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Highlights from Pope's Address to the United Nations - Religious Freedom Means Faith Allowed in Politics

Compiled By John-Henry Westen

NEW YORK, April 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The following are direct quotes from Pope Benedict XVI's address delivered to the General Assembly of the United Nations today.  The headings are additions by the editor.

RIGHTS AND DUTIES

In the name of freedom, there has to be a correlation between rights and duties, by which every person is called to assume responsibility for his or her choices, made as a consequence of entering into relations with others. Here our thoughts turn also to the way the results of scientific research and technological advances have sometimes been applied. Notwithstanding the enormous benefits that humanity can gain, some instances of this represent a clear violation of the order of creation, to the point where not only is the sacred character of life contradicted, but the human person and the family are robbed of their natural identity

HUMAN RIGHTS ARE GOD-GIVEN NOT CONFERRED BY THE STATE

It is evident, though, that the rights recognized and expounded in the Declaration apply to everyone by virtue of the common origin of the person, who remains the high-point of God's creative design for the world and for history. They are based on the natural law inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilizations. . . . Experience shows that legality often prevails over justice when the insistence upon rights makes them appear as the exclusive result of legislative enactments or normative decisions taken by the various agencies of those in power. When presented purely in terms of legality, rights risk becoming weak propositions divorced from the ethical and rational dimension which is their foundation and their goal.

WE NEED DISCERNMENT TO GUARD AGAINST FALSEHOODS PROMOTED AS 'NEW RIGHTS' (read homosexual 'marriage')

As history proceeds, new situations arise, and the attempt is made to link them to new rights. Discernment, that is, the capacity to distinguish good from evil, becomes even more essential in the context of demands that concern the very lives and conduct of persons, communities and peoples. In tackling the theme of rights, since important situations and profound realities are involved, discernment is both an indispensable and a fruitful virtue.

HUMAN RIGHTS INCLUDE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WHICH MEANS FAITH IS ALLOWED EVEN IN POLITICS

Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom . . . It is inconceivable, then, that believers should have to suppress a part of themselves - their faith - in order to be active citizens. It should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one's rights. The rights associated with religion are all the more in need of protection if they are considered to clash with a prevailing secular ideology or with majority religious positions of an exclusive nature. The full guarantee of religious liberty cannot be limited to the free exercise of worship, but has to give due consideration to the public dimension of religion, and hence to the possibility of believers playing their part in building the social order.

The Pope's full address to the United Nations is available here:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2008/april/documents/hf_...

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