John Paul II: Dubious Legacy

This article comes from Deutsche Welle.

The point here is not to slander Karol Wojtyla.  He was certainly not the only one responsible for the Vatican's activity during his term as pontiff.  However, it is important to provide some measure of contrast to the wild praise that has been showered on him during the past week.
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Criticism grows as Pope John Paul II's beatification proceeds 

After more than 25 years as the leader of the Catholic Church, many of Pope John Paul II's followers want to see him made a saint. As the deceased pontiff comes closer to canonization, others are criticizing the Vatican.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims travelled to Rome this weekend for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, whose body was exhumed Friday in preparation for the event.

Leaders and delegates from around the world also headed to the Eternal City to look on as the Vatican conveys the title of "blessed" upon the late pontiff on Sunday.

Yet some voices from within the Church are calling the move to sanctify the former pope a mistake.

Thousands flocking to Rome

In John Paul's beatification ceremony - the third of four steps to canonization - the Catholic Church will recognize John Paul as being in Heaven and as able to intercede on behalf of those
who pray to him.

Some 500,000 people in total are expected to attend the Vatican ceremony, which will be relayed on giant screens around the Holy City. Of them, around 300,000 pilgrims are expected to come from outside the Italian capital.             

Sunday's ceremony was preceded on Saturday by a prayer vigil at the Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman stadium, where an estimated 200,000 pilgrims lit candles.

46-year-old Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, the French nun whose healing was recognized by the Vatican as the miracle needed for John Paul's beatification told pilgrims at the vigil how she attributed her inexplicable recovery from Parkinson's to the intercession of John Paul.

After the vigil, eight central Rome churches were to remain open all night for pilgrims to pray.

The Pope 'turned a blind eye'

While half a million are expected to attend the event, a support group for victims of pedophile priests on Friday urged the Vatican to slow down its rush to sanctify the late pope.

"The Church hierarchy can avoid rubbing more salt into these wounds by slowing down their hasty drive to confer sainthood on the pontiff," said Barbara Blaine, head of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) group.

"In more than 25 years as the most powerful religious figure on the planet, John Paul II did almost nothing to safeguard kids," she said.

Another critic of the pope, the Swiss theologian Hans Küng said that John Paul II was not a good role model for Catholics, saying he was "intolerant and opposed to dialog."

In 1979, Küng was stripped of his right to teach in the Catholic Church due to his questioning of the pope's infallibility.

Controversial guest

Of the world leaders to visit the Vatican for the event, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will likely draw the most attention.

Mugabe, who has been widely criticized for human rights abuses in his country, is banned from travel to the European Union, but the Vatican, unlike Italy, is not a member of the bloc.

The Zimbabwean president will travel through Rome; however, following pacts between Italy and the Vatican, people heading to the Vatican via Italy cannot be impeded.

Other leaders expected to attend include Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, Belgium's King Albert II, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

After the Mass, the faithful will be able to file past John Paul's casket, which will be on display inside St. Peter's Basilica and will later be given a new burial spot in a crypt near Michelangelo's Pieta.

Becoming a saint

The canonization process of the former pope was set in motion by current Pope Benedict XVI shortly after John Paul's death in 2005. In order for the Vatican to declare John Paul a saint, they must be convinced that he was worked at least two miracles.

In addition to the Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, thousands have sent their stories to the Vatican describing how they were helped by prayers to the late pope. Of these, 270 testimonies of presumed miracles have been selected to be investigated.

An unlikely relic

Pilgrims to Rome this weekend will also have the chance to see the former pope's bloodied vest from when he was shot in a 1981 assassination attempt.

"It's an incredibly moving relic: a symbol of faith but also of the pain, fear and suffering in those moments," said Sister Beatrice from the convent where the previously little-known item has been kept hidden.

The bloodied garment inscribed with the initials "J. P." was cut off the wounded pontiff in a hospital emergency room and cast aside as doctors rushed to save his life, Beatrice said.

It was picked up by a nurse, Anna Stanghellini, who stashed it in the back of a cupboard at her home, keeping it secret for years before she revealed it to Sister Beatrice in 2000.

The former pope, who survived the murder attempt, was known to his followers as a builder of bridges; he was considered by many instrumental to the establishment of democracy in his native Poland, as well as improving the Church's ties with Jews and Muslims.

Author: David Levitz (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

Editor: Andreas Illmer

Pope Our Goal is to Form "One Human Family"

This article comes from the Catholic News Agency.
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Pope prays for the 'one human family' desired by Christ

 

By Alan Holdren, Rome Correspondent

Vatican City, Jan 16, 2011 / 10:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Marking the 97th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the "migration experience" of the Church and hoped for a future where all people consider themselves part of "one human family."

The Son of God was a refugee himself, said the Pope in his message before the noon Angelus prayer on Jan. 16, a beautiful spring-like day in Rome.

Beginning from when Jesus was born and his parents fled to Egypt to protect his life, the Church has always lived the "migration experience," he said.

He pointed out that the World Day of Migrants and Refugees invites reflection on the experience of the many people today who abandon their nations "often ... in dramatic conditions" in search of better lives.

Christians sometimes "feel forced to leave" their homes but in other cases their voluntary movements from one place to another become a source of "missionary dynamism" for God's message, "traversing peoples and cultures and reaching new frontiers."

The international day to remember those in movement, he said, is also a day to think to "the goal of the great voyage of humanity."

The goal, he said, is that of "forming a single family ... with all the differences that enrich it, but without barriers, recognizing ourselves all as brothers."

He cited a pair of quotes from Second Vatican Council documents to illustrate the Church's vision. Quoting "Nostra aetate," the Pope said, “one is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth."

"The Church," he continued, with a passage from the document "Lumen gentium,” "in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race."

"For this," he said, "it is fundamental that Christians, despite being dispersed through the world and ... diverse by culture and traditions, be a single thing, as the Lord wishes."

He pointed to the Jan. 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity as an initiative with this scope in mind.  The Day of Jewish-Christian dialogue on Jan. 17 is also a "very meaningful" occasion that serves as a call back to "the importance of the common roots that unite Jews and Christians," he said.

He concluded his pre-Angelus address with a prayer that Mary intercede to bring about the full unity of all those who follow Christ.

Following the prayer, the Pope expressed his joy for the May 1 beatification of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and prayed for all those affected by recent flooding in Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Pope Invites Religious Leaders to World Summit

This article comes from the Catholic News Agency.
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Benedict XVI calls religious leaders to renew commitment to peace

Vatican City, Jan 1, 2011 / 01:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope invited religious leaders from around the world to Assisi, Italy to renew their commitment to peace.

Pope Benedict announced plans for the peace summit in his words before the Angelus on Jan. 1. The October gathering will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first World Day of Prayer for Peace, reported Vatican Radio.

The Pope's announcement came shortly after suicide bombers in Egypt killed 21 Coptic Christians leaving Mass on Jan. 1.

In addition to calling for the October meeting, Benedict XVI asked Catholics to pray “for peace throughout the world.”

“I invite all of you to join in heartfelt prayer to Christ the Prince of Peace for an end to violence and conflict wherever they are found.”

The Pontiff then prayed that those gathered receive “God’s abundant blessings” in 2011.

Lorenzo Valla: Part I

Below I have posted the first part of Lorenzo Valla's Discourse on the Forgery of the Donation of Constantine (1440).  I will be posting the rest of the discourse piecemeal over the next few days and perhaps weeks.  

Valla's work is an extremely enlightening one.


See my original post on the subject for the background information.


This document comes from the Hanover Historical Texts Project.
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THE DISCOURSE OF LORENZO VALLA ON THE
FORGERY OF THE ALLEGED
DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

I have published many books, a great many, in almost every branch of learning. Inasmuch as there are those who are shocked that in these I disagree with certain great writers already approved by long usage, and charge me with rashness and sacrilege, what must we suppose some of them will do now! How they will rage against me, and if opportunity is afforded how eagerly and how quickly they will drag me to punishment! For I am writing against not only the dead, but the living also, not this man or that, but a host, not merely private individuals, but the authorities. And what authorities! Even the supreme pontiff, armed not only with the temporal sword as are kings and princes, but with the spiritual also, so that even under the very shield, so to speak, of any prince, you cannot protect yourself from him; from being struck down by excommunication, anathema, curse. So if he was thought to have both spoken and acted prudently who said "I will not write against those who can write 'Proscribed,'" how much more would it seem that I ought to follow the same course toward him who goes far beyond proscription, who would pursue me with the invisible darts of his authority, so that I could rightly say, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" Unless perhaps we think the supreme pontiff would bear these attacks more patiently than would others. Far from it; for Ananias, the high priest, in the presence of the tribune who sat as judge, ordered Paul when he said he lived in good conscience to be smitten on the mouth; and Pashur, holding the same rank, threw Jeremiah into prison for the boldness of his speech. The tribune and the governor, indeed, were able and willing to protect the former, and the king the latter, from priestly violence. But what tribune, what governor, what king, even if he wanted to, could snatch me from the hands of the chief priest if he should seize me?

But there is no reason why this awful, twofold peril should trouble me and turn me from my purpose; for the supreme pontiff may not bind nor loose any one contrary to law and justice. And to give one's life in defense of truth and justice is the path of the highest virtue, the highest honor, the highest reward. Have not many undergone the hazard of death for the defense of their terrestrial fatherland? In the attainment of the celestial fatherland (they attain it who please God, not men), shall I be deterred by the hazard of death? Away then with trepidation, let fears far remove, let doubts pass away. With a brave soul, with utter fidelity, with good hope, the cause of truth must be defended, the cause of justice, the cause of God.

Nor is he to be esteemed a true orator who knows how to speak well, unless he also has the courage to speak. So let us have the courage to accuse him, whoever he is, that commits crimes calling for accusation. And let him who sins against all be called to account by the voice of one speaking for all. Yet perhaps I ought not to reprove my brother in public, but by himself. Rather, "Them that sin" and do not accept private admonition "rebuke before all, that others also may fear."  Or did not Paul, whose words I have just used, reprove Peter to his face in the presence of the church because he needed reproof? And he left this written for our instruction. But perhaps I am not a Paul that I should reprove a Peter. Yea, I am a Paul because I imitate Paul. Just as, and this is far greater, I become one in spirit with God when I diligently observe his commandments. Nor is any one made immune from chiding by an eminence which did not make Peter immune, and many others possessed of the same rank; for instance, Marcellus, who offered a libation to the gods, and Celestine [I] who entertained the Nestorian heresy, and certain even within our own memory whom we know were reproved, to say nothing of those condemned, by their inferiors, for who is not inferior to the Pope?

It is not my aim to inveigh against any one and write so-called Philippics against him-be that villainy far from me -- but to root out error from men's minds, to free them from vices and crimes by either admonition or reproof. I would not dare to say [that my aim is] that others, taught by me, should prune with steel the papal see, which is Christ's vineyard, rank with overabundant shoots, and compel it to bear rich grapes instead of meager wildings. When I do that, is there any one who will want to close either my mouth or his own ears, much less propose punishment and death? If one should do so, even if it were the Pope, what should I call him, a good shepherd, or a deaf viper which would not choose to heed the voice of the charmer, but to strike his limbs with its poisonous bite?

I know that for a long time now men's ears are waiting to hear the offense with which I charge the Roman pontiffs. It is, indeed, an enormous one, due either to supine ignorance, or to gross avarice which is the slave of idols, or to pride of empire of which cruelty is ever the companion. For during some centuries now, either they have not known that the Donation of Constantine is spurious and forged, or else they themselves forged it, and their successors walking in the same way of deceit as their eldershave defended as true what they knew to be false, dishonoring the majesty of the pontificate, dishonoring the memory of ancient pontiffs, dishonoring the Christian religion, confounding everything with murders, disasters and crimes. They say the city of Rome is theirs, theirs the kingdom of Sicily and of Naples, the whole of Italy, the Gauls, the Spains, the Germans, the Britons, indeed the whole West; for all these are contained in the instrument of the Donation itself. So all these are yours, supreme pontiff? And it is your purpose to recover them all? To despoil all kings and princes of the West of their cities or compel them to pay you a yearly tribute, is that your plan?

I, on the contrary, think it fairer to let the princes despoil you of all the empire you hold. For, as I shall show, that Donation whence the supreme pontiffs will have their right derived was unknown equally to Sylvester and to Constantine.

But before I come to the refutation of the instrument of the Donation, which is their one defense, not only false but even stupid, the right order demands that I go further back. And first, I shall show that Constantine and Sylvester were not such men that the former would choose to give, would have the legal right to give, or would have it in his power to give those lands to another, or that the latter would be willing to accept them or could legally have done so. In the second place, if this were not so, though it is absolutely true and obvious, [I shall show that in fact] the latter did not receive nor the former give possession of what is said to have been granted, but that it always remained under the sway and empire of the Caesars. In the third place, [I shall show that] nothing was given to Sylvester by Constantine, but to an earlier Pope (and Constantine had received baptism even before that pontificate), and that the grants were inconsiderable, for the mere subsistence of the Pope. Fourth, that it is not true either that a copy of the Donation is found in the Decretum [of Gratian], or that it was taken from the History of Sylvester; for it is not found in it or in any history, and it is comprised of contradictions, impossibilities, stupidities, barbarisms and absurdities. Further I shall speak of the pretended or mock donation of certain other Caesars. Then by way of redundance I shall add that even had Sylvester taken possession, nevertheless, he or some other pontiff having been dispossessed, possession could not be resumed after such a long interval under either divine or human law. Last [I shall show] that the possessions which are now held by the supreme pontiff could not in any length of time, be validated by prescription.

And so to take up the first point, let us speak first of Constantine, then of Sylvester.
It would not do to argue a public and quasi imperial case without more dignity of utterance than is usual in private cases. And so speaking as in an assembly of kings and princes, as I assuredly do, for this oration of mine will come into their hands, I choose to address an audience, as it were, face to face. I call upon you, kings and princes, for it is difficult for a private person to form a picture of a royal mind; I seek your thought, I search your heart, I ask your testimony. Is there any one of you who, had he been in Constantine's place, would have thought that he must set about giving to another out of pure generosity the city of Rome, his fatherland, the head of the world, the queen of states, the most powerful, the noblest and the most opulent of peoples, the victor of the nations, whose very form is sacred, and betaking himself thence to an humble little town, Byzantium; giving with Rome Italy, not a province but the mistress of provinces; giving the three Gauls; giving the two Spains; the Germans; the Britons; the whole West; depriving himself of one of the two eyes of his empire? That any one in possession of his senses would do this, I cannot be brought to believe.

What ordinarily befalls you that is more looked forward to, more pleasing, more grateful, than for you to increase your empires and kingdoms, and to extend your authority as far and wide as possible? In this, as it seems to me, all your care, all your thought, all your labor, night and day is expended. From this comes your chief hope of glory, for this you renounce pleasures; for this you subject yourselves to a thousand dangers; for this your dearest pledges, for this your own flesh you sacrifice with serenity. Indeed, I have neither heard nor read of any of you having been deterred from an attempt to extend his empire by loss of an eye, a hand, a leg, or any other member. Nay, this very ardor and this thirst for wide dominion is such that whoever is most powerful, him it thus torments and stirs the most. Alexander, not content to have traversed on foot the deserts of Libya, to have conquered the Orient to the farthest ocean, to have mastered the North, amid so much bloodshed, so many perils, his soldiers already mutinous and crying out against such long, such hard campaigns, seemed to himself to have accomplished nothing unless either by force or by the power of his name he should have made the West also, and all nations, tributary to him. I put it too mildly; he had already determined to cross the ocean, and if there was any other world, to explore it and subject it to his will. He would have tried, I think, last of all to ascend the heavens. Some such wish all kings have, even though not all are so bold. I pass over the thought how many crimes, how many horrors have been committed to attain and extend power, for brothers do not restrain their wicked hands from the stain of brothers' blood, nor sons from the blood of parents, nor parents from the blood of sons. Indeed, nowhere is man's recklessness apt to run riot further nor more viciously. And to your astonishment, you see the minds of old men no less eager in this than the minds of young men, childless men no less eager than parents, kings than usurpers.

But if domination is usually sought with such great resolution, how much greater must be the resolution to preserve it! For it is by no means so discreditable not to increase an empire as to impair it, nor is it so shameful not to annex another's kingdom to your own as for your own to be annexed to another's. And whenwe read of men being put in charge of a kingdom or of cities by some king or by the people, this is not done in the case of the chief or the greatest portion of the empire, but in the case of the last and least, as it were, and that with the understanding that the recipient should always recognize the donor as his sovereign and himself as an agent.
Now I ask, do they not seem of a base and most ignoble mind who suppose that Constantine gave away the better part of his empire? I say nothing of Rome, Italy, and the rest, but the Gauls where he had waged war in person, where for a long time he had been sole master, where he had laid the foundations of his glory and his empire! A man who through thirst for dominion had waged war against nations, and attacking friends and relatives in civil strife had taken the government from them, who had to deal with remnants of an opposing faction not yet completely mastered and overthrown; who waged war with many nations not only by inclination and in the hope of fame and empire but by very necessity, for he was harassed every day by the barbarians; who had many sons, relatives and associates; who knew that the Senate and the Roman people would oppose this act; who had experienced the instability of conquered nations and their rebellions at nearly every change of ruler at Rome; who remembered that after the manner of other Caesars he had come into power, not by the choice of the Senate and the consent of the populace, but by armed warfare; what incentive could there be so strong and urgent that he would ignore all this and choose to display such prodigality?

They say, it was because he had become a Christian. Would he therefore renounce the best part of his empire? I suppose it was a crime, an outrage, a felony, to reign after that, and that a kingdom was incompatible with the Christian religion! Those who live in adultery, those who have grown rich by usury, those who possess goods which belong to another, they after baptism are wont to restore the stolen wife, the stolen money, the stolen goods. If this be your idea, Constantine, you must restore your cities to liberty, not change their master. But that did not enter into the case; you were led to do as you did solely for the glory of your religion. As though it were more religious to lay down a kingdom than to administer it for the maintenance of religion! For so far as it concerns the recipients, that Donation will be neither honorable nor useful to them. But if you want to show yourself a Christian, to display your piety, to further the cause, I do not say of the Roman church, but of the Church of God, now of all times act the prince, so that you may fight for those who cannot and ought not to fight, so that by your authority you may safeguard those who are exposed to plots and injuries. To Nebuchadnezzar, to Cyrus, to Ahasuerus, and to many other princes, by the will of God, the mystery of the truth was revealed; but of none of them did God demand that he should resign his government, that he should give away part of his kingdom, but only that he should give the Hebrews their liberty and protect them from their aggressive neighbors. This was enough for the Jews; it will be enough for the Christians also. You have become a Christian, Constantine? Then it is most unseemly for you now as a Christian emperor to have less sovereignty than you had as an infidel. For sovereignty is an especial gift of God, to which even the gentile sovereigns are supposed to be chosen by God.

But he was cured of leprosy! Probably, therefore, he would have wished to show his gratitude and give back a larger measure than he had received. Indeed! Naaman the Syrian, cured by Elisha, wished merely to present gifts, not the half of his goods, and would Constantine have presented the half of his empire? I regret to reply to this shameless story as though it were undoubted and historical, for it is a reflection of the story of Naaman and Elisha; just as that other story about the dragon is a reflection of the fabulous dragon of Bel. But yielding this point, is there in this story any mention made of a "donation"? Not at all. But of this, more later.

He was cured of leprosy? He took on therefore a Christian spirit; he was imbued with the fear of God, with the love of God; he wished to honor him. Nevertheless I cannot be persuaded that he wished to give away so much; for, so far as I see, no one, either pagan, in honor of the gods, or believer, in honor of the living God, has resigned his empire and given it to priests. In sooth, of the kings of Israel none could be brought to permit his people to go, according to the former custom, to sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem; for fear lest, moved by that solemn religious ceremony and by the majesty of the temple, they should return to the king of Judah from whom they had revolted. And how much more is Constantine represented to have done! And that you may not flatter yourself with the cure of leprosy, [let me say that] Jeroboam was the first one chosen by God to be king of Israel and indeed from a very low estate, which to my mind is more than being healed of leprosy; nevertheless he did not presume to entrust his kingdom to God. And will you have Constantine give to God a kingdom which he had not received from him, and that, too, when he would offend his sons (which was not the case with Jeroboam), humiliate his friends, ignore his relatives, injure his country, plunge everybody into grief, and forget his own interests!

But if, having been such a man as he was, he had been transformed as it were into another man, there would certainly not have been lacking those who would warn him, most of all his sons, his relatives, and his friends. Who does not think that they would have gone at once to the emperor? Picture them to yourself, when the purpose of Constantine had become known, trembling, hastening to fall with groans and tears at the feet of the prince, and saying:

"Is it thus that you, a father hitherto most affectionate toward your sons, despoil your sons, disinherit them, disown them? We do not complain of the fact that you choose to divest yourself of the best and largest part of the empire so much as we wonder at it. But we do complain that you give it to others to our loss and shame. Why do you defraud your children of their expected succession to the empire, you who yourself reigned in partnership with your father? What have we done to you? By what disloyalty to you, to our country, to the Roman name or the majesty of the empire, are we deemed to deserve to be deprived of the chiefest and best part of our principality; that we should be banished from our paternal home, from the sight of our native land, from the air we are used to, from our ancient ties! Shall we leave our household gods, our shrines, our tombs, exiles, to live we know not where, nor in what part of the earth?

"And we, your kindred, your friends, who have stood so often with you in line of battle, who have seen brothers, fathers, sons, pierced and writhing under hostile sword, and have not been dismayed at the death of others, but were ourselves ready to seek death for your sake, why are we now deserted one and all by you! We who hold the public offices of Rome, who govern or are destined to govern the cities of Italy, the Gauls, the Spains, and the other provinces, are all of us to be deposed? Are all of us to be ordered into private life? Or will you compensate us elsewhere for this loss? And how can you, when such a large part of the world has been given to another? Will your majesty put the man who had charge of a hundred peoples over one? How could you have conceived such a plan? How is it that you have suddenly become oblivious of your subjects, so that you have no consideration for your friends, nor your kindred, nor your sons? Would that it had been our lot, your Majesty, while your honor and your victory were unimpaired, to fall in battle rather than to see this!

"You have the power, indeed, to do with your empire what you will, and even with us, one thing however excepted, which we will resist to the death; we will not give up the worship of the immortal gods,-just for the sake of a conspicuous example to others, that you may know how much that bounty of yours will be worth to the Christian religion. For if you do not give your empire to Sylvester, we are willing to be Christians with you, and many will imitate us. But if you do give it, not only will we not endure to become Christians, but you will make the name hateful, detestable, excretable to us, and you will put us in such a position that at last you will pity our life and our death, nor will you accuse us, but only yourself, of obstinacy."

[TO BE CONTINUED]

The Donation of Constantine and Papal Ambition

Today I publish an ancient Latin document from the first millennium AD.  It is called the Donation of Constantine.  

Sometime in the eighth century, Pope Stephen II ordered his secretaries to forge a document in the name of the Roman Emperor Constantine (who had been dead for hundreds of years) bequeathing the city of Rome to the Roman popes based on their spiritual kingship over the earth.  Stephen used the document to exercise sovereign authority over the barbarian kings, and subsequent popes over the next seven centuries used it to dominate their worlds as well.

It was not until 1440 that a Catholic priest named Lorenzo Valla proved that the document was a fake.  

There are a few reasons I post this document:

1. It demonstrates that the Roman Catholic Church has been engaging in international politics for over a thousand years, making it the oldest continuously operating "state" in the world.
2. It shows that the Church has been using deceptive and illicit tactics for a very long time.
3. It reveals what the Roman popes desired and how they wanted the people to view them in medieval Europe.

The end of the document contains most of the interesting stuff. If you only read the yellow highlighted parts, you won't miss anything.

In the next few days I will publish parts of Lorenzo Valla's Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine.

This document comes from the Fordham Medieval Sourcebook.
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The Donation of Constantine (c.750-800)

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This is perhaps the most famous forgery in history. For centuries, until Lorenzo Valla proved it was forgery during the Renaissance it provided the basis for papal territorial and jurisdictional claims in Italy. Probably at least a first draft of it was made shortly after the middle of the eighth century in order to assist Pope Stephen II in his negotiations with the Frankish Mayor of the Palace, Pepin the Short. The Pope crossed the Alps to anoint the latter as king in 754, thereby enabling, the Carolingian family, to which Pepin belonged, to supplant the old Merovingian royal line which had become decadent and powerless and to become in law as well as in fact rulers of the Franks. In return, Pepin seems to have promised to give to the Pope those lands in Italy which the Lombards had taken from Byzantium. The promise was fulfilled in 756. Constantine's alleged gift made it possible to interpret Pepin's grant not as a benefaction but as a restoration.
 
In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, the Father, namely, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine in Christ Jesus, the Lord I God our Saviour, one of that same holy Trinity,-faithful merciful, supreme, beneficent, Alamannic, Gothic, Sarmatic, Germanic, Britannic, Hunic, pious, fortunate, victor and triumpher, always august:

To the most holy and blessed father of fathers Sylvester, bishop of the city of and to all his successors the pontiffs , who are about to sit upon Rome and pope, the chair of St. Peter until the end of time - also to all the most reverend and of God beloved catholic bishops, subjected by this our imperial decree throughout the whole world to this same holy, Roman church, who have been established now and in all previous times-grace, peace, charitv, rejoicing, long-suffering, mercv, be with you all from God the Father almighty and from Jesus Christ his Son and from the Holy Ghost.

Our most gracious serenity desires, in clear discourse, through the page of this our imperial decree, to bring to the knowledge of all the people in the whole world what things our Saviour and Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the most High Father, has most wonderfully seen fit to bring about through his holy apostles Peter and Paul and by the intervention of our father Sylvester, the highest pontiff and the universal pope. First, indeed, putting forth, with the inmost confession of our heart, for the purpose of instructing the mind of all of you, our creed which we have learned from the aforesaid most blessed father and our confessor, Svlvester the universal pontiff; and then at length announcing the mercy of God which has been poured upon us.

For we wish you to know, as we have signified through our former imperial decree, that we have gone away, from the worship of idols, from mute and deaf images made by hand, from devilish contrivances and from all the pomps of Satan; and have arrived at the pure faith of the Christians, which is the true light and everlasting life. Believing, according to what he-that same one, our revered supreme father and teacher, the pontiff Sylvester - has taught us, in God the Father, the almighty maker of Heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord God, through whom all things are created; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and vivifier of the whole creature. We confess these, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in such way that, in the perfect Trinity, there shall also be a fulness of divinity and a unity of power. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and these three are one in Jesus Christ.

There are therefore three forms but one power. For God, wise in all previous time, gave forth from himself the word through which all future ages were to be born; and when, by that sole word of His wisdom, He formed the whole creation from nothing, He was with it, arranging all things in His mysterious secret place.

Therefore, the virtues of the Heavens and all the material part of the earth having been perfected, by the wise nod of His wisdom first creating man of the clay of the earth in His own image and likeness, He placed him in a paradise of delight. Him the ancient serpent and envious enemy, the devil, through the most bitter taste of the forbidden tree, made an exile from these joys; and, be being expelled, did not cease in many ways to cast his poisonous darts; in order that, turning the human race from the way of truth to the worship of idols, he might persuade it, namely to worship the creature and not the creator; so that, through them (the idols), he might cause those whom he might be able to entrap in his snares to be burned with him in eternal punishment. But our Lord, pitying His creature, sending ahead His holy prophets, announcing through them the light of the future life-the coming,' that is, of His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ-sent that same only begotten Son and Word of wisdom: He descending from Heaven on account of our salvation, being born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary,-the word was made flesh and d welt among us. He did not cease to be what He had been, but began to be what He had not been, perfect God and perfect man: as God, performing miracles; as man, sustaining human sufferings. We so learned Him to be very man and very God by the preaching of our father Sylvester, the supreme pontiff, that we can in no wise doubt that He was very, God and very man. And, having chosen twelve apostles, He shone with miracles before them and an innumerable multitude of people. We confess that this same Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets; that He suffered, was crucified, on the third day arose from the dead according to the Scriptures; was received into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. Whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. For this is our orthodox creed, placed before us by our most blessed father Sylvester, the supreme pontiff. We exhort, therefore, all people, and all the different nations, to hold, cherish and preach this faith; and, in the name of the Holy Trinity, to obtain the grace of baptism; and, with devaout heart, to adore the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns through infinite ages; whom Sylvester our father, the universal pontiff, preaches. For He himself, our Lord God, having pity on me a sinner, sent His holy apostles to visit us, and caused the light of his splendour to shine upon us. And do ye rejoice that I, having been withdrawn from the shadow, have come to the true light and to the knowledge of truth. For, at a time when a mighty and filthy leprosy had invaded all the flesh of my, body, and the care was administered of many physicians who came together, nor by that of any one of them did I achieve health: there came hither the priests of the Capitol, saving to me that a font should be made on the Capitol, and that I should fill this with the blood of innocent infants; and that, if I bathed in it while it was warm, I might be cleansed. And very many innocent infants having been brought together according to their words, when the sacrilegious priests of the pagans wished them to be slaughtered and the font to be filled with their blood: Our Serenity perceiving the tears of the mothers, I straightway abhorred the deed. And, pitying them, I ordered their own sons to be restored to them; and, giving them vehicles and gifts, sent them off rejoicing to their own. That day having passed therefore-the silence of night having come upon us-when the time of sleep had arrived, the apostles St. Peter and Paul appear, saying to me: "Since thou hast placed a term to thy vices, and hast abhorred the pouring forth of innocent blood, we are sent by, Christ the Lord our God, to give to thee a plan for recovering thy health. Hear, therefore, our warning, and do what we indicate to thee. Sylvester - the bishop of the city of Rome - on Mount Serapte, fleeing they persecutions, cherishes the darkness with his clergy in the caverns of the rocks. This one, when thou shalt have led him to thyself, will himself show thee a pool of piety; in which, when he shall have dipped thee for the third time, all that strength of the leprosy will desert thee. And, when this shall have been done, make this return to thy Saviour, that by thy order through the whole world the churches may be restored. Purify thyself, moreover, in this way, that, leaving all the superstition of idols, thou do adore and cherish the living and true God -- who is alone and true -- and that thou attain to the doing of His will.

Rising, therefore, from sleep, straightway I did according to that which I bad been advised to do by, the holy apostles; and, having summoned that excellent and benignant father and our enlightener - Svlvester the universal pope-I told him all the words that had been taught me by the holy apostles; and asked him who where those gods Peter and Paul. But he said that they where not really called gods, but apostles of our Saviour the Lord God Jesus Christ. And again we began to ask that same most blessed pope whether he had some express image of those apostles; so that, from their likeness, we might learn that they were those whom revelation bad shown to us. Then that same venerable father ordered the images of those same apostles to be shown by his deacon. And, when I had looked at them, and recognized, represented in those images, the countenances of those whom I had seen in my dream: with a great noise, before all my satraps*, I confessed that they were those whom I had seen in my dream.
[* there were no such Roman officials]

Hereupon that same most blessed Sylvester our father, bishop of the city of Rome, imposed upon us a time of penance-within our Lateran palace, in the chapel, in a hair garment,-so that I might obtain pardon from our Lord God Jesus Christ our Saviour by vigils, fasts, and tears and prayers, for all things that had been impiously done and unjustly ordered by me. Then through the imposition of the hands of the clergy, I came to the bishop himself; and there, renouncing the pomps of Satan and his works, and all idols made by hands, of my own will before all the people I confessed: that I believed in God the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. And, the font having been blessed, the wave of salvation purified me there with a triple immersion. For there 1, being placed at the bottom of the font, saw with my own eyes a band from Heaven touching me; whence rising, clean, know that I was cleansed from all the squalor of leprosy. And, I being raised from the venerable font-putting on white raiment, be administered to me the sign of the seven-fold holy Spirit, the unction of the holy oil; and he traced the sign of the holy cross on my brow, saying: God seals thee with the seal of His faith in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to signalize thy faith. All the clergy replied: "Amen." The bishop added, "peace be with thee."

And so, on the first day after receiving the mystery of the holy baptism, and after the cure of my body from the squalor of the leprosy, I recognized that there was no other God save the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; whom the most blessed Sylvester the pope doth preach; a trinity in one, a unity in three. For all the gods of the nations, whom I have worshipped up to this time, are proved to be demons; works made by the hand of men; inasmuch as that same venerable father told to us most clearly how much power in Heaven and on earth He, our Saviour, conferred on his apostle St. Peter, when finding him faithful after questioning him He said: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock (petrani) shall I build My Church, and the gates of bell shall not prevail against it." Give heed ye powerful, and incline the ear of .your hearts to that which the good Lord and Master added to His disciple, saying: and I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven." This is very wonderful and glorious, to bind and loose on earth and to have it bound and loosed in Heaven.

And when, the blessed Sylvester preaching them, I perceived these things, and learned that by the kindness of St. Peter himself I had been entirely restored to health: I together with all our satraps and the whole senate and the nobles and all the Roman people, who are subject to the glory of our rule -considered it advisable that, as on earth he (Peter) is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God, so the pontiffs, who are the representatives of that same chief of the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire the power of a supremacy greater than the earthly clemency of our imperial serenity is seen to have had conceded to it,-we choosing that same prince of the apostles, or his vicars, to be our constant intercessors with God. And, to the extent of our earthly imperial power, we decree that his holy Roman church shall be honoured with veneration; and that, more than our empire and earthly throne, the most sacred seat of St. Peter shall be gloriously exalted; we giving to it the imperial power, and dignity of glory, and vigour and honour.

And we ordain and decree that he shall have the supremacy as well over the four chief seats Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople* and Jerusalem, as also over all the churches of God in the -whole world. And he who for the time being shall be pontiff of that holy Roman church shall be more exalted than, and chief over, all the priests of the whole world; and, according to his judgment, everything which is to be provided for the service of God or the stability of the faith of the Christians is to be administered. It is indeed just, that there the holy law should have the seat of its rule where the founder of holy laws, our Saviour, told St. Peter to take the chair of the apostleship; where also, sustaining the cross, he blissfully took the cup of death and appeared as imitator of his Lord and Master; and that there the people should bend their necks at the confession of Christ's name, where their teacher, St. Paul the apostle, extending his neck for Christ, was crowned with martyrdom. There, until the end, let them seek a teacher, where the holy body of the teacher lies; and there, prone and humiliated, let them perform I the service of the heavenly king, God our Saviour Jesus Christ, where the proud were accustomed to serve under the rule of an earthly king.
[*at the time of the supposed date of the document, Constantinople had not been founded. Its position as "chief seat" was two centuries away.]

Meanwhile we wish all the people, of all the races and nations throughout the whole world, to know: that we have constructed within our Lateran palace, to the same Saviour our Lord God Jesus Christ, a church with a baptistry from the foundations. And know that we have carried on our own shoulders from its foundations, twelve baskets weighted with earth, according to the number of the holy apostles. Which holy church we command to be spoken of, cherished, venerated and preached of, as the head and summit of all the churches in the whole world-as we have commanded through our other imperial decrees. We have also constructed the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, chiefs of the apostles, which we have enriched with gold and silver; where also, placing their most sacred bodies with great honour, we have constructed their caskets of electrum, against which no force of the elements prevails. And we have placed a cross of purest gold and precious gems on each of their caskets, and fastened them with golden keys. And on these churches for the endowing of divine services we have conferred estates, and have enriched them with different objects; and, through our sacred imperial decrees, we have granted them our gift of land in the East as well as in the West; and even on the northern and southern coast;-namely in Judea, Greece, Asia, Thrace, Africa and Italy and the various islands: under this condition indeed, that all shall be administered by the hand of our most blessed father the pontiff Sylvester and his successors.

For let all the people and the nations of the races in the whole world rejoice with us; we exhorting all of you to give unbounded thanks, together with us, to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For He is God in Heaven above and on earth below, who, visiting us through His holy apostles, made us worthy to receive the holy sacrament of baptism and health of body. In return for which, to those same holy apostles, my masters, St. Peter and St. Paul; and, through them, also to St. Sylvester, our father,-the chief pontiff and universal pope of the city of Rome,-and to all the pontiffs his successors, who until the end of the world shall be about to sit in the seat of St. Peter: we concede and, by this present, do confer, our imperial Lateran palace, which is preferred to, and ranks above, all the palaces in the whole world; then a diadem, that is, the crown of our head, and at the same time the tiara; and, also, the shoulder band,-that is, the collar that usually surrounds our imperial neck; and also the purple mantle, and crimson tunic, and all the imperial raiment; and the same rank as those presiding over the imperial cavalry; conferring also the imperial sceptres, and, at the same time, the spears and standards; also the banners and different imperial ornaments, and all the advantage of our high imperial position, and the glory of our power.

And we decree, as to those most reverend men, the clergy who serve, in different orders, that same holy Roman church, that they shall have the same advantage, distinction, power and excellence by the glory of which our most illustrious senate is adorned; that is, that they shall be made patricians and consuls,-we commanding that they shall also be decorated with the other imperial dignities. And even as the imperial soldiery, so, we decree, shall the clergy of the holy Roman church be adorned. And I even as the imperial power is adorned by different offices-by the distinction, that is, of chamberlains, and door keepers, and all the guards,-so we wish the holy Roman church to be adorned. And, in order that the pontifical glory may shine forth more fully, we decree this also: that the clergy of this same holy Roman church may use saddle cloths of linen of the whitest colour; namely that their horses may be adorned and so be ridden, and that, as our senate uses shoes with goats' hair, so they may be distinguished by gleaming linen; in order that, as the celestial beings, so the terrestrial may be adorned to the glory of God. Above all things, moreover, we give permission to that same most holy one our father Sylvester, bishop of the city of Rome and pope, and to all the most blessed pontiffs who shall come after him and succeed him in all future times-for the honour and glory of Jesus Christ our Lord,-to receive into that great Catholic and apostolic church of God, even into the number of the monastic clergy, any one from our senate, who, in free choice, of his own accord, may wish to become- a cleric; no one at all presuming thereby to act in a haughty manner.

We also decreed this, that this same venerable one our father Sylvester, the supreme pontiff, and all the pontiffs his successors, might use and bear upon their heads-to the Praise of God and for the honour of St. Peter-the diadem; that is, the crown which we have granted him from our own head, of purest gold and precious gems. But he, the most holy pope, did not at all allow that crown of gold to be used over the clerical crown which he wears to the glory of St. Peter; but we placed upon his most holy head, with our own hands, a tiara of gleaming splendour representing the glorious resurrection of our Lord. And, holding the bridle of his horse, out of reverence for St. Peter we performed for him the duty of groom; decreeing that all the pontiffs his successors, and they alone, may use that tiara in processions.

In imitation of our own power, in order that for that cause the supreme pontificate may not deteriorate, but may rather be adorned with power and glory even more than is the dignity of an earthly rule: behold we-giving over to the oft-mentioned most blessed pontiff, our father Sylvester the universal pope, as well our palace, as has been said, as also the city of Rome and all the provinces, districts and cities of Italy or of the western regions; and relinquishing them, by our inviolable gift, to the power and sway of himself or the pontiffs his successors-do decree, by this our godlike charter and imperial constitution, that it shall be (so) arranged; and do concede that they (the palaces, provinces etc.) shall lawfully remain with the holy Roman church.

Wherefore we have perceived it to be fitting that our empire and the power of our kingdom should be transferred and changed to the regions of the East; and that, in the province of Byzantium, in a most fitting place, a city should be built in our name; and that our empire should there be established. For, where the supremacy of priests and the bead of the Christian religion has been established by a heavenly ruler, it is not just that there an earthly ruler should have jurisdiction.

We decree, moreover, that all these things which, through this our imperial charter and through other godlike commands, we have established and confirmed, shall remain uninjured and unshaken until the end of the world. Wherefore, before the living God, who commanded us to reign, and in the face of his terrible judgment, we conjure, through this our imperial decree, all the emperors our successors, and all our nobles, the satraps also and the most glorious senate, and all the people in the whole world now and in all times previously subject to our rule: that no one of them, in any way allow himself to oppose or disregard, or in any way seize, these things which, by our imperial sanction, have been conceded to the holy Roman church and to all its pontiffs. If anyone, moreover,-which we do not believe - prove a scorner or despiser in this matter, he shall be subject and bound over to eternal damnation; and shall feel that the holy chiefs of the apostles of God, Peter and Paul, will be opposed to him in the present and in the future life. And, being burned in the nethermost hell, he shall perish with the devil and all the impious.

The page, moreover, of this our imperial decree, we, confirming it with our own hands, did place above the venerable body of St. Peter chief of the apostles; and there, promising to that same apostle of God that we would preserve inviolably all its provisions, and would leave in our commands to all the emperors our successors to preserve them, we did hand it over, to be enduringly and happily possessed, to our most blessed father Sylvester the supreme pontiff and universal pope, and, through him, to all the pontiffs his successors -God our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ consenting.

And the imperial subscription: May the Divinity preserve you for many years, oh most holy and blessed fathers.

Given at Rome on the third day before the Kalends of April, our master the august Flavius Constantine, for the fourth time, and Galligano, most illustrious men, being consuls.

(From Zeumer's edition, published in Berlin in 1888, v. Brunner-Zeumer: "Die Constantinische Schenkungsurkunde") translated in Ernest F. Henderson, , Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages , (London: George Bell, 1910), pp. 319-329

English Text of Pope's World Day of Peace Message

The most ironic part about the Pope's World Day of Peace message is that he is preaching religious tolerance.

Let that sink in for a minute. The Roman Church. Preaching religious tolerance.
 
The Inquisition? The Crusades? The Counter-Reformation?
 
Anybody remember that stuff anymore?
-------------------------------------------------------------

Papal Message for 2011 Peace Day

"Religious Freedom Expresses What Is Unique About the Human Person"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 16, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is the the text of Benedict XVI's message for the 44th World Day of Peace, which will be observed Jan. 1. The theme for the day will be: "Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace." The Vatican press office released the message today.

* * *

1. At the beginning of the new year I offer good wishes to each and all for serenity and prosperity, but especially for peace. Sadly, the year now ending has again been marked by persecution, discrimination, terrible acts of violence and religious intolerance.

My thoughts turn in a special way to the beloved country of Iraq, which continues to be a theatre of violence and strife as it makes its way towards a future of stability and reconciliation. I think of the recent sufferings of the Christian community, and in particular the reprehensible attack on the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baghdad, where on 31 October two priests and over fifty faithful were killed as they gathered for the celebration of Holy Mass. In the days that followed, other attacks ensued, even on private homes, spreading fear within the Christian community and a desire on the part of many to emigrate in search of a better life. I assure them of my own closeness and that of the entire Church, a closeness which found concrete expression in the recent Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops. The Synod encouraged the Catholic communities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East to live in communion and to continue to offer a courageous witness of faith in those lands.

I offer heartfelt thanks to those Governments which are working to alleviate the sufferings of these, our brothers and sisters in the human family, and I ask all Catholics for their prayers and support for their brethren in the faith who are victims of violence and intolerance. In this context, I have felt it particularly appropriate to share some reflections on religious freedom as the path to peace. It is painful to think 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 other areas we see more subtle and sophisticated forms of prejudice and hostility towards believers and religious symbols. At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith. Many Christians experience daily affronts and often live in fear because of their pursuit of truth, their faith in Jesus Christ and their heartfelt plea for respect for religious freedom. This situation is unacceptable, since it represents an insult to God and to human dignity; furthermore, it is a threat to security and peace, and an obstacle to the achievement of authentic and integral human development.[1]

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. To deny or arbitrarily restrict this freedom is to foster a reductive vision of the human person; to eclipse the public role of religion is to create a society which is unjust, inasmuch as it fails to take account of the true nature of the human person; it is to stifle the growth of the authentic and lasting peace of the whole human family.

For this reason, I implore all men and women of good will to renew their commitment to building a world where all are free to profess their religion or faith, and to express their love of God with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their mind (cf. Mt 22:37). This is the sentiment which inspires and directs this Message for the XLIV World Day of Peace, devoted to the theme: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace.

A sacred right to life and to a spiritual life

2. The right to religious freedom is rooted in the very dignity of the human person,[2] whose transcendent nature must not be ignored or overlooked. God created man and woman in his own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27). For this reason each person is endowed with the sacred right to a full life, also from a spiritual standpoint. Without the acknowledgement of his spiritual being, without openness to the transcendent, the human person withdraws within himself, fails to find answers to the heart’s deepest questions about life’s meaning, fails to appropriate lasting ethical values and principles, and fails even to experience authentic freedom and to build a just society.[3]

Sacred Scripture, in harmony with our own experience, reveals the profound value of human dignity: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have established, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man, that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than God, and crowned him with glory and honour. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet" (Ps 8:3-6).

Contemplating the sublime reality of human nature, we can experience the same amazement felt by the Psalmist. Our nature appears as openness to the Mystery, a capacity to ask deep questions about ourselves and the origin of the universe, and a profound echo of the supreme Love of God, the beginning and end of all things, of every person and people.[4] The transcendent dignity of the person is an essential value of Judeo-Christian wisdom, yet thanks to the use of reason, it can be recognized by all. This dignity, understood as a capacity to transcend one’s own materiality and to seek truth, must be acknowledged as a universal good, indispensable for the building of a society directed to human fulfilment. 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 and mutual respect

3. Religious freedom is at the origin of 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, then, not merely as immunity from coercion, but even more fundamentally as an ability to order one’s own choices in accordance with truth.

Freedom and respect are inseparable; indeed, "in exercising their rights, individuals and social groups are bound by the moral law to have regard for the rights of others, their own duties to others and the common good of all".[5]

A freedom which is hostile or indifferent to God becomes self-negating and does not guarantee full respect for others. A will which believes itself radically incapable of seeking truth and goodness has no objective reasons or motives for acting save those imposed by its fleeting and contingent interests; it does not have an "identity" to safeguard and build up through truly free and conscious decisions. As a result, it cannot demand respect from other "wills", which are themselves detached from their own deepest being and thus capable of imposing other "reasons" or, for that matter, no "reason" at all. The illusion that moral relativism provides the key for peaceful coexistence is actually the origin of divisions and the denial of the dignity of human beings. Hence we can see the need for recognition of a twofold dimension within the unity of the human person: a religious dimension and a social dimension. In this regard, "it is inconceivable that believers should have to suppress a part of themselves – their faith – in order to be active citizens. It should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one’s rights".[6]

The family, the school of freedom and peace

4. If religious freedom is the path to peace, 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 founded on marriage, as the expression of the close union and complementarity between a man and a woman, finds its place here as the first school for the social, cultural, moral and spiritual formation and growth of children, who should always be able to see in their father and mother the first witnesses of a life directed to the pursuit of truth and the love of God. Parents must be always free to transmit to their children, responsibly and without constraints, their heritage of faith, values and culture. 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. Wisdom suggests that this is the road to building a strong and fraternal social fabric, in which young people can be prepared to assume their proper responsibilities in life, in a free society, and in a spirit of understanding and peace.

A common patrimony

5. It could be said that among the fundamental rights and freedoms rooted in the dignity of the person, religious freedom enjoys a special status. When religious freedom is acknowledged, the dignity of the human person is respected at its root, and the ethos and institutions of peoples are strengthened. On the other hand, whenever religious freedom is denied, and attempts are made to hinder people from professing their religion or faith and living accordingly, human dignity is offended, with a resulting threat to justice and peace, which are grounded in that right social order established in the light of Supreme Truth and Supreme Goodness.

Religious freedom is, in this sense, also an achievement of a sound 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. There should be no obstacles should he or she eventually wish to belong to another religion or profess none at all. In this context, international law is a model and an essential point of reference for states, insofar as it allows no derogation from religious freedom, as long as the just requirements of public order are observed.[7] The international order thus recognizes that rights of a religious nature have the same status as the right to life and to personal freedom, as proof of the fact that they belong to the essential core of human rights, to those universal and natural rights which human law can never deny.

Religious freedom is not the exclusive patrimony of believers, but of the whole family of the earth’s peoples. It is an essential element of a constitutional state; it cannot be denied without at the same time encroaching on all fundamental rights and freedoms, since it is their synthesis and keystone. It is "the litmus test for the respect of all the other human rights".[8] While it favours the exercise of our most specifically human faculties, it creates the necessary premises for the attainment of an integral development which concerns the whole of the person in every single dimension.[9]

The public dimension of religion

6. Religious freedom, like every freedom, proceeds from the personal sphere and is achieved in relationship with others. Freedom without relationship is not full freedom. Religious freedom is not limited to the individual dimension alone, but is attained within one’s community and in society, in a way consistent with the relational being of the person and the public nature of religion.

Relationship is a decisive component in religious freedom, which impels the community of believers to practise solidarity for the common good. In this communitarian dimension, each person remains unique and unrepeatable, while at the same time finding completion and full realization.

The contribution of religious communities to society is undeniable. Numerous charitable and cultural institutions testify to the constructive role played by believers in the life of society. More important still is religion’s ethical contribution in the political sphere. Religion should not be marginalized or prohibited, but seen as making an effective contribution to the promotion of the common good. In this context mention should be made of the religious dimension of culture, built up over centuries thanks to the social and especially ethical contributions of religion. This dimension is in no way discriminatory towards those who do not share its beliefs, but instead reinforces social cohesion, integration and solidarity.

Religious freedom, a force for freedom and civilization: dangers arising from its exploitation

7. The exploitation of religious freedom to disguise hidden interests, such as the subversion of the established order, the hoarding of resources or the grip on power of a single group, can cause enormous harm to societies. Fanaticism, fundamentalism and practices contrary to human dignity can never be justified, even less so in the name of religion. The profession of a religion cannot be exploited or imposed by force. States and the various human communities must never forget that religious freedom is the condition for the pursuit of truth, and truth does not impose itself by violence but "by the force of its own truth".[10] In this sense, religion is a positive driving force for the building of civil and political society.

How can anyone deny the contribution of the world’s great religions to the development of civilization? The sincere search for God has led to greater respect for human dignity. Christian communities, with their patrimony of values and principles, have contributed much to making individuals and peoples aware of their identity and their dignity, the establishment of democratic institutions and the recognition of human rights and their corresponding duties.

Today too, in an increasingly globalized society, Christians are called, not only through their responsible involvement in civic, economic and political life but also through the witness of their charity and faith, to offer a valuable contribution to the laborious and stimulating pursuit of justice, integral human development and the right ordering of human affairs. The exclusion of religion from public life deprives the latter of a dimension open to transcendence. Without this fundamental experience it becomes difficult to guide societies towards universal ethical principles and to establish at the national and international level a legal order which fully recognizes and respects fundamental rights and freedoms as these are set forth in the goals – sadly still disregarded or contradicted – of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

An issue of justice and civility: fundamentalism and hostility to believers compromise the positive secularity of states

8. The same determination that condemns every form of fanaticism and religious fundamentalism must also oppose every form of hostility to religion that would restrict the public role of believers in civil and political life.

It should be clear that religious fundamentalism and secularism are alike in that both represent extreme forms of a rejection of legitimate pluralism and the principle of secularity. Both absolutize a reductive and partial vision of the human person, favouring in the one case forms of religious integralism and, in the other, of rationalism. A society that would violently impose or, on the contrary, reject religion is not only unjust to individuals and to God, but also to itself. God beckons humanity with a loving plan that, while engaging the whole person in his or her natural and spiritual dimensions, calls for a free and responsible answer which engages the whole heart and being, individual and communitarian. Society too, as an expression of the person and of all his or her constitutive dimensions, must live and organize itself in a way that favours openness to transcendence. Precisely for this reason, the laws and institutions of a society cannot be shaped in such a way as to ignore the religious dimension of its citizens or to prescind completely from it. Through the democratic activity of citizens conscious of their lofty calling, those laws and institutions must adequately reflect the authentic nature of the person and support its religious dimension. Since the latter is not a creation of the state, it cannot be manipulated by the state, but must rather be acknowledged and respected by it.

Whenever the legal system at any level, national or international, allows or tolerates religious or antireligious fanaticism, it fails in its mission, which is to protect and promote justice and the rights of all. These matters cannot be left to the discretion of the legislator or the majority since, as Cicero once pointed out, justice is something more than a mere act which produces and applies law. It entails acknowledging the dignity of each person[11] which, unless religious freedom is guaranteed and lived in its essence, ends up being curtailed and offended, exposed to the risk of falling under the sway of idols, of relative goods which then become absolute. All this exposes society to the risk of forms of political and ideological totalitarianism which emphasize public power while demeaning and restricting freedom of conscience, thought and religion as potential competitors.

Dialogue between civil and religious institutions

9. The patrimony of principles and values expressed by an authentic religiosity is a source of enrichment for peoples and their ethos. It speaks directly to the conscience and mind of men and women, it recalls the need for moral conversion, and it encourages the practice of the virtues and a loving approach to others as brothers and sisters, as members of the larger human family.[12]

With due respect for the positive secularity of state institutions, the public dimension of religion must always be acknowledged. A healthy dialogue between civil and religious institutions is fundamental for the integral development of the human person and social harmony.

Living in love and in truth

10. In a globalized world marked by increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies, the great religions can serve as an important factor of unity and peace for the human family. On the basis of their religious convictions and their reasoned pursuit of the common good, their followers are called to give responsible expression to their commitment within a context of religious freedom. Amid the variety of religious cultures, there is a need to value those elements which foster civil coexistence, while rejecting whatever is contrary to the dignity of men and women.

The public space which the international community makes available for the religions and their proposal of what constitutes a "good life" helps 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. The leaders of the great religions, thanks to their position, their influence and their authority in their respective communities, are the first ones called to mutual respect and dialogue.

Christians, for their part, are spurred by their faith in God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, to live as brothers and sisters who encounter one another in the Church and work together in building a world where individuals and peoples "shall not hurt or destroy … for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is 11:9).

Dialogue as a shared pursuit

11. For the Church, dialogue between the followers of the different religions represents an important means of cooperating with all religious communities for the common good. The Church herself rejects nothing of what is true and holy in the various religions. "She has a high regard for those ways of life and conduct, precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women".[13]

The path to take is not the way of relativism or religious syncretism. The Church, in fact, "proclaims, and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6); in Christ, in whom God reconciled all things to himself, people find the fullness of the religious life".[14] Yet this in no way excludes dialogue and the common pursuit of truth in different areas of life, since, as Saint Thomas Aquinas would say, "every truth, whoever utters it, comes from the Holy Spirit".[15]

The year 2011 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened in Assisi in 1986 by Pope John Paul II. On that occasion the leaders of the great world religions testified to the fact that religion is a factor of union and peace, and not of division and conflict. The memory of that experience gives reason to hope for a future in which all believers will see themselves, and will actually be, agents of justice and peace.

Moral truth in politics and diplomacy

12. Politics and diplomacy should look to the moral and spiritual patrimony offered by the great religions of the world in order to acknowledge and affirm universal truths, principles and values which cannot be denied without denying the dignity of the human person. But what does it mean, in practical terms, to promote moral truth in the world of politics and diplomacy? It means acting in a responsible way on the basis of an objective and integral knowledge of the facts; it means deconstructing political ideologies which end up supplanting truth and human dignity in order to promote pseudo-values under the pretext of peace, development and human rights; it means fostering an unswerving commitment to base positive law on the principles of the natural law.[16] All this is necessary and consistent with the respect for the dignity and worth of the human person enshrined by the world’s peoples in the 1945 Charter of the United Nations, which presents universal values and moral principles as a point of reference for the norms, institutions and systems governing coexistence on the national and international levels.

Beyond hatred and prejudice

13. Despite the lessons of history and the efforts of states, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and the many men and women of good will who daily work to protect fundamental rights and freedoms, today’s world also witnesses cases of persecution, discrimination, acts of violence and intolerance based on religion. In a particular way, in Asia and in Africa, the chief victims are the members of religious minorities, who are prevented from freely professing or changing their religion by forms of intimidation and the violation of their rights, basic freedoms and essential goods, including the loss of personal freedom and life itself.

There also exist – as I have said – more sophisticated forms of hostility to religion which, in Western countries, occasionally find expression in a denial of history and the rejection of religious symbols which reflect the identity and the culture of the majority of citizens. Often these forms of hostility also foster hatred and prejudice; they are inconsistent with a serene and balanced vision of pluralism and the secularity of institutions, to say nothing of the fact that coming generations risk losing contact with the priceless spiritual heritage of their countries.

Religion is defended by defending the rights and freedoms of religious communities. The leaders of the great world religions and the leaders of nations should therefore renew their commitment to promoting and protecting religious freedom, and in particular to defending religious minorities; these do not represent a threat to the identity of the majority but rather an opportunity for dialogue and mutual cultural enrichment. Defending them is the ideal way to consolidate the spirit of good will, openness and reciprocity which can ensure the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in all areas and regions of the world.

Religious freedom in the world

14. Finally I wish to say a word to the Christian communities suffering from persecution, discrimination, violence and intolerance, particularly in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East and especially in the Holy Land, a place chosen and blessed by God. I assure them once more of my paternal affection and prayers, and I ask all those in authority to act promptly to end every injustice against the Christians living in those lands. In the face of present difficulties, may Christ’s followers not lose heart, for witnessing to the Gospel is, and always will be, a sign of contradiction.

Let us take to heart the words of the Lord Jesus: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted … Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied … Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (Mt 5:4-12). Then let us renew "the pledge we give to be forgiving and to pardon when we invoke God’s forgiveness in the Our Father. We ourselves lay down the condition and the extent of the mercy we ask for when we say: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us’ (Mt 6:12)".[17] Violence is not overcome by violence. May our cries of pain always be accompanied by faith, by hope and by the witness of our love of God. I also express my hope that in the West, and especially in Europe, there will be an end to hostility and prejudice against Christians because they are resolved to orient their lives in a way consistent with the values and principles expressed in the Gospel. May Europe rather be reconciled to its own Christian roots, which are fundamental for understanding its past, present and future role in history; in this way it will come to experience justice, concord and peace by cultivating a sincere dialogue with all peoples.

Religious freedom, the path to peace

15. The world needs God. It needs universal, shared ethical and spiritual values, and religion can offer a precious contribution to their pursuit, for the building of a just and peaceful social order at the national and international levels.

Peace is a gift of God and at the same time a task which is never fully completed. A society reconciled with God is closer to peace, which is not the mere absence of war or the result of military or economic supremacy, much less deceptive ploys or clever manipulation. Rather, peace is the result of a process of purification and of cultural, moral and spiritual elevation involving each individual and people, a process in which human dignity is fully respected. I invite all those who wish to be peacemakers, especially the young, to heed the voice speaking within their hearts and thus to find in God the stable point of reference for attaining authentic freedom, the inexhaustible force which can give the world a new direction and spirit, and overcome the mistakes of the past. In the words of Pope Paul VI, to whose wisdom and farsightedness we owe the institution of the World Day of Peace: "It is necessary before all else to provide peace with other weapons – different from those destined to kill and exterminate mankind. What are needed above all are moral weapons, those which give strength and prestige to international law – the weapon, in the first place, of the observance of pacts".[18] Religious freedom is an authentic weapon of peace, with an historical and prophetic mission. Peace brings to full fruition the deepest qualities and potentials of the human person, the qualities which can change the world and make it better. It gives hope for a future of justice and peace, even in the face of grave injustice and material and moral poverty. May all men and women, and societies at every level and in every part of the earth, soon be able to experience religious freedom, the path to peace!

From the Vatican, 8 December 2010

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

NOTES

[1] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 29, 55-57.

[2] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 2.

[3] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 78.

[4] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate, 1.

[5] ID., Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 7.

[6] BENEDICT XVI, Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations (18 April 2008): AAS 100 (2008), 337.

[7] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 2.

[8] JOHN PAUL II, Address to Participants in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (10 October 2003), 1: AAS 96 (2004), 111.

[9] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 11.

[10] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 1.

[11] Cf. CICERO, De Inventione, II, 160.

[12] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Address to Representatives of Other Religions in the United Kingdom (17 September 2010): L’Osservatore Romano (18 September 2010), p. 12.

[13] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate, 2.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Super Evangelium Joannis, I, 3.

[16] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Address to Civil Authorities and the Diplomatic Corps in Cyprus (4 June 2010): L’Osservatore Romano (6 June 2010), p. 8; INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION, The Search for Universal Ethics: A New Look at Natural Law, Vatican City, 2009.

[17] PAUL VI, Message for the 1976 World Day of Peace: AAS 67 (1975), 671.

[18] Ibid., p. 668.

© Copyright 2010 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Pope: Religious Freedom the Key to World Peace

This transcript of Pope Benedict XVI's World Day of Peace Message (Jan. 1, 2011) comes from Zenit. It is in Italian, but I will post the English version when I get it.

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Messaggio di Benedetto XVI per la Giornata Mondiale della Pace 2011

"Libertà religiosa, via per la pace"

CITTA' DEL VATICANO, giovedì, 16 dicembre 2010 (ZENIT.org).- Pubblichiamo di seguito il testo del messaggio del Santo Padre per la 44a Giornata Mondiale della Pace, che si celebrerà il 1° gennaio 2011 sul tema: "Libertà religiosa, via per la pace".

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1. All’inizio di un Nuovo Anno il mio augurio vuole giungere a tutti e a ciascuno; è un augurio di serenità e di prosperità, ma è soprattutto un augurio di pace. Anche l’anno che chiude le porte è stato segnato, purtroppo, dalla persecuzione, dalla discriminazione, da terribili atti di violenza e di intolleranza religiosa.

Il mio pensiero si rivolge in particolare alla cara terra dell'Iraq, che nel suo cammino verso l’auspicata stabilità e riconciliazione continua ad essere scenario di violenze e attentati. Vengono alla memoria le recenti sofferenze della comunità cristiana, e, in modo speciale, il vile attacco contro la Cattedrale siro-cattolica "Nostra Signora del Perpetuo Soccorso" a Baghdad, dove, il 31 ottobre scorso, sono stati uccisi due sacerdoti e più di cinquanta fedeli, mentre erano riuniti per la celebrazione della Santa Messa. Ad esso hanno fatto seguito, nei giorni successivi, altri attacchi, anche a case private, suscitando paura nella comunità cristiana ed il desiderio, da parte di molti dei suoi membri, di emigrare alla ricerca di migliori condizioni di vita. A loro manifesto la mia vicinanza e quella di tutta la Chiesa, sentimento che ha visto una concreta espressione nella recente Assemblea Speciale per il Medio Oriente del Sinodo dei Vescovi. Da tale Assise è giunto un incoraggiamento alle comunità cattoliche in Iraq e in tutto il Medio Oriente a vivere la comunione e a continuare ad offrire una coraggiosa testimonianza di fede in quelle terre.

Ringrazio vivamente i Governi che si adoperano per alleviare le sofferenze di questi fratelli in umanità e invito i Cattolici a pregare per i loro fratelli nella fede che soffrono violenze e intolleranze e ad essere solidali con loro. In tale contesto, ho sentito particolarmente viva l’opportunità di condividere con tutti voi alcune riflessioni sulla libertà religiosa, via per la pace. Infatti, risulta doloroso constatare che in alcune regioni del mondo non è possibile professare ed esprimere liberamente la propria religione, se non a rischio della vita e della libertà personale. In altre regioni vi sono forme più silenziose e sofisticate di pregiudizio e di opposizione verso i credenti e i simboli religiosi. I cristiani sono attualmente il gruppo religioso che soffre il maggior numero di persecuzioni a motivo della propria fede. Tanti subiscono quotidianamente offese e vivono spesso nella paura a causa della loro ricerca della verità, della loro fede in Gesù Cristo e del loro sincero appello perché sia riconosciuta la libertà religiosa. Tutto ciò non può essere accettato, perché costituisce un’offesa a Dio e alla dignità umana; inoltre, è una minaccia alla sicurezza e alla pace e impedisce la realizzazione di un autentico sviluppo umano integrale.1

Nella libertà religiosa, infatti, trova espressione la specificità della persona umana, che per essa può ordinare la propria vita personale e sociale a Dio, alla cui luce si comprendono pienamente l’identità, il senso e il fine della persona. Negare o limitare in maniera arbitraria tale libertà significa coltivare una visione riduttiva della persona umana; oscurare il ruolo pubblico della religione significa generare una società ingiusta, poiché non proporzionata alla vera natura della persona umana; ciò significa rendere impossibile l’affermazione di una pace autentica e duratura di tutta la famiglia umana.

Esorto, dunque, gli uomini e le donne di buona volontà a rinnovare l’impegno per la costruzione di un mondo dove tutti siano liberi di professare la propria religione o la propria fede, e di vivere il proprio amore per Dio con tutto il cuore, con tutta l’anima e con tutta la mente (cfr Mt 22,37). Questo è il sentimento che ispira e guida il Messaggio per la XLIV Giornata Mondiale della Pace, dedicato al tema: Libertà religiosa, via per la pace.

Sacro diritto alla vita e ad una vita spirituale

2. Il diritto alla libertà religiosa è radicato nella stessa dignità della persona umana,2 la cui natura trascendente non deve essere ignorata o trascurata. Dio ha creato l’uomo e la donna a sua immagine e somiglianza (cfr Gen 1,27). Per questo ogni persona è titolare del sacro diritto ad una vita integra anche dal punto di vista spirituale. Senza il riconoscimento del proprio essere spirituale, senza l’apertura al trascendente, la persona umana si ripiega su se stessa, non riesce a trovare risposte agli interrogativi del suo cuore circa il senso della vita e a conquistare valori e principi etici duraturi, e non riesce nemmeno a sperimentare un’autentica libertà e a sviluppare una società giusta.3

La Sacra Scrittura, in sintonia con la nostra stessa esperienza, rivela il valore profondo della dignità umana: "Quando vedo i tuoi cieli, opera delle tue dita, la luna e le stelle che tu hai fissato, che cosa è mai l’uomo perché di lui ti ricordi, il figlio dell’uomo, perché te ne curi? Davvero l’hai fatto poco meno di un dio, di gloria e di onore lo hai coronato. Gli hai dato potere sulle opere delle tue mani, tutto hai posto sotto i suoi piedi" (Sal 8, 4-7).

Dinanzi alla sublime realtà della natura umana, possiamo sperimentare lo stesso stupore espresso dal salmista. Essa si manifesta come apertura al Mistero, come capacità di interrogarsi a fondo su se stessi e sull’origine dell’universo, come intima risonanza dell’Amore supremo di Dio, principio e fine di tutte le cose, di ogni persona e dei popoli.4 La dignità trascendente della persona è un valore essenziale della sapienza giudaico-cristiana, ma, grazie alla ragione, può essere riconosciuta da tutti. Questa dignità, intesa come capacità di trascendere la propria materialità e di ricercare la verità, va riconosciuta come un bene universale, indispensabile per la costruzione di una società orientata alla realizzazione e alla pienezza dell’uomo. Il rispetto di elementi essenziali della dignità dell’uomo, quali il diritto alla vita e il diritto alla libertà religiosa, è una condizione della legittimità morale di ogni norma sociale e giuridica.

Libertà religiosa e rispetto reciproco

3. La libertà religiosa è all’origine della libertà morale. In effetti, l’apertura alla verità e al bene, l’apertura a Dio, radicata nella natura umana, conferisce piena dignità a ciascun uomo ed è garante del pieno rispetto reciproco tra le persone. Pertanto, la libertà religiosa va intesa non solo come immunità dalla coercizione, ma prima ancora come capacità di ordinare le proprie scelte secondo la verità.

Esiste un legame inscindibile tra libertà e rispetto; infatti, "nell’esercitare i propri diritti i singoli esseri umani e i gruppi sociali, in virtù della legge morale, sono tenuti ad avere riguardo tanto ai diritti altrui, quanto ai propri doveri verso gli altri e verso il bene comune".5

Una libertà nemica o indifferente verso Dio finisce col negare se stessa e non garantisce il pieno rispetto dell’altro. Una volontà che si crede radicalmente incapace di ricercare la verità e il bene non ha ragioni oggettive né motivi per agire, se non quelli imposti dai suoi interessi momentanei e contingenti, non ha una "identità" da custodire e costruire attraverso scelte veramente libere e consapevoli. Non può dunque reclamare il rispetto da parte di altre "volontà", anch’esse sganciate dal proprio essere più profondo, che quindi possono far valere altre "ragioni" o addirittura nessuna "ragione". L’illusione di trovare nel relativismo morale la chiave per una pacifica convivenza, è in realtà l’origine della divisione e della negazione della dignità degli esseri umani. Si comprende quindi la necessità di riconoscere una duplice dimensione nell’unità della persona umana: quella religiosa e quella sociale. Al riguardo, è inconcepibile che i credenti "debbano sopprimere una parte di se stessi - la loro fede - per essere cittadini attivi; non dovrebbe mai essere necessario rinnegare Dio per poter godere dei propri diritti".6

La famiglia, scuola di libertà e di pace

4. Se la libertà religiosa è via per la pace, l’educazione religiosa è strada privilegiata per abilitare le nuove generazioni a riconoscere nell’altro il proprio fratello e la propria sorella, con i quali camminare insieme e collaborare perché tutti si sentano membra vive di una stessa famiglia umana, dalla quale nessuno deve essere escluso.

La famiglia fondata sul matrimonio, espressione di unione intima e di complementarietà tra un uomo e una donna, si inserisce in questo contesto come la prima scuola di formazione e di crescita sociale, culturale, morale e spirituale dei figli, che dovrebbero sempre trovare nel padre e nella madre i primi testimoni di una vita orientata alla ricerca della verità e all’amore di Dio. Gli stessi genitori dovrebbero essere sempre liberi di trasmettere senza costrizioni e con responsabilità il proprio patrimonio di fede, di valori e di cultura ai figli. La famiglia, prima cellula della società umana, rimane l’ambito primario di formazione per relazioni armoniose a tutti i livelli di convivenza umana, nazionale e internazionale. Questa è la strada da percorrere sapientemente per la costruzione di un tessuto sociale solido e solidale, per preparare i giovani ad assumere le proprie responsabilità nella vita, in una società libera, in uno spirito di comprensione e di pace.

Un patrimonio comune

5. Si potrebbe dire che, tra i diritti e le libertà fondamentali radicati nella dignità della persona, la libertà religiosa gode di uno statuto speciale. Quando la libertà religiosa è riconosciuta, la dignità della persona umana è rispettata nella sua radice, e si rafforzano l’ethos e le istituzioni dei popoli. Viceversa, quando la libertà religiosa è negata, quando si tenta di impedire di professare la propria religione o la propria fede e di vivere conformemente ad esse, si offende la dignità umana e, insieme, si minacciano la giustizia e la pace, le quali si fondano su quel retto ordine sociale costruito alla luce del Sommo Vero e Sommo Bene.

La libertà religiosa è, in questo senso, anche un’acquisizione di civiltà politica e giuridica. Essa è un bene essenziale: ogni persona deve poter esercitare liberamente il diritto di professare e di manifestare, individualmente o comunitariamente, la propria religione o la propria fede, sia in pubblico che in privato, nell’insegnamento, nelle pratiche, nelle pubblicazioni, nel culto e nell’osservanza dei riti. Non dovrebbe incontrare ostacoli se volesse, eventualmente, aderire ad un’altra religione o non professarne alcuna. In questo ambito, l’ordinamento internazionale risulta emblematico ed è un riferimento essenziale per gli Stati, in quanto non consente alcuna deroga alla libertà religiosa, salvo la legittima esigenza dell’ordine pubblico informato a giustizia.7 L’ordinamento internazionale riconosce così ai diritti di natura religiosa lo stesso status del diritto alla vita e alla libertà personale, a riprova della loro appartenenza al nucleo essenziale dei diritti dell’uomo, a quei diritti universali e naturali che la legge umana non può mai negare.

La libertà religiosa non è patrimonio esclusivo dei credenti, ma dell’intera famiglia dei popoli della terra. È elemento imprescindibile di uno Stato di diritto; non la si può negare senza intaccare nel contempo tutti i diritti e le libertà fondamentali, essendone sintesi e vertice. Essa è "la cartina di tornasole per verificare il rispetto di tutti gli altri diritti umani".8 Mentre favorisce l’esercizio delle facoltà più specificamente umane, crea le premesse necessarie per la realizzazione di uno sviluppo integrale, che riguarda unitariamente la totalità della persona in ogni sua dimensione.9

La dimensione pubblica della religione

6. La libertà religiosa, come ogni libertà, pur muovendo dalla sfera personale, si realizza nella relazione con gli altri. Una libertà senza relazione non è libertà compiuta. Anche la libertà religiosa non si esaurisce nella sola dimensione individuale, ma si attua nella propria comunità e nella società, coerentemente con l’essere relazionale della persona e con la natura pubblica della religione.

La relazionalità è una componente decisiva della libertà religiosa, che spinge le comunità dei credenti a praticare la solidarietà per il bene comune. In questa dimensione comunitaria ciascuna persona resta unica e irripetibile e, al tempo stesso, si completa e si realizza pienamente.

E’ innegabile il contributo che le comunità religiose apportano alla società. Sono numerose le istituzioni caritative e culturali che attestano il ruolo costruttivo dei credenti per la vita sociale. Più importante ancora è il contributo etico della religione nell’ambito politico. Esso non dovrebbe essere marginalizzato o vietato, ma compreso come valido apporto alla promozione del bene comune. In questa prospettiva bisogna menzionare la dimensione religiosa della cultura, tessuta attraverso i secoli grazie ai contributi sociali e soprattutto etici della religione. Tale dimensione non costituisce in nessun modo una discriminazione di coloro che non ne condividono la credenza, ma rafforza, piuttosto, la coesione sociale, l’integrazione e la solidarietà.


Libertà religiosa, forza di libertà e di civiltà: i pericoli della sua strumentalizzazione

7. La strumentalizzazione della libertà religiosa per mascherare interessi occulti, come ad esempio il sovvertimento dell’ordine costituito, l’accaparramento di risorse o il mantenimento del potere da parte di un gruppo, può provocare danni ingentissimi alle società. Il fanatismo, il fondamentalismo, le pratiche contrarie alla dignità umana, non possono essere mai giustificati e lo possono essere ancora di meno se compiuti in nome della religione. La professione di una religione non può essere strumentalizzata, né imposta con la forza. Bisogna, allora, che gli Stati e le varie comunità umane non dimentichino mai che la libertà religiosa è condizione per la ricerca della verità e la verità non si impone con la violenza ma con "la forza della verità stessa".10 In questo senso, la religione è una forza positiva e propulsiva per la costruzione della società civile e politica.

Come negare il contributo delle grandi religioni del mondo allo sviluppo della civiltà? La sincera ricerca di Dio ha portato ad un maggiore rispetto della dignità dell’uomo. Le comunità cristiane, con il loro patrimonio di valori e principi, hanno fortemente contribuito alla presa di coscienza delle persone e dei popoli circa la propria identità e dignità, nonché alla conquista di istituzioni democratiche e all’affermazione dei diritti dell’uomo e dei suoi corrispettivi doveri.

Anche oggi i cristiani, in una società sempre più globalizzata, sono chiamati, non solo con un responsabile impegno civile, economico e politico, ma anche con la testimonianza della propria carità e fede, ad offrire un contributo prezioso al faticoso ed esaltante impegno per la giustizia, per lo sviluppo umano integrale e per il retto ordinamento delle realtà umane. L’esclusione della religione dalla vita pubblica sottrae a questa uno spazio vitale che apre alla trascendenza. Senza quest’esperienza primaria risulta arduo orientare le società verso principi etici universali e diventa difficile stabilire ordinamenti nazionali e internazionali in cui i diritti e le libertà fondamentali possano essere pienamente riconosciuti e realizzati, come si propongono gli obiettivi - purtroppo ancora disattesi o contraddetti - della Dichiarazione Universale dei diritti dell’uomo del 1948.

Una questione di giustizia e di civiltà:
il fondamentalismo e l’ostilità contro i credenti
pregiudicano la laicità positiva degli Stati

8. La stessa determinazione con la quale sono condannate tutte le forme di fanatismo e di fondamentalismo religioso, deve animare anche l’opposizione a tutte le forme di ostilità contro la religione, che limitano il ruolo pubblico dei credenti nella vita civile e politica.

Non si può dimenticare che il fondamentalismo religioso e il laicismo sono forme speculari ed estreme di rifiuto del legittimo pluralismo e del principio di laicità. Entrambe, infatti, assolutizzano una visione riduttiva e parziale della persona umana, favorendo, nel primo caso, forme di integralismo religioso e, nel secondo, di razionalismo. La società che vuole imporre o, al contrario, negare la religione con la violenza, è ingiusta nei confronti della persona e di Dio, ma anche di se stessa. Dio chiama a sé l’umanità con un disegno di amore che, mentre coinvolge tutta la persona nella sua dimensione naturale e spirituale, richiede di corrispondervi in termini di libertà e di responsabilità, con tutto il cuore e con tutto il proprio essere, individuale e comunitario. Anche la società, dunque, in quanto espressione della persona e dell’insieme delle sue dimensioni costitutive, deve vivere ed organizzarsi in modo da favorirne l’apertura alla trascendenza. Proprio per questo, le leggi e le istituzioni di una società non possono essere configurate ignorando la dimensione religiosa dei cittadini o in modo da prescinderne del tutto. Esse devono commisurarsi - attraverso l’opera democratica di cittadini coscienti della propria alta vocazione - all’essere della persona, per poterlo assecondare nella sua dimensione religiosa. Non essendo questa una creazione dello Stato, non può esserne manipolata, dovendo piuttosto riceverne riconoscimento e rispetto.

L’ordinamento giuridico a tutti i livelli, nazionale e internazionale, quando consente o tollera il fanatismo religioso o antireligioso, viene meno alla sua stessa missione, che consiste nel tutelare e nel promuovere la giustizia e il diritto di ciascuno. Tali realtà non possono essere poste in balia dell’arbitrio del legislatore o della maggioranza, perché, come insegnava già Cicerone, la giustizia consiste in qualcosa di più di un mero atto produttivo della legge e della sua applicazione. Essa implica il riconoscere a ciascuno la sua dignità,11 la quale, senza libertà religiosa, garantita e vissuta nella sua essenza, risulta mutilata e offesa, esposta al rischio di cadere nel predominio degli idoli, di beni relativi trasformati in assoluti. Tutto ciò espone la società al rischio di totalitarismi politici e ideologici, che enfatizzano il potere pubblico, mentre sono mortificate o coartate, quasi fossero concorrenziali, le libertà di coscienza, di pensiero e di religione.

Dialogo tra istituzioni civili e religiose

9. Il patrimonio di principi e di valori espressi da una religiosità autentica è una ricchezza per i popoli e i loro ethos. Esso parla direttamente alla coscienza e alla ragione degli uomini e delle donne, rammenta l’imperativo della conversione morale, motiva a coltivare la pratica delle virtù e ad avvicinarsi l’un l’altro con amore, nel segno della fraternità, come membri della grande famiglia umana.12

Nel rispetto della laicità positiva delle istituzioni statali, la dimensione pubblica della religione deve essere sempre riconosciuta. A tal fine è fondamentale un sano dialogo tra le istituzioni civili e quelle religiose per lo sviluppo integrale della persona umana e dell'armonia della società.

Vivere nell’amore e nella verità

10. Nel mondo globalizzato, caratterizzato da società sempre più multi-etniche e multi-confessionali, le grandi religioni possono costituire un importante fattore di unità e di pace per la famiglia umana. Sulla base delle proprie convinzioni religiose e della ricerca razionale del bene comune, i loro seguaci sono chiamati a vivere con responsabilità il proprio impegno in un contesto di libertà religiosa. Nelle svariate culture religiose, mentre dev’essere rigettato tutto quello che è contro la dignità dell’uomo e della donna, occorre invece fare tesoro di ciò che risulta positivo per la convivenza civile.

Lo spazio pubblico, che la comunità internazionale rende disponibile per le religioni e per la loro proposta di "vita buona", favorisce l’emergere di una misura condivisibile di verità e di bene, come anche un consenso morale, fondamentali per una convivenza giusta e pacifica. I leader delle grandi religioni, per il loro ruolo, la loro influenza e la loro autorità nelle proprie comunità, sono i primi ad essere chiamati al rispetto reciproco e al dialogo.

I cristiani, da parte loro, sono sollecitati dalla stessa fede in Dio, Padre del Signore Gesù Cristo, a vivere come fratelli che si incontrano nella Chiesa e collaborano all’edificazione di un mondo dove le persone e i popoli "non agiranno più iniquamente né saccheggeranno […], perché la conoscenza del Signore riempirà la terra come le acque ricoprono il mare" (Is 11, 9).

Dialogo come ricerca in comune

11. Per la Chiesa il dialogo tra i seguaci di diverse religioni costituisce uno strumento importante per collaborare con tutte le comunità religiose al bene comune. La Chiesa stessa nulla rigetta di quanto è vero e santo nelle varie religioni. "Essa considera con sincero rispetto quei modi di agire e di vivere, quei precetti e quelle dottrine che, quantunque in molti punti differiscano da quanto essa stessa crede e propone, tuttavia non raramente riflettono un raggio di quella verità che illumina tutti gli uomini".13

Quella indicata non è la strada del relativismo, o del sincretismo religioso. La Chiesa, infatti, "annuncia, ed è tenuta ad annunciare, il Cristo che è «via, verità e vita» (Gv 14,6), in cui gli uomini devono trovare la pienezza della vita religiosa e in cui Dio ha riconciliato con se stesso tutte le cose".14 Ciò non esclude tuttavia il dialogo e la ricerca comune della verità in diversi ambiti vitali, poiché, come recita un’espressione usata spesso da san Tommaso d’Aquino, "ogni verità, da chiunque sia detta, proviene dallo Spirito Santo".15

Nel 2011 ricorre il 25° anniversario della Giornata mondiale di preghiera per la pace, convocata ad Assisi nel 1986 dal Venerabile Giovanni Paolo II. In quell’occasione i leader delle grandi religioni del mondo hanno testimoniato come la religione sia un fattore di unione e di pace, e non di divisione e di conflitto. Il ricordo di quell’esperienza è un motivo di speranza per un futuro in cui tutti i credenti si sentano e si rendano autenticamente operatori di giustizia e di pace.

Verità morale nella politica e nella diplomazia

12. La politica e la diplomazia dovrebbero guardare al patrimonio morale e spirituale offerto dalle grandi religioni del mondo per riconoscere e affermare verità, principi e valori universali che non possono essere negati senza negare con essi la dignità della persona umana. Ma che cosa significa, in termini pratici, promuovere la verità morale nel mondo della politica e della diplomazia? Vuol dire agire in maniera responsabile sulla base della conoscenza oggettiva e integrale dei fatti; vuol dire destrutturare ideologie politiche che finiscono per soppiantare la verità e la dignità umana e intendono promuovere pseudo-valori con il pretesto della pace, dello sviluppo e dei diritti umani; vuol dire favorire un impegno costante per fondare la legge positiva sui principi della legge naturale.16 Tutto ciò è necessario e coerente con il rispetto della dignità e del valore della persona umana, sancito dai Popoli della terra nella Carta dell’Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite del 1945, che presenta valori e principi morali universali di riferimento per le norme, le istituzioni, i sistemi di convivenza a livello nazionale e internazionale.

Oltre l’odio e il pregiudizio

13. Nonostante gli insegnamenti della storia e l’impegno degli Stati, delle Organizzazioni internazionali a livello mondiale e locale, delle Organizzazioni non governative e di tutti gli uomini e le donne di buona volontà che ogni giorno si spendono per la tutela dei diritti e delle libertà fondamentali, nel mondo ancora oggi si registrano persecuzioni, discriminazioni, atti di violenza e di intolleranza basati sulla religione. In particolare, in Asia e in Africa le principali vittime sono i membri delle minoranze religiose, ai quali viene impedito di professare liberamente la propria religione o di cambiarla, attraverso l’intimidazione e la violazione dei diritti, delle libertà fondamentali e dei beni essenziali, giungendo fino alla privazione della libertà personale o della stessa vita.

Vi sono poi - come ho già affermato - forme più sofisticate di ostilità contro la religione, che nei Paesi occidentali si esprimono talvolta col rinnegamento della storia e dei simboli religiosi nei quali si rispecchiano l’identità e la cultura della maggioranza dei cittadini. Esse fomentano spesso l’odio e il pregiudizio e non sono coerenti con una visione serena ed equilibrata del pluralismo e della laicità delle istituzioni, senza contare che le nuove generazioni rischiano di non entrare in contatto con il prezioso patrimonio spirituale dei loro Paesi.

La difesa della religione passa attraverso la difesa dei diritti e delle libertà delle comunità religiose. I leader delle grandi religioni del mondo e i responsabili delle Nazioni rinnovino, allora, l’impegno per la promozione e la tutela della libertà religiosa, in particolare per la difesa delle minoranze religiose, le quali non costituiscono una minaccia contro l’identità della maggioranza, ma sono al contrario un’opportunità per il dialogo e per il reciproco arricchimento culturale. La loro difesa rappresenta la maniera ideale per consolidare lo spirito di benevolenza, di apertura e di reciprocità con cui tutelare i diritti e le libertà fondamentali in tutte le aree e le regioni del mondo.

Libertà religiosa nel mondo

14. Mi rivolgo, infine, alle comunità cristiane che soffrono persecuzioni, discriminazioni, atti di violenza e intolleranza, in particolare in Asia, in Africa, nel Medio Oriente e specialmente nella Terra Santa, luogo prescelto e benedetto da Dio. Mentre rinnovo ad esse il mio affetto paterno e assicuro la mia preghiera, chiedo a tutti i responsabili di agire prontamente per porre fine ad ogni sopruso contro i cristiani, che abitano in quelle regioni. Possano i discepoli di Cristo, dinanzi alle presenti avversità, non perdersi d’animo, perché la testimonianza del Vangelo è e sarà sempre segno di contraddizione.

Meditiamo nel nostro cuore le parole del Signore Gesù: "Beati quelli che sono nel pianto, perché saranno consolati […]. Beati quelli che hanno fame e sete della giustizia, perché saranno saziati [...]. Beati voi quando vi insulteranno, vi perseguiteranno e, mentendo, diranno ogni sorta di male contro di voi per causa mia. Rallegratevi ed esultate, perché grande è la vostra ricompensa nei cieli" (Mt 5,4-12). Rinnoviamo allora "l’impegno da noi assunto all’indulgenza e al perdono, che invochiamo nel Pater noster da Dio, per aver noi stessi posta la condizione e la misura della desiderata misericordia. Infatti, preghiamo così: «Rimetti a noi i nostri debiti, come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori» (Mt 6,12)".17 La violenza non si supera con la violenza. Il nostro grido di dolore sia sempre accompagnato dalla fede, dalla speranza e dalla testimonianza dell’amore di Dio. Esprimo anche il mio auspicio affinché in Occidente, specie in Europa, cessino l’ostilità e i pregiudizi contro i cristiani per il fatto che essi intendono orientare la propria vita in modo coerente ai valori e ai principi espressi nel Vangelo. L’Europa, piuttosto, sappia riconciliarsi con le proprie radici cristiane, che sono fondamentali per comprendere il ruolo che ha avuto, che ha e che intende avere nella storia; saprà, così, sperimentare giustizia, concordia e pace, coltivando un sincero dialogo con tutti i popoli.

Libertà religiosa, via per la pace

15. Il mondo ha bisogno di Dio. Ha bisogno di valori etici e spirituali, universali e condivisi, e la religione può offrire un contributo prezioso nella loro ricerca, per la costruzione di un ordine sociale giusto e pacifico, a livello nazionale e internazionale.

La pace è un dono di Dio e al tempo stesso un progetto da realizzare, mai totalmente compiuto. Una società riconciliata con Dio è più vicina alla pace, che non è semplice assenza di guerra, non è mero frutto del predominio militare o economico, né tantomeno di astuzie ingannatrici o di abili manipolazioni. La pace invece è risultato di un processo di purificazione ed elevazione culturale, morale e spirituale di ogni persona e popolo, nel quale la dignità umana è pienamente rispettata. Invito tutti coloro che desiderano farsi operatori di pace, e soprattutto i giovani, a mettersi in ascolto della propria voce interiore, per trovare in Dio il riferimento stabile per la conquista di un’autentica libertà, la forza inesauribile per orientare il mondo con uno spirito nuovo, capace di non ripetere gli errori del passato. Come insegna il Servo di Dio Paolo VI, alla cui saggezza e lungimiranza si deve l’istituzione della Giornata Mondiale della Pace: "Occorre innanzi tutto dare alla Pace altre armi, che non quelle destinate ad uccidere e a sterminare l'umanità. Occorrono sopra tutto le armi morali, che danno forza e prestigio al diritto internazionale; quelle, per prime, dell’osservanza dei patti".18 La libertà religiosa è un’autentica arma della pace, con una missione storica e profetica. Essa infatti valorizza e mette a frutto le più profonde qualità e potenzialità della persona umana, capaci di cambiare e rendere migliore il mondo. Essa consente di nutrire la speranza verso un futuro di giustizia e di pace, anche dinanzi alle gravi ingiustizie e alle miserie materiali e morali. Che tutti gli uomini e le società ad ogni livello ed in ogni angolo della Terra possano presto sperimentare la libertà religiosa, via per la pace!

Dal Vaticano, 8 dicembre 2010

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

_____________________________
1 Cfr Benedetto XVI, Lett. enc. Caritas in veritate, 29.55-57.
2 Cfr Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dichiarazione sulla libertà religiosa Dignitatis humanae, 2.
3 Cfr Benedetto XVI, Lett. enc. Caritas in veritate, 78.
4 Cfr Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dichiarazione sulle relazioni della Chiesa con le religioni non cristiane Nostra aetate, 1.
5 Id., Dichiarazione sulla libertà religiosa Dignitatis humanae, 7.
6 Benedetto XVI, Discorso all’Assemblea Generale dell’Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite (18 aprile 2008): AAS 100 (2008), 337.
7 Cfr Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dichiarazione sulla libertà religiosa Dignitatis humanae, 2
8 Giovanni Paolo II, Discorso ai Partecipanti all’Assemblea Parlamentare dell’Organizzazione per la Sicurezza e la Cooperazione in Europa (OSCE) (10 ottobre 2003), 1: AAS 96 (2004), 111.
9 Cfr Benedetto XVI, Lett. enc. Caritas in veritate, 11.
10 Cfr Benedetto XVI, Lett. enc. Caritas in veritate, 11.
11 Cfr Cicerone, De inventione, II, 160.
12 Cfr Benedetto xvi, Discorso ai Rappresentanti di altre Religioni del Regno Unito (17 settembre 2010): L’Osservatore Romano (18 settembre 2010), p. 12.
13 Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dichiarazione sulle relazioni della Chiesa con le religioni non cristiane Nostra aetate, 2.
14 Ibidem.
15 Super evangelium Joannis, I, 3.
16 Cfr Benedetto xvi, Discorso alle Autorità civili e al Corpo diplomatico a Cipro (5 giugno 2010): L’Osservatore Romano (6 giugno 2010), p. 8; COMMISSIONE TEOLOGICA INTERNAZIONALE, Alla ricerca di un’etica universale: uno sguardo sulla legge naturale, Città del Vaticano 2009.
17 Paolo VI, Messaggio per la Giornata Mondiale della Pace 1976: AAS 67 (1975), 671.
18 Ibid., p. 668.