a May 9 interview with French newspaper La Croix<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cStates must be secular. Confessional states end badly. That goes against the grain of history,\u201d he said. However, he also stressed that the separation of Church and state must be \u201caccompanied by a solid law guaranteeing religious freedom,\u201d calling this \u201ca framework for going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all equal as sons (and daughters) of God and with our personal dignity. However, everyone must have the freedom to externalize his or her own faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a Muslim woman wishes to wear a veil, she must be able to do so. Similarly, if a Catholic wishes to wear a cross. People must be free to profess their faith at the heart of their own culture not merely at its margins.\u201d<\/p>\n
He offered a \u201cmodest critique\u201d of France\u2019s system of \u201cla\u00efcit\u00e9,\u201d a strict separation of Church and state, saying while generally good, the policy is \u201cexaggerated\u201d in France.<\/p>\n
Rather than considering religions as a mere \u201csubculture,\u201d they must be accepted as \u201cfully-fledged cultures in their own right. I fear that this approach, which is understandable as part of the heritage of the Enlightenment, continues to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance needs to take a step forward on this issue in order to accept that openness to transcendence is a right for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what fascinates me about France,\u201d he continued. \u201cOn one hand, that exaggerated la\u00efcit\u00e9, the heritage of the French Revolution, and on the other hand, so many great saints.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Francis also spoke of the importance of ensuring individuals the right to conscientiously object to issues they believe to be against their deeply held beliefs.<\/p>\n
In response to how Catholics ought to defend their concerns on issues such as euthanasia or same-sex marriage in a secular government, the Pope said that it\u2019s up to each country\u2019s individual governing body to discuss, argue and explain their positions, because \u201cthat is how a society grows.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he emphasized that once a law has been adopted, \u201cthe state must also respect (people\u2019s) consciences.\u201d<\/p>\n
The right to conscientious objection must be legally recognized as a human right, he said. The same must also go for a government official, \u201cwho is a human person. The state must also take criticism into account. That would be a genuine form of la\u00efcit\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Francis said that Catholic arguments shouldn\u2019t be swept aside with the excuse that they \u201cspeak like a priest. No.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catholics, he said, \u201cbase themselves on the kind of Christian thinking that France has so remarkably developed,\u201d and ought to have a voice.<\/p>\n
Published May 16, the Pope\u2019s interview touched on a variety of other issues, such as clericalism, possible reconciliation with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), migration and fears surrounding Islam and terrorism.<\/p>\n
He said that despite his appeals to welcome incoming migrants, the question as to whether Europe can handle the increasing influx is \u201ca fair and responsible question because one cannot open the gates wide unreasonably.\u201d<\/p>\n
In order to properly deal with the problem, one must go to the root causes, he said, noting that migration is mainly caused due to wars in the Middle East and Africa, as well as a lack of development on the African continent.<\/p>\n
The worst welcome migrants fleeing these situations can receive is for their host countries \u201cto \u2018ghettoize\u2019 them,\u201d he said, stressing the need for proper integration.<\/p>\n
He noted how the terrorists who carried out the Brussels attacks were themselves Belgians and the children of migrants, \u201cbut they grew up in a ghetto\u2026This illustrates the need for Europe to rediscover its capacity to integrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
This need for integration is all the more important today, he said, \u201csince, as a result of a selfish search for well-being, Europe is experiencing the grave problem of a declining birth rate. A demographic emptiness is developing.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if Europe\u2019s fear of Islam \u2013 which in turn has caused hesitancy to accept migrants \u2013 is justified, Francis said in his opinion, there is not a fear of Islam in itself so much as a fear of ISIS and \u201cits war of conquest, which is partly drawn from Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the idea of conquest \u201cis inherent in the soul of Islam,\u201d but said that Jesus\u2019 commission to his disciples in the Gospel of Matthew to \u201cgo out to all nations\u201d could also be interpreted \u201cin terms of the same idea of conquest.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the face of Islamic terrorism, \u201cit would therefore be better to question ourselves about the way an overly Western model of democracy has been exported to countries such as Iraq, where a strong government previously existed. Or in Libya, where a tribal structure exists,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Francis said that ultimately \u201cco-existence between Christians and Muslims is still possible,\u201d and pointed to countries such as Argentina, \u201cwhere they co-habit on good terms,\u201d Lebanon and a pre-wartime Central Africa as examples.<\/p>\n
On the topic of reconciliation with the SSPX, Pope Francis said that Bishop Bernard Fellay, the head of the traditionalist group, is \u201ca man with whom one can dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not the case with others \u201cwho are a little strange, such as Bishop Williamson or others who have been radicalized,\u201d he said, expressing his belief that professed members \u201care Catholics on the way to full communion.\u201d<\/p>\n
A \u201cgood dialogue\u201d is currently taking place with the SSPX, he said, explaining that the proposal of a personal prelature would be possible solution for their full reconciliation with the Church, but stressed that before this is done, \u201cit will be necessary to establish a fundamental agreement with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Second Vatican Council has its value. We will advance slowly and patiently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In terms of a future trip to France, the Pope said he has recently received an invitation from French president Fran\u00e7ois Hollande as well as the local bishop\u2019s conference.<\/p>\n
However, he said that he doesn\u2019t know when a visit might take place since 2017 is an election year for France, and \u201cin general, the policy of the Holy See is not to organize such trips during these periods.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Vatican City, May 17, 2016 \/ 09:59 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- In a new interview focused heavily on migration and dialogue with Islam, Pope Francis touched on growing concerns surrounding the hot-button topic of religious freedom.<\/p>\n
While he admitted that sec…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\n
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