Religion Clause blog reports on comments made by the Pope in connection with church/state questions. It includes these quotes by the Pope:
. . . It strikes me as significant that here in America, unlike many places in Europe, the secular mentality has not been intrinsically opposed to religion. Within the context of the separation of Church and State, American society has always been marked by a fundamental respect for religion and its public role, and, if polls are to be believed, the American people are deeply religious. But it is not enough to count on this traditional religiosity and go about business as usual, even as its foundations are being slowly undermined….
. . . Perhaps America’s brand of secularism poses a particular problem: it allows for professing belief in God, and respects the public role of religion and the Churches, but at the same time it can subtly reduce religious belief to a lowest common denominator. Faith becomes a passive acceptance that certain things “out there” are true, but without practical relevance for everyday life. The result is a growing separation of faith from life. . . This is aggravated by an individualistic and eclectic approach to faith and religion: . . . each person believes he or she has a right to pick and choose, maintaining external social bonds but without an integral, interior conversion to the law of Christ. Consequently . . . Christians are easily tempted to conform themselves to the spirit of this age . . . We have seen this emerge in an acute way in the scandal given by Catholics who promote an alleged right to abortion . . .
The full text of yesterday’s papal address to the U.S. Catholic bishops is here.
