Pope Encourages Public Display of Religious Symbols
In a speech to partakers of a national convention organised by the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists on 9 December, Pope Benedict XVI said that God needs to be present in community life, and encouraged religious symbols to be present in public buildings such as schools, courthouses, hospitals and prisons.
by Jennifer Gold
Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2006, 7:47 (GMT)
In a speech to partakers of a national convention organised by the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists on 9 December, Pope Benedict XVI said that God needs to be present in community life, and encouraged religious symbols to be present in public buildings such as schools, courthouses, hospitals and prisons.
The Pope said that originally the term "lay status" had only indicated a person of Christian faith who was not part of the religious state or a member of the clergy. But he said that the term has now come to mean the opposite.
According to the AP, Pope Benedict said that nowadays "a lay status entails the exclusion of religious symbols from public places.
"The basis of such a concept is an a-religious vision of life, of thought and of morality; that is a vision where there is no room for God, for a mystery that transcends pure reason, for a moral law that has an absolute value."
He continued: "It is the job then, of all believers ... to help elaborate a concept of laicism that on the one hand gives God and His moral laws, Christ and His church the place it deserves in life ... and on the other affirms and respects the legitimate autonomy of terrestrial realities."
He said that like the church, religion must be recognised as a public, community presence.
The Pope also defended the church's right to take a moral stand on political issues, saying, "It is not unwarranted meddling in legislative activities on the part of the church. It's an affirmation and defence of the great values that give a sense to a person's life and preserve that person's dignity."
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Added: Tuesday, December 12, 2006, 13:05 (GMT)
Deeply worrying.
Is he advocating competing symbols (including the humanist "Happy Human"?) or is one to be dominant? Are we to approach one another declaring our differences?
How will the Church's influence be exercised? We have just seen the pressure exerted by the Catholic Church in the UK over its (state funded) schools - over what other issues will it similarly mobilise its forces?
The Pope's view of religion, morality, sprituality, mystery and humanity is dangerously narrow and absolutist.
As a humanist I view these things in a wider context. I welcome contributions from religions, I am also aware that the majority of people in this country do not base their view of life on religious belief of the Pope's kind. Archbishop Sentamu in his foreword to the book "Making Sense of Generation Y" acknowledges this, and the pamphlet "The Mind of Anglicans" published by Christian Research points to a significant number of Anglican clergy leaning this way ( I am also aware of this as a member of of the Sea of Faith Network).
It is time to build a richer view of humanity that all can contribute to and identify with. For my own part I try to contribute as a member of my local SACRE and as a committee member of my local secular society, Leicester Secular Society, the oldest such society in the world - next term we are having an eight-meeting Christian/Humanist dialogue oranised jointly with Christians Aware.
Allan Hayes, Leicester UK
