AROUND THE WORLD

Church & State, Jan 2005

Vatican Warns United Nations Of 'Christianophobia'

In its ongoing campaign to become more involved in politics, the Vatican has urged the United Nations to recognize something called "Christianophobia."

In early December, The Daily Telegraph of London reported that Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's foreign minister, has been pressing the U.N. to recognize "Christianophobia" as an evil equal to that of anti-Semitism and "Islamophobia."

The prelate's request came a month after another top Vatican official railed against secularism in Europe. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger told an Italian newspaper that, "In political life, it seems almost indecent to speak of God, almost as if it were an attack on the freedom of the non-believer."

Pope John Paul II has also taken up the campaign. In December, he addressed a group of American bishops at the Vatican and urged the creation of a catechesis to instruct Catholics on their role in the church and secular society, reported the Religion News Service.

"While fully respecting the legitimate separation of church and state in American life, such catechesis must also make clear that for the faithful Christian there can be no separation between the faith, which is to be believed and put into practice, and a commitment to full and responsible participation in professional, political and cultural life," the pope said.