Robaird O’Cearbhaill
Hong Kong Correspondent
The neutral, US NGO, Pew Research Center, monitoring religious intolerance in 198 countries in its last 10-year report, said national persecutions of religions increased, to “an all-time high” in 187 countries, but in 128 countries, the highest total was against Christians.
More recently, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said at a Rome conference that religious liberty is “a hallmark of the diplomatic activity of the Holy See. It is time that we reflect more seriously about the root of ‘intolerance’ in such situations and the shrinking public space for dialogue for and with those that practice their beliefs openly. Indeed, the degree of respect for freedom of religion in the public sphere is a clear indicator of the health of any society, and, it follows, therefore, that it is also a ‘litmus test’ for the level of respect that exists for all other fundamental human rights as well. Attacks on religious freedom are often driven by fear and ideology.”
He added that “the intolerant voices of the politically correct … silence and condemn those religious beliefs, traditions and practices that clash with their progressive ideology, labelling them as ‘hateful’ and ‘intolerant.’” Moreover, he said that “sadly, we are witnessing a growing number of examples where this freedom is being violated, even forcefully so by civil legislation, which effectively amounts to an attack on the dignity of the human person.”
Pew’s research stated that: “Government restrictions on religion have increased globally between in all four categories studied: favoritism of religious groups, general laws and policies restricting religious freedom, harassment of religious groups, and limits on religious activity. The most common types of restrictions globally have consistently been the first two. Governments often enshrine favoritism toward a certain religious group or groups in their constitutions or basic laws. And general laws and policies restricting religious freedom can cover a wide range of restrictions, including a requirement that religious groups register in order to operate. But one of the more striking increases involved the category of government limits on religious activities”.
This widespread intolerance internationally needs to meet with the spirit of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Fratelli tutti (All Brothers), which seeks, as he wrote, a “culture of encounter. I very much desire that, in this time that we are given to live, recognizing the dignity of every human person, we can revive among all a worldwide aspiration to fraternity.”
The Pope lamented the throwaway culture which lacks value given to the vulnerable, the sick, the poor and the old. He also notes that “instances of a myopic, extremist, resentful and aggressive nationalism are on the rise.”
Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the 300 million Eastern Orthodox Catholics as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, concords with the Pope’s vision of fraternity, comprehensive goodwill and love within mankind.
In an interview in Rome for Vatican News, he said, “We completely agree with His Holiness’ invitation and challenge to abandon indifference or even the cynicism that governs our ecological, political, economic and social life in general, including our self-centred form of unity, and to dream of our world as a united human family, in which we are all brothers and sisters without exception. In this spirit we express the hope and hope that the Encyclical Fratelli tutti will prove to be a source of inspiration and fruitful dialogue through the taking of decisive initiatives and cross-cutting actions on an inter-Christian, inter-religious and pan-human level. Even before we learned about our brother Pope Francis’ Encyclical Fratelli tutti, we were certain that it would be another example of his unshakeable interest in man, ‘beloved by God,’ through the manifestation of solidarity with all ‘the weary and burdened’ and the needy, and that it would contain concrete proposals to face the great challenges of the moment, inspired by the inexhaustible source of Christian tradition, and emerging from his heart full of love. With his acute humanistic, social and spiritual sense, Pope Francis identifies and names the ‘shadows’ in the modern world. We speak of ‘modern sins,’ although we like to emphasize that the original sin did not occur in our time and in our age. We do not idealize the past at all. Rightly, however, we are disturbed by the fact that modern technical and scientific developments have strengthened the ‘hubris’ of man. The achievements of science do not respond to our fundamental existential quests, nor have they eliminated them. We also note that scientific knowledge does not penetrate the depths of the human soul. We know it, but act as if we do not.’’
The Patriarch reacted also to Pope Francis in the Encyclical on economic injustice of the very rich, a few dozen who own more than half of the world’s people, the very poor. “Economic development has not reduced the gap between the rich and the poor. Rather, it has prioritized profit, to the detriment of the protection of the weak, and contributes to the exacerbation of environmental problems. And politics has become the servant of the economy. Human rights and international law are elaborated and serve purposes alien to justice, freedom and peace. The problem of refugees, terrorism, state violence, humiliation of human dignity, modern forms of slavery and the Covid-19 epidemic are now putting politics before new responsibilities and erasing its pragmatic logic.” Patriarch Bartholomew was asked too, what solutions Christianity has to these challenges of great, unfair, social inequality and religious intolerance.
“The Church’s proposal of life is the trajectory towards ‘one thing is necessary,’ and this is love, openness to the other and the culture of persons in solidarity. Before the modern arrogant ‘man-god’ we preach the ‘God-Man.’ In the face of ‘economicism,’ we give way to the ecological economy and economic activity based on social justice. We oppose the policy of ‘might makes right,’ with the principle of respect for the inalienable rights of citizens and international law. In the face of the ecological crisis, we are called to respect creation, simplicity and awareness of our responsibility to give the next generation an intact natural environment. Our effort to address these problems is indispensable, but we know that he who works through us is the God who is the friend of men.” Moreover the Orthodox leader commented also on the significance why Pope Francis brought in the Good Samaritan story.
“Christ connects, in particular, the ‘first and great commandment’ of love for God with the ‘second commandment similar to the first’ commandment of love of neighbour (Mt. 22:36 – 40). He who does not love, has not known God” (Jn. 4, 8). The parable of the Good Samaritan is close to the parable of the Judgment (Mt. 25, 31 – 46), it is (Lk. 10, 25 – 37) the biblical text, which reveals to us the whole truth of the commandment of love. In this parable, the Priest and the Levite represent religion, which is closed in itself, it is only concerned with keeping the ‘law’ unchanged, ignoring and pharisaically neglecting the ‘most serious prescriptions of the law’ (Mt. 23, 23), love and support for one’s neighbour.”
The Patriarch was asked too how we can all feel as brothers and sisters, and why is it good for humanity? “The Christians of the nascent Church called each other ‘brothers.’ This spiritual and Christ-centered fraternity is deeper than natural kinship. For Christians, however, brothers and sisters are not only members of the Church, but all peoples. The Word of God has taken on human nature and united everything in itself. Just as all human beings are God’s creation, so all have been included in the plan of salvation. The love of the believer has no boundaries and limits. In fact, it embraces the whole of creation, it is ‘the burning of the heart for the whole of creation’ (Isaac the Syrian). Love for the brethren is always incomparable. It is not an abstract feeling of sympathy towards humanity, which usually ignores the neighbour. The dimension of personal communion and fraternity distinguishes Christian love and fraternity from abstract humanism.” (Photo: Vatican News)
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