The right and the duty

The Parliament of the Republic of Slovenia approved the new law on religious freedom on 2 February. During the period in which we were awaiting the approval of the bill, the Slovene mass media began a campaign of attacks against the Catholic Church, accusing her of maintaining a privileged position among the other Churches and in general in civil society. These accusations are devoid of juridical foundation. They are based, instead, on the ideology of the former Communist regime and the new liberalism that recognizes a kind of mirror for the examination of conscience in Catholic doctrine and in Christianity itself. The law on religious freedom was supported not only by the Catholic Church, to which over 80% of the Slovene population belongs, but also by the majority of the Churches and the new religious movements. The new law guarantees religious freedom in conformity with European and international conventions. The Slovene Bishops’ Conference has expressed its own satisfaction about the approval of the new law, even though it is aware of the fact that it fails properly to tackle all the particular situations and questions that regard the individual Churches. The law gives a positive content to the constitutional definition of the separation of the Church and the religious movements; it is in tune with the draft European Constitutional Treaty, already ratified in Slovenia, in its affirmation that the Eu shall pledge to maintain an open, transparent and ongoing dialogue with the Churches and religious movements; and it provides the legislative basis for the construction of positive relations between Church and State. The most significant contribution that the provision makes to the Slovene reality is the definition of the Churches and religious movements as socially useful organizations that contribute to the development of society. The right of existing, of developing and of expressing one’s own Christian identity forms an integral part of human rights based on the dignity of man. With a view to the future survival of the continent, Europe and its political communities must respect human rights, among which a special role is assumed by respect for religious freedom and, consequently, the right of parents to ensure their children of a complete religious education in conformity with their own moral convictions. Slovenia is the only European state in which schools make no provision for religious education. Inserting the Christian roots of Europe in the European Constitutional Treaty, or the fact that the individual countries guarantee religious freedom at the constitutional level, is not in itself enough without the concrete support of politicians. Christians in Europe cannot merely recall the lack of respect for human rights and curbs on religious freedom. They ought, instead, to ask themselves how in practice to inculturate the Gospel and how far the World of God lies at the foundation of social development. On the basis of the mission they received in baptism, Christians are called to the search for the truth and the life lived according to the truth. In everything he does, emphasized Benedict XVI in his address to the participants at the general assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Life, on 24 February, man has the duty to follow what he knows to be right and good. Each of us is called above all to base ours action on the solid foundation of the truth and to distinguish right from wrong, even where the social environment, cultural pluralism and the interests linked to it fail to help.