{"id":557,"date":"2011-05-06T20:34:17","date_gmt":"2011-05-07T00:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/?p=557"},"modified":"2011-05-22T17:31:18","modified_gmt":"2011-05-22T21:31:18","slug":"pontiff-foresees-systematic-denial-of-christians-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/05\/pontiff-foresees-systematic-denial-of-christians-freedom.html","title":{"rendered":"Pontiff foresees “systematic denial” of Christians’ freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pope Benedict XVI says that Christians’ religious freedom is coming under renewed attack and compared the attackers to Nazis and Bolsheviks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Pope Benedict XVI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He told members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences that religious freedom was among the rights that underwent a \u201csystematic denial by atheistic regimes of the twentieth century\u201d such as the Soviets and Hitler’s Brown Shirts.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday,\u201d he warned, \u201cthese basic human rights are again under threat from attitudes and ideologies which would impede free religious expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConsequently,\u201d he said, \u201cthe challenge to defend and promote the right to freedom of religion and freedom of worship must be taken up once more in our days.\u201d<\/p>\n

“The roots of the West’s Christian culture remain deep,\u201d he said, noting it was \u201cthat culture which gave life and space to religious freedom\u201d — and continues to provide religious liberty wherever\u00a0democracy exists.<\/p>\n

He observed that an early Christian writer, Tertullian, was the first author to use the phrase \u201creligious freedom.\u201d The second-century Christian\u00a0philosopher \u201cemphasized that God must be worshiped freely,” not under coercion.”<\/p>\n

\u201cSince man enjoys the capacity for a free personal choice in truth,” said Benedict,\u00a0“and since God expects of man a free response to His call, the right to religious freedom should be viewed as innate to the fundamental dignity of every human person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benedict\u00a0said the Vatican \u201ccontinues to appeal for the recognition of the fundamental human right to religious freedom on the part of all states.\u201d<\/p>\n

He voiced\u00a0a special concern for \u201creligious minorities who \u2026 aspire to live with their fellow citizens peacefully and to participate fully in the civil and political life of the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Benedict XVI says that Christians’ religious freedom is coming under renewed attack and compared the attackers to Nazis and Bolsheviks. He told members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences that religious freedom was among the rights that underwent a \u201csystematic denial by atheistic regimes of the twentieth century\u201d such as the Soviets and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,78,123,15,126,130,16,30,59,37,10,5,4],"tags":[53,14,35,117,81,113,112,79,80],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blasphemy-law","category-chinese-catholics","category-communist","category-egypt","category-house-church","category-inspiration","category-islam","category-muslim","category-news","category-nigeria","category-pakistan","category-persecuted-christians","category-persecution","tag-blasphemy-law","tag-christian","tag-christians","tag-islam","tag-persecuted-catholics","tag-persecuted-christians","tag-persecution","tag-pope","tag-pope-benedict-xvi"],"yoast_head":"\nPontiff foresees "systematic denial" of Christians' freedom - Pray for the Persecuted Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/05\/pontiff-foresees-systematic-denial-of-christians-freedom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pontiff foresees "systematic denial" of Christians' freedom - Pray for the Persecuted Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pope Benedict XVI says that Christians’ religious freedom is coming under renewed attack and compared the attackers to Nazis and Bolsheviks. 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