Holy See and U.S. co-host Vatican
Symposium
 |
| Vatican Symposium "Pathways to Achieving Human Dignity : Partnering with Faith-Based Organizations" (ANSA) |
“Pathways to Achieving Human Dignity: Partnering with
Faith-Based Organizations”, is both the title and theme of the one-day
Symposium, jointly sponsored by the Holy See’s Secretariat of State and the
U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.
By Vatican News
It was Pope Saint John Paul II and US President Ronald
Reagan who established formal diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the
United States in 1984.
35 years of diplomatic relations
The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop
Paul Gallagher, recalled that 35th anniversary in his opening
remarks at the Symposium. He quoted Pope Francis who, during his 2015 visit to
the United States, said: “The aim of our collaboration is to build a society
which is truly tolerant and inclusive”.
Religious Freedom
Archbishop Gallagher also referred to the Joint Declaration
on Human Fraternity, signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar on 4
February in Abu Dhabi. According to that Declaration, “religions must never
incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism. These tragic realities
are a deviation from religious teachings”. The document also calls for the
development of “an International network of religious leaders and people of
good will to build tolerance, fraternity and healthy pluralism”.
Protecting human rights
Archbishop Gallagher said the “principal emphasis with
regard to religious freedom should not be political or ideological. The main
concern should be to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms effectively
and to promote peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies in which people can
express their beliefs freely”.
Human trafficking
Another topic under discussion concerned how faith-based
organizations can cooperate in combatting the plague of human trafficking, something
Archbishop Gallagher called “one of the darkest and most reprehensible
realities in the world today”.
Present at the Vatican symposium were representatives of
Catholic organizations that already work for the liberation, rehabilitation and
reintegration of trafficked victims. “We need brave leaders to take appropriate
decisions to fight and gradually defeat this horrible crime against humanity”,
said the Archbishop.
Defending human dignity
United States Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, was also
present at the Vatican Symposium. When it comes to defending human dignity,
“the stakes today are arguably higher than they were even during the Cold War”,
he said, “because the threats to it are more diverse and more numerous”.
The roots of religious repression, he added, lie with
authoritarian regimes that “will never accept a power higher than their own”,
causing “assaults on human dignity”. Which is why “we must exercise our moral
voice to confront them”, he added. The most fundamental issues of human dignity
and religious freedom, said the U.S. Secretary of State, “transcend everyday
politics”.
Faith-based Organizations
In his closing remarks, the Vatican Secretary of State,
Cardinal Pietro Parolin acknowledged the participation of the faith-based organizations
present: the Community of Sant’Egidio, Aid to the Church in Need, the Adyan
Foundation, the AVSI Foundation, Caritas Internationalis, and Talitha Kum,
thanking them for their contribution.
Global challenges
“Peace, human dignity and social justice, fighting poverty
and promoting sustainable development”, said Cardinal Parolin, remain the
hallmarks of the Church’s cooperation with states and faith-based
organizations.
The Cardinal went on to stress how religious freedom is a
fundamental human right and how abuses in this field “remain one of the
greatest global challenges”.
Quoting Pope Francis, the Vatican Secretary of State said
that “taking away freedom of conscience is the first step to taking away
freedom of worship”. The challenges are many and great, he said, “but we face
them with faith and commitment. We know that God is with us when we engage to
promote human dignity”.
Pathways to human dignity
The United States Ambassador at Large for International
Religious Freedom is Sam Brownback. He too was at the Vatican Symposium on
“Pathways to Achieving Human Dignity”, and spoke to Vatican News about where he
believes those pathways are leading.
He also gave concrete suggestions about what local
communities can do to promote religious freedom: like “pushing your legislators
to stand up for religious freedom”, or following the example of some parishes
that have “helped rebuild churches destroyed in Iraq”, or “hosting those who
have experienced persecution”.
Moving Heaven and Earth
The Ambassador acknowledged the 35th anniversary
of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the United States, saying:
“When you get the U.S. Government and the Catholic Church working together
strongly in a particular area, like Pope Saint John Paul and Ronald Reagan did
– you literally move Heaven and Earth”.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét