Democracy weakened when faith excluded from public life, pope says

Published: 2003-10-10

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While governments should not have a religious identity, they weaken democracy if they try to limit their citizens' expressions of faith to the private sphere, Pope John Paul II said. "While respecting a healthy sense of the state's secular nature, the positive role of believers in public life should be recognized," the pope said Oct. 10 during a meeting with the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Some 330 parliamentarians from 49 countries were in Rome for the assembly's Oct. 9-10 conference on the freedom of religion. Pope John Paul told the group, "It is true that many young people today grow up without being aware of the spiritual heritage that is theirs." But, at the same time, he said, religious faith continues to influence large groups of citizens who have a right to bring their religious and moral values to bear on public life.

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