Motivated by the painful thought that “in some areas of the world it is impossible to profess one’s religion freely except at the risk of life and personal liberty”, in his 44th message for the World Day of Peace the German Pontiff highlighted the importance of promoting, strengthening and defending the natural right of religious freedom.

“Religious freedom expresses what is unique about the human person, for it allows us to direct our personal and social life to God, in whose light the identity, meaning and purpose of the person are fully understood.”

The right to publicly express one’s religious convictions is deeply embedded in the human dignity of every man and woman and the state is duty-bound to safeguard it all costs. “Respect for essential elements of human dignity, such as the right to life and the right to religious freedom, is a condition for the moral legitimacy of every social and legal norm”. Religious freedom advocates moral freedom.

“Openness to truth and perfect goodness, openness to God, is rooted in human nature; it confers full dignity on each individual and is the guarantee of full mutual respect between persons. Religious freedom should be understood … as an ability to order one’s own choices in accordance with truth.”

Religious freedom inspires and champions religious education. For the Holy Father, the latter makes humanity a universal fraternity.

“Religious education is the highway which leads new generations to see others as their brothers and sisters, with whom they are called to journey and work together so that all will feel that they are living members of the one human family, from which no one is to be excluded.”

The family is the prime educator for such a global community. “The family, the first cell of human society, remains the primary training ground for harmonious relations at every level of coexistence, human, national and international.”

Religious freedom brings forth a solid political and juridical culture. “It is an essential good: each person must be able freely to exercise the right to profess and manifest, individually or in community, his or her own religion or faith, in public and in private, in teaching, in practice, in publications, in worship and in ritual observances.” Politically, “it is [also] an essential element of a constitutional state; [inasmuch as] it cannot be denied without at the same time encroaching on all fundamental rights and freedoms, since it is their synthesis and keystone.”

Since “religion … make[s] an effective contribution to the promotion of the common good” it “reinforces social cohesion, integration and solidarity”. “Religion is a positive driving force for the building of civil and political society.” Thanks to our charity and faith, we Christians are specifically urged “to offer a valuable contribution to the laborious and stimulating pursuit of justice, integral human development and the right ordering of human affairs”.

In view of the ever-growing malicious threats to religious freedom, assiduously posed by fundamentalism and secularism, “the great religions can serve as an important factor of unity and peace for the human family”. Thus, interreligious dialogue as well as that carried out between the civil and religious institutions help “to create a measure of agreement about truth and goodness, and a moral consensus; both of these are fundamental to a just and peaceful coexistence”.

Religious freedom stands as a leading instrument for achieving peace in today’s world. If “the world needs God, … [together with the] universal, shared ethical and spiritual values”, the time has come to convincingly propose religious freedom as the “precious contribution” humanity can ever make “for the building of a just and peaceful social order at the national and international levels”.

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap