England, Ukraine

England: cardinal O’Brien on religious freedom A few days ago at a Mass celebrated at the Westminster Central Hall in London Cardinal Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien, archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh and primate of the Church of Scotland called on Scottish politicians and on the whole of society to uphold “freedom of religious expression”, a “basic human right, that is not upheld in our midst as widely and as completely as it should be”. In contemporary society, added card. O’Brien, “there is an increasing need for greater religious freedom”. Having recalled the “common vocation” of baptism into the Body of Christ, “whether Priest or Politician, Cardinal or Cabinet Minister”, the Scottish primate recalled to politicians the example of the Patron Saint, St. Thomas More, “who was prepared to give his life for God rather than betray his conscience”. “I am of course fully aware that no politicians in our country today, risks loss of life for holding to their beliefs – although that does indeed still exist in other countries at this present time”. However “our own Christians in politics do sometimes risk public ridicule”, His Eminence said. “It is reassuring to know” that there are so many in public life who are not afraid of being true to their consciences”. Cardinal O’Brien thus announced the upcoming launch of the “Declaration of Christian Conscience” titled “Westminster 2010”, the equivalent of the so-called “Manhattan Declaration”, promoted last year by the episcopate in the United States and endorsed by over 400 thousand US Christians. The “Westminster 2010” declaration, said the Cardinal, “calls upon all those in positions of leadership, responsibility and influence in the United Kingdom to pledge to respect, uphold and protect the rights of Christians to hold their beliefs and to act according to their Christian conscience”. His Eminence thus referred to Benedict XVI’s speech to politicians, diplomats, academics and business leaders delivered past September in Westminster Central Hall, quoting the central statement: “Religion is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation”. Hence the final exhortation “never be afraid to proclaim Christ so that in our acts and our words we live out the message of the Saviour of the world”.Ukraine: a meeting on relations with the Holy SeeUkraine is the link connecting Western and Eastern culture. In fact, it is viewed as a highly strategic Country on the European scenario. It emerged from the conference “Holy See and Ukraine: for a Christian Europe”, held in Rome on December 10 on the initiative of the Ukrainian embassy to the Holy See and of the Pontifical University Saint Thomas Aquinas. In the case of Ukraine “the religious, cultural and political perspectives are strictly interconnected”, underlined ambassador Tetiana Izhevska, who also acted as spokesperson of Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko. In a written message the minister recalled that the spiritual relationship with the West across history has always been a “priority of national leaders and of the Ukrainian population”. To the light of this vocation, the atrocity of Communist repression emerges stronger than ever: “The denial of God did not increase man’s freedom – pointed out Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches – in fact, it exposed mankind to various forms of slavery, lowering the vocation of political powers to the level of a brutal and oppressive force”. Today, “unlike the process of laicism that is being experienced across many European Countries, the growth of Ukraine proceeds at the same pace as the recovery of religious practice, promoted by a constitutional and legislative system which – explained the former president of the Ukrainian Statal Committee for religions and nationalities Yuriy Bugutskiy, – clearly considers freedom of conscience and religious organization as the nation’s founding elements. Cultivating Ukraine’s Christian roots and bringing them to the fore is all the more important today that economy and politics often follow logics that are distant from a clearly ethical code, notably in emerging economies”. “These values, a synthesis of Greek and Roman thought, reinterpreted to the light of the Holy Scriptures, were left to rust over the past centuries – concluded the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation Msgr. Rino Fisichella – and they risk undergoing further deterioration caused not by the passing of the years but by the decay of cultural and legislative phenomena undermining the very social fabric”. A round table was held during the conference, chaired by the dean of the Faculty of Canon Law of Angelicum Atheneum, Miroslav Konstank Adam.