Pope speaks of religious freedom in meeting with Italian president

Published: 2006-11-20

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When a nation fosters its citizens' religious freedom, society reaps the fruits of justice and peace, Pope Benedict XVI told Italy's president, Giorgio Napolitano. "The freedom that the church and Christians demand does not jeopardize the interests of the state or other groups in society and it does not aim for authoritarian supremacy" over these entities, the pope said. Religious freedom, rather, is the condition in which Christians are able to "carry out that precious service the church offers" to all nations, such as giving "the light of faith, the power of hope and the warmth of charity," he said. The pope met Nov. 20 with the newly elected president during a two-and-a-half-hour, pomp-filled ceremony at the Vatican. The former Communist Party leader was accompanied by a large entourage of government officials including the former national secretary of the Italian socialist party, Democrats of the Left, Massimo D'Alema.

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