “first freedom”, a fundamental human right from which other rights
necessarily flow, and which must always be protected, defended, and
promoted. Pope Benedict XVI identified
religious freedom as:
the pinnacle of all
other freedoms. It is a sacred and inalienable right. It includes on the
individual and collective levels the freedom to follow one’s conscience in
religious matters and, at the same time, freedom of worship. It includes the
freedom to choose the religion which one judges to be true and to manifest
one’s beliefs in public. It must be possible to profess and freely manifest
one’s religion and its symbols without endangering one’s life and personal
freedom. Religious freedom is rooted in the dignity of the person; it
safeguards moral freedom and fosters mutual respect.[1]
Every government bears the profound
responsibility to guarantee in its Constitution, as your First Amendment and
the entire text secure, religious freedom for its people and must moreover
uphold religious liberty both in principle and in fact.
Today, however, religious persecution, be it
overt or discrete, is emerging with an increased frequency worldwide. Even in
some of the western democracies, the longstanding paragons of human rights and
freedoms, we find instances of increasingly less subtle signs of persecution,
including the legal prohibition of the display of Christian symbols and imagery
– legitimate expressions of belief that for centuries has enriched culture – be
they on the person or on public property. This suggests a profound identity
crisis at the heart of these great democracies, which owe to their encounter
with Christianity both their origin and culture, including their human rights
culture.
I, personally, have witnessed many egregious
threats to religious liberty during my service around the globe. My current
posting also makes me familiar with the work of the United Nations, which your
great nation helped establish when the world society was desperate for an
institution whose mission would be to secure and maintain international peace
and security. The founding Charter of the United Nations mandates that it
fulfill this mission through safeguarding the fundamental and inalienable
rights and responsibilities of each member of the human family. The
preservation of authentic religious freedom thus stands at the heart of the
UN’s solemn responsibility.
Having said this,
allow me to address the following two points in my brief remarks. I will also
be submitting to the committee two more detailed texts for your further
consideration.
The first issue on which I wish to focus today
concerns challenges to religious freedom in the Middle East, particularly for
Christians, who since the beginning of Christianity two thousand years ago have
been continuous inhabitants of that
important region of the world. A second issue I will touch upon briefly
concerns the responsibility of the United Nations towards safeguarding this
religious freedom. I also wish to highlight the crucial role the United States
of America bears in the work of the UN by virtue of its significant influence
within this organization, as well as its permanent membership in the Security
Council.
Regarding my first point: flagrant and
widespread persecution of Christians rages in the Middle East even as we meet.
No Christian is exempt, whether or not he or she is Arab. Arab Christians, a
small but significant community, find themselves the target of constant
harassment for no reason other than their religious faith. This tragedy is all
the more egregious when one pauses to consider that these men and women of
faith are loyal sons and daughters of the countries in which they are full
citizens and in which they have been living at peace with their neighbors and
fellow citizens for untold generations.
One of the most graphic illustrations of ongoing
brutality confronting Arab Christians is the emergence of a so-called
“tradition” of bombings of Catholic and other Christian houses of
worship every Christmas Eve, which has been going on now for the past several
years. Will there be no end in sight for this senseless slaughter for those who
on that very night proclaim the birth of the Prince of Peace in some of the
oldest Christian communities in the world?
As is increasingly obvious, governments are by
no means guaranteeing religious freedom consistently among fundamental human
rights and, at worst, violations take the form of the outright persecution of
religious believers by state actors. For
its part, the Holy See regularly urges the world’s attention to serious
violations of the right to religious freedom, in general, as well as to recent
and continuing instances of discrimination or systematic attacks on Christian
communities, in particular.
In a recent statement to the United Nations
Human Rights Council, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United
Nations in Geneva said that
(r)esearch has
indicated that more than 100,000 Christians are violently killed because of
some relation to their faith every year, while other Christians and believers
are subjected to forced displacement, to the destruction of their places of
worship, to rape, and to the abduction of their leaders. Several of these acts have been perpetrated
in parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and are the result of bigotry,
intolerance, terrorism and some exclusionary laws. In addition, some Western
countries, where historically the Christian presence has been an integral part
of society, a trend emerges that tends to marginalize Christianity in public
life, ignore historic and social contributions and even restrict the ability of
faith communities to carry out social charitable services.[2]
Pope Francis himself, in praying recently for all Christians who
experience discrimination on the basis of their belief stated,
Let us remain close
to these brothers and sisters who, like (the first martyr of the Church) St
Stephen, are unjustly accused and made the objects of various kinds of
violence. Unfortunately, I am sure they are more numerous today than in the
early days of the Church. There are so many! This occurs especially where
religious freedom is still not guaranteed or fully realized. However, it also
happens in countries and areas where on paper freedom and human rights are
protected, but where in fact believers, and especially Christians, face
restrictions and discrimination.[3]
His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, similarly pointed out the same
problem in his 2012 address to the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited
to the Holy See. He stressed how:
(i)n many countries Christians are deprived of fundamental rights and
side-lined from public life; in other countries they endure violent attacks
against their churches and their homes. At times they are forced to leave the
countries they have helped to build because of persistent tensions and policies
which frequently relegate them to being second-class spectators of national
life. In other parts of the world, we see policies aimed at marginalizing the
role of religion in the life of society.[4] It even happens that
believers, and Christians in particular, are prevented from contributing to the
common good by their educational and charitable institutions."[5]
This past autumn, in a Message to the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, Pope Francis called to mind the 1700th anniversary of
the Edict of Milan, which brought about the end to the persecution of
Christians in the Roman Empire, and drew attention to “…the many Christians of
all the Churches and Ecclesial Communities who in many parts of the world
experience discrimination and at times pay with their own blood the price of
their profession of faith.” The Pope also stressed the “…urgent need for
effective and committed cooperation among Christians in order to safeguard
everywhere the right to express publicly one’s faith and to be treated fairly
when promoting the contribution which Christianity continues to offer to
contemporary society and culture.”[6]
Current circumstances make it particularly
important that Christians work together to ensure religious freedom for all,
and to this end it is crucial that every government guarantee religious freedom
for each and every person in its country not only in its legislation but also
in praxis. Strictly connected to freedom
of religion is respect for conscientious objection, of which everyone should be
able to avail himself or herself. Conscientious objection is based on religious,
ethical and moral reasons, and on the universal demands of human dignity. As
such it is a pillar of every truly democratic society and, precisely for this
reason, civil law must always and everywhere recognize and protect it.
After all, these steps ensure not only human
dignity but the dignity of democratic institutions.
Regarding my second point, which concerns the
United Nations: the essential importance of religious freedom for each and
every person, community and society, is confirmed by the foundational
international legal instruments and other documents. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “(e)veryone has
the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes
freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or
belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”[7]
Since the summer of 2010, as the Holy See’s
Representative to the UN, I have labored alongside many people of good will to
bring an end to the suffering in the world. The religious persecution of
Christians throughout the Middle East looms large in this theatre of suffering.
The UN General Assembly addresses the question in certain resolutions, which we
have a hand in negotiating.
However, these noble efforts
fail to receive the profile they justly deserve on the world stage. Only Member
States, especially those with leadership profiles like the United States, can
take decisive steps to ensure that the non-derogable human right of religious
liberty becomes more robustly protected worldwide. The self-evident truths underlying healthy
democracy – truths upon which both President Jefferson and the Church agree –
require as much. The religious freedom which the law is expected to protect and
promote abides no mere passive toleration but requires, rather, that States
guarantee the basic preconditions that permit its free exercise by citizens in
both their private and public endeavours.
Allow me now to express my gratitude for efforts
this committee undertakes in promoting religious liberty and those it will
undertake in this issue to bring an end to further suffering and social
exclusion of Christians.
As I mentioned, I also leave for your further
consideration two documents of crucial concern to my testimony, namely: (1) The
Lineamenta (or Guidelines) for the
2009 Synod of Bishops Special Assembly for the Middle East,[8]
and (2) Pope Benedict XVI’s 2011 World Day of Peace Message entitled “Religious
Freedom, the Path to Peace.” [9]
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I express my
gratitude to you and to the Committee for this important opportunity to express
solidarity with all Christian believers in the harsh reality of the persecution
of their communities and adherents at this present time.
We look to your country to stand true to its own
Constitution and show its leadership
in every forum in working to end the erosion of this most fundamental of human
rights.
Thank you for
your attention.
[1]
Pope Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, 26 (2012).
[2]
Cf., e.g., Statement of the Holy See at the 23rd Session of
the Human Rights Council on Violence against Christians (May 27, 2013).
[3]
Pope Francis, Angelus Address (Dec. 26, 2013).
[4]
Address of His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI to the members of the Diplomatic Corps (Jan. 9, 2012).
[5]
Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the members of the Diplomatic
Corps (Jan. 7, 2013).
[6]
Pope Francis, Message of Pope Francis to His Holiness Bartolomaios I,
Ecumenical Patriarch, for the Feast of Saint Andrew (Nov. 25, 2013).
[7]
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18 (1948).
[8] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20120914_ecclesia-in-medio-oriente_en.html
[9] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20101208_xliv-world-day-peace_en.html
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