Posted on 10/31/2003 6:56:18 PM PST by Land of the Irish
ROME - A major story has exploded into the headlines here in Italy. Two days ago, a court in Aquila (in the central Italian region of Abruzzo) issued a judgment that all Crucifixes must be removed from elementary school classrooms in the town of Ofena. The judgment came in a lawsuit filed by one Adel Smith (a male), head of the Italian Muslim Union. The decision has triggered a storm of outrage from politicians, civic leaders and the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana (CEI), the Italian bishops conference.
A review of newspaper accounts of the national protest against the decision reveals, not surprisingly, that the decision is being denounced for all the wrong reasons. For example, La Stampa, one of the more conservative Italian dailies, fussed that the Crucifix is a cultural symbol which represents a collective national identity. Even the protest of the CEI was limited to such bland sentiments as We are convinced the crucifix expresses the profound soul of our Nation and therefore should remain as a sign of our national identity. None of the comments I have read even suggested that the Crucifix belongs in Italian classrooms and in other government buildings for the reason expressed by Pope Saint Pius X, in keeping with the teaching all his predecessors: [F]or the Creator of man is also the Founder of human societies, and preserves their existence as He preserves our own. We owe Him, therefore, not only a private cult, but a public and social worship to honor Him (Vehementer Nos).
The CEI does not, of course, maintain that the Italian state owes a duty of public worship to the true God. That teaching has been abandoned in favor of the Vatican IIs notion of religious liberty enunciated in Dignitatis Humanae, which the Vatican apparatus (unlike neo-Catholic defenders of the document) has interpreted as a warrant to abolish the Catholic confessional state. Hence in 1984 the execrable Cardinal Cassaroli happily presided over the execution of a new concordat between the Italian government and the Vatican, under which Catholicism ceased to be the religion of the Italian state. For this, the New York Times bestowed posthumous praise on Cassaroli in its obituary. Well done, thy good and faithful servant.
Since postconciliar Churchmen have abandoned the Churchs teaching on the necessity of the Catholic confessional state, the CEI could offer nothing but ultimately futile, contingent cultural arguments against the decision in Abruzzo. Neo-Catholic defenders of the conciliar novelties will naturally insist that this situation has nothing to do with Vatican II, but obviously it has everything to do with the Council.
If anyone thinks this is just another example of Vatican II-bashing by The Remnant, consider the comments of Umberto Bossi, the third-ranking politician in the Italian government, just below Berlusconi and Fini. Bossi is considered a gadfly and a bomb-thrower in the liberal Italian political milieu, but that means only he is right on the mark from the traditional Catholic point of view. As reported by La Stampa on October 27, 2003, Bossi declared that the decision in Aquila is the fault of the Church which has abandoned tradition. Bossi told his interviewer, Giovanni Cerruti, that there is a climate. A climate where nonsense that would never have passed before now finds a place. When asked when that climate began, Bossi replied: The Second Vatican Council, when the Church renounced Tradition.
Cerruti, clearly stunned, asked Bossi if he was claiming there was a direct line from Pope John to the judges decision. Here Bossi let Cerruti have it with both barrels: Perhaps that judge felt close to a part of the corrupt Curia that has betrayed (us), or he felt that their putrescent layers of Masons had enunciated the end of tradition and the opening of barriers. When Cerruti protested that the CEI had opposed the judges decision, Bossi shot back: Are you sure? I mean are you sure that they have rendered account for their own responsibility? They have fallen victim to modernity and modernism, renouncing tradition
When Cerruti asked Bossi if he really thought this was all because of the Council, Bossi replied: I am against the Second Vatican Council. I define myself as a Catholic traditionalist The Church has lost Europe and now risks going toward the abyss. It is they [the bishops] who say that all religions are equal, no? We will see that there wasand how great it wasa betrayal with the Second Vatican Council. I am like Saint Thomas: I know what I see. We have arrived right at the moment in which Europe wanders about in this strange climate known as globalization and dictatorship.
Stronger words were never written in The Remnant. But any fool can see that in the name of the Council the Vatican apparatus has unilaterally disarmed itself and shut down the Church militant. Now even the Pope is reduced to offering weak bromides for the spiritual disease that ravages all of former Christendom. While acknowledging Europes silent apostasy, John Paul II refrains from calling upon the victims of this apostasy to repent and return to Holy Mother Church. Much less does he call upon non-Catholics to convert to the one true religion. Instead, the Pope has prescribed nothing more specific than giving the gift of Christ to Europewhatever that meansand an explicit recognition of the Christian roots of Europe in the Treaty [establishing the European Union]. In his Angelus address at Castelgandolfo on August 24, the Pope described evangelization in Europe as concrete charitable initiatives, effective human promotion, giving life once again to the universal values of human coexisence, nourishing the culture of solidarity, and giv[ing] renewed hope to the poor. He spoke of the need to re-propose faithfully the truth about matrimony and family and spread the Gospel of life in order to build a city worthy of man in Europe and the world, and a more just and stable international order.
Evangelization has thus been reduced to a call for charitable works, adherence to the natural law and peaceful coexistence. The Vatican no longer dares to proclaim that Europe must once again be Catholic, or that Europeans must submit to the authority of Holy Church and receive the grace of Her sacraments for the salvation of their immortal souls. At Castelgandolfo the Pope was willing to say no more than this: For her part, the Catholic Church is convinced that the Gospel of Christ, which has been a unifying element of the European peoples for many centuries should be and continues to be today too an inexhaustible source of spirituality and fraternity. The one and only Catholic Faith that once was Europe is now thoroughly obscured in an ecumenical and interreligious fog thatlet us face ithas issued primarily from the thinking and practice of John Paul II.
............."Evangelization has thus been reduced to a call for charitable works, adherence to the natural law and peaceful coexistence. The Vatican no longer dares to proclaim that Europe must once again be Catholic, or that Europeans must submit to the authority of Holy Church and receive the grace of Her sacraments for the salvation of their immortal souls. At Castelgandolfo the Pope was willing to say no more than this: For her part, the Catholic Church is convinced that the Gospel of Christ, which has been a unifying element of the European peoples for many centuries should be and continues to be today too an inexhaustible source of spirituality and fraternity. The one and only Catholic Faith that once was Europe is now thoroughly obscured in an ecumenical and interreligious fog thatlet us face ithas issued primarily from the thinking and practice of John Paul II.
You will be remembered Karol Wojtyla, as an arrogant, treacherous, presumptuous and narcissistic man of many faces.
You will be remembered as the one man who created an organizational structure within His Church that was intended to implode and cripple Christianity. However, in your blasphemousanti-Christ stupor you were so preoccupied with your blasphemous self-indulgence you neglected to realize the presence of His eternal goodness observing your every insane and blatant attempts to manipulate and harm His faithful.
Your hatred and scorn for the True Church stands as a naked truth much as the emperor with no clothes. You carefully measured the length and breath of your material world indulgences, and this 'fitting' of your own making will be carried by you for eternity.
The infamous Dickens ghost, 'Jacob Marley', will have a companion at long last.
Church history will pity your self-indulgence. It will view your heresy as that of a man who was not spiritually prepared to sit in the plac of Peter. I believe the faithful will pray that God Almighty in his boundless love for the sinner, while condemning you to eternal damnation, will be mindful that we too will morn the greatness that was always within your reach.
'Free will' can make you, or break you - a constant character test. For a pope, I would guess one having the level of character of Saint Pope Pius X could easily recognize the path the good Lord would have us follow.
In His incredible love for you Karol Wojtyla, the Trinity will - when properly asked - forgive you as well as your conspirators who have mocked His teachings while pretending to be His equal.
You are, for Roman Catholism, our weakest link. Your absence will permit the strengthening of those links which are necessary for the protection of His Church from its past, present and future enemies.
But for the past protection of His Church from the frailties and weaknesses of men who sat in the Chair of Peter, all memory of Christ Jesus and the Holy path He provided to process through this misery called planet Earth would have already been long forgotten.
Karol Wojtyla, also know as Pope John Paul II, may God forgive the harm you brought to Roman Catholics and all those who still call themselves Christian.
We should never forget, the destruction of all religion is a primary purpose of international communism. It remains a mystery to me how Karol Wojtyla went unscathed in communist Poland during a time while his brother bishops were imprisoned and tortured.
Chrissy is too intelligent to be labeled an idiot. He is a liar.
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
DECLARATION "DOMINUS IESUS"
ON THE UNICITY AND SALVIFIC UNIVERSALITY
OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
...The Catholic faithful are required to profess that there is an historical continuity rooted in the apostolic succession53 between the Church founded by Christ and the Catholic Church: This is the single Church of Christ... which our Saviour, after his resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care (cf. Jn 21:17), commissioning him and the other Apostles to extend and rule her (cf. Mt 28:18ff.), erected for all ages as the pillar and mainstay of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15). This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in [subsistit in] the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him.54 With the expression subsistit in, the Second Vatican Council sought to harmonize two doctrinal statements: on the one hand, that the Church of Christ, despite the divisions which exist among Christians, continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church, and on the other hand, that outside of her structure, many elements can be found of sanctification and truth,55 that is, in those Churches and ecclesial communities which are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church.56 But with respect to these, it needs to be stated that they derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church.57
17. Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him.58 The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches.59 Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church, since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the entire Church.60
On the other hand, the ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery,61 are not Churches in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church.62 Baptism in fact tends per se toward the full development of life in Christ, through the integral profession of faith, the Eucharist, and full communion in the Church.63
The Christian faithful are therefore not permitted to imagine that the Church of Christ is nothing more than a collection divided, yet in some way one of Churches and ecclesial communities; nor are they free to hold that today the Church of Christ nowhere really exists, and must be considered only as a goal which all Churches and ecclesial communities must strive to reach.64 In fact, the elements of this already-given Church exist, joined together in their fullness in the Catholic Church and, without this fullness, in the other communities.65 Therefore, these separated Churches and communities as such, though we believe they suffer from defects, have by no means been deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church.66
The lack of unity among Christians is certainly a wound for the Church; not in the sense that she is deprived of her unity, but in that it hinders the complete fulfilment of her universality in history.67
V. THE CHURCH: KINGDOM OF GOD AND KINGDOM OF CHRIST
18. The mission of the Church is to proclaim and establish among all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth, the seed and the beginning of that kingdom.68 On the one hand, the Church is a sacrament that is, sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of unity of the entire human race.69 She is therefore the sign and instrument of the kingdom; she is called to announce and to establish the kingdom. On the other hand, the Church is the people gathered by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit;70 she is therefore the kingdom of Christ already present in mystery71 and constitutes its seed and beginning. The kingdom of God, in fact, has an eschatological dimension: it is a reality present in time, but its full realization will arrive only with the completion or fulfilment of history.72
The meaning of the expressions kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, and kingdom of Christ in Sacred Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, as well as in the documents of the Magisterium, is not always exactly the same, nor is their relationship to the Church, which is a mystery that cannot be totally contained by a human concept. Therefore, there can be various theological explanations of these terms. However, none of these possible explanations can deny or empty in any way the intimate connection between Christ, the kingdom, and the Church. In fact, the kingdom of God which we know from revelation, cannot be detached either from Christ or from the Church... If the kingdom is separated from Jesus, it is no longer the kingdom of God which he revealed. The result is a distortion of the meaning of the kingdom, which runs the risk of being transformed into a purely human or ideological goal and a distortion of the identity of Christ, who no longer appears as the Lord to whom everything must one day be subjected (cf. 1 Cor 15:27). Likewise, one may not separate the kingdom from the Church. It is true that the Church is not an end unto herself, since she is ordered toward the kingdom of God, of which she is the seed, sign and instrument. Yet, while remaining distinct from Christ and the kingdom, the Church is indissolubly united to both.73
19. To state the inseparable relationship between Christ and the kingdom is not to overlook the fact that the kingdom of God even if considered in its historical phase is not identified with the Church in her visible and social reality. In fact, the action of Christ and the Spirit outside the Church's visible boundaries must not be excluded.74 Therefore, one must also bear in mind that the kingdom is the concern of everyone: individuals, society and the world. Working for the kingdom means acknowledging and promoting God's activity, which is present in human history and transforms it. Building the kingdom means working for liberation from evil in all its forms. In a word, the kingdom of God is the manifestation and the realization of God's plan of salvation in all its fullness.75
In considering the relationship between the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, and the Church, it is necessary to avoid one-sided accentuations, as is the case with those conceptions which deliberately emphasize the kingdom and which describe themselves as kingdom centred.' They stress the image of a Church which is not concerned about herself, but which is totally concerned with bearing witness to and serving the kingdom. It is a Church for others,' just as Christ is the man for others'... Together with positive aspects, these conceptions often reveal negative aspects as well. First, they are silent about Christ: the kingdom of which they speak is theocentrically' based, since, according to them, Christ cannot be understood by those who lack Christian faith, whereas different peoples, cultures, and religions are capable of finding common ground in the one divine reality, by whatever name it is called. For the same reason, they put great stress on the mystery of creation, which is reflected in the diversity of cultures and beliefs, but they keep silent about the mystery of redemption. Furthermore, the kingdom, as they understand it, ends up either leaving very little room for the Church or undervaluing the Church in reaction to a presumed ecclesiocentrism' of the past and because they consider the Church herself only a sign, for that matter a sign not without ambiguity.76 These theses are contrary to Catholic faith because they deny the unicity of the relationship which Christ and the Church have with the kingdom of God.
VI. THE CHURCH AND THE OTHER RELIGIONS IN RELATION TO SALVATION
20. From what has been stated above, some points follow that are necessary for theological reflection as it explores the relationship of the Church and the other religions to salvation.
Above all else, it must be firmly believed that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door.77 This doctrine must not be set against the universal salvific will of God (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); it is necessary to keep these two truths together, namely, the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all mankind and the necessity of the Church for this salvation.78
The Church is the universal sacrament of salvation,79 since, united always in a mysterious way to the Saviour Jesus Christ, her Head, and subordinated to him, she has, in God's plan, an indispensable relationship with the salvation of every human being.80 For those who are not formally and visibly members of the Church, salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit;81 it has a relationship with the Church, which according to the plan of the Father, has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.82
21. With respect to the way in which the salvific grace of God which is always given by means of Christ in the Spirit and has a mysterious relationship to the Church comes to individual non-Christians, the Second Vatican Council limited itself to the statement that God bestows it in ways known to himself.83 Theologians are seeking to understand this question more fully. Their work is to be encouraged, since it is certainly useful for understanding better God's salvific plan and the ways in which it is accomplished. However, from what has been stated above about the mediation of Jesus Christ and the unique and special relationship84 which the Church has with the kingdom of God among men which in substance is the universal kingdom of Christ the Saviour it is clear that it would be contrary to the faith to consider the Church as one way of salvation alongside those constituted by the other religions, seen as complementary to the Church or substantially equivalent to her, even if these are said to be converging with the Church toward the eschatological kingdom of God.
Certainly, the various religious traditions contain and offer religious elements which come from God,85 and which are part of what the Spirit brings about in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures, and religions.86 Indeed, some prayers and rituals of the other religions may assume a role of preparation for the Gospel, in that they are occasions or pedagogical helps in which the human heart is prompted to be open to the action of God.87 One cannot attribute to these, however, a divine origin or an ex opere operato salvific efficacy, which is proper to the Christian sacraments.88 Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that other rituals, insofar as they depend on superstitions or other errors (cf. 1 Cor 10:20-21), constitute an obstacle to salvation.89
22. With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-31).90 This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that one religion is as good as another'.91 If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation.92 However, all the children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results, not from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged.93 One understands then that, following the Lord's command (cf. Mt 28:19-20) and as a requirement of her love for all people, the Church proclaims and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). In him, in whom God reconciled all things to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:18-19), men find the fullness of their religious life.94
In inter-religious dialogue as well, the mission ad gentes today as always retains its full force and necessity.95 Indeed, God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Tim 2:4); that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the promptings of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.96 Inter-religious dialogue, therefore, as part of her evangelizing mission, is just one of the actions of the Church in her mission ad gentes.97 Equality, which is a presupposition of inter-religious dialogue, refers to the equal personal dignity of the parties in dialogue, not to doctrinal content, nor even less to the position of Jesus Christ who is God himself made man in relation to the founders of the other religions. Indeed, the Church, guided by charity and respect for freedom,98 must be primarily committed to proclaiming to all people the truth definitively revealed by the Lord, and to announcing the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ and of adherence to the Church through Baptism and the other sacraments, in order to participate fully in communion with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus, the certainty of the universal salvific will of God does not diminish, but rather increases the duty and urgency of the proclamation of salvation and of conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
23. The intention of the present Declaration, in reiterating and clarifying certain truths of the faith, has been to follow the example of the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the faithful of Corinth: I handed on to you as of first importance what I myself received (1 Cor 15:3). Faced with certain problematic and even erroneous propositions, theological reflection is called to reconfirm the Church's faith and to give reasons for her hope in a way that is convincing and effective.
In treating the question of the true religion, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught: We believe that this one true religion continues to exist in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus entrusted the task of spreading it among all people. Thus, he said to the Apostles: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you' (Mt 28: 19-20). Especially in those things that concern God and his Church, all persons are required to seek the truth, and when they come to know it, to embrace it and hold fast to it.99
' The revelation of Christ will continue to be the true lodestar 100 in history for all humanity: The truth, which is Christ, imposes itself as an all-embracing authority. 101 The Christian mystery, in fact, overcomes all barriers of time and space, and accomplishes the unity of the human family: From their different locations and traditions all are called in Christ to share in the unity of the family of God's children... Jesus destroys the walls of division and creates unity in a new and unsurpassed way through our sharing in his mystery. This unity is so deep that the Church can say with Saint Paul: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are saints and members of the household of God' (Eph 2:19). 102
The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, at the Audience of June 16, 2000, granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with sure knowledge and by his apostolic authority, ratified and confirmed this Declaration, adopted in Plenary Session and ordered its publication.
Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, August 6, 2000, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Prefect
Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B.
Archbishop Emeritus of Vercelli
Secretary
I sense the gentleman is not a fan of the Pope.
I knew it! When the rad trads insist that they pray for the pope, this is what I've imagined their prayers to look like. Indictments.
Because the communists were/are dumb. Pope John Paul II, was instrumental in the downfall of Soviet Communism, as were Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
A debate erupted in Italy last week when a local court ordered a public school to take its crucifixes off the walls, after an Islamic firebrand, Adel Smith, complained that their exposition discriminated against his sons. Outraged church leaders sprang to battle.
The crucifix expresses the soul of our continent, and should remain the sign of European identity, said Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the popes vicar for the Rome archdiocese and president of the Italian bishops conference.
To some extent its a tempest in a teapot, because no one believes the sentence will stand Italy is not like France, with a Republican tradition of church/state separation. This is a country, after all, where the bishops conference last year received over $1 billion in public money. In the end, the crucifixes will remain.
Nevertheless, some observers believe there is a serious issue lurking beneath the theatrics.
The Catholic church is no longer alone in Italy, said Renzo Guolo, who teaches sociology of religion at the University of Trieste, and is a specialist in Islamic fundamentalism. He writes editorials on this subject for the newspaper of the Italian bishops conference, Avvenire, and has recently published a book entitled Xenophobes and Xenophiles: Italians and Islam.
The real problem is how Italy navigates the transition from being mono-cultural to being a religiously diverse society, especially with respect to Islam, Guolo told NCR Oct. 28. And because much of the Catholic world takes cues from Italy, how the relationship with Islam is managed here will have wide consequences.
In his book, Guolo observed that in recent years the leadership of the Italian Church has shifted from a welcoming stance towards Islamic immigration, to a more prudent and at times critical posture.
There are divergent positions, Guolo said. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the former archbishop of Milan, represented dialogue and openness, closer to the pope on this issue, whereas Cardinal Giacomo Biffi of Bologna and Bishop Alessandro Maggiolini of Como take a much harder line, demanding reciprocity in the Islam world for tolerance in the West.
This second attitude, Guolo explained, tends to be directed not at Muslims as individuals, but their associations and institutions, such as the Saudi Arabia-funded Rome mosque.
Ruini, Guolo said, is somewhere in between, but has been moving steadily closer to the Biffi/Maggiolini stance. For Ruini, Guolo explained, this is part of a larger concern with the re-evangelization of Italian society.
Though Guolo did not develop the point, Vatican sources describe a similar divergence within the Holy See. The Martini position is associated with Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, while the Biffi/Maggiolini line has adherents in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Propaganda Fidei, and some elements in the Secretariat of State.
Guolo made the interesting point that the Ruini strategy, of aggressively defending the Catholic Churchs prerogatives, may backfire.
Given the fact that Muslims will be increasingly present in Italy, there will be growing pressure to extend rights currently enjoyed by the church also to Muslims, Guolo said. By protecting its own interests, the church serves the interests of Islam.
He offered the example of education, where the Italian Church has waged a long campaign to obtain state support for its schools. Ultimately social pressure will be intense to grant Islamic schools the same status, with the danger of creating cultural ghettoes.
Would it be better for the church to accept a certain lay space in the public forum? Guolo asked. Thats a question that has to be faced.
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