Church and politics: Throughout the world, variations on a theme

Published: 2005-09-16

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The theme of church and politics was a big part of last year's U.S. presidential election campaign, but a recent look around the globe shows the United States holds no monopoly on the issue. On questions involving the family in Europe, religious freedom in Asia, corruption in Africa and economics in Latin America, church leaders have shown up on the political radar in recent weeks. In Italy, where political parties are preparing for elections next spring, the head of the center-left coalition, Romano Prodi, came out in support of legal rights for long-term unwed couples -- provoking a storm of objections by the Vatican and Italian church leaders. A different kind of dynamic was being played out in Brazil, where church leaders organized some of the biggest protest rallies in August and September against corruption in government and inaction on social programs. In Africa, Sudanese and Ugandan church leaders joined military and tribal chiefs Sept. 1-4 in a southern Sudanese village to explore ways to end civil strife in northern Uganda. In Asia, meanwhile, the church was awaiting word on whether China would allow four Catholic bishops to attend the October Synod of Bishops at the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI appointed them synod members in early September.

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