It is because assaults on religious freedom have become so common in American life.” “There is a reason why cases involving religious freedom have come to prominence in the Supreme Court’s docket. Still, he said, there is much more work to be done. And we have heard the decision of the court in favor of families of faith who were denied public educational benefits simply because they wanted their children to be educated at faith-based schools.” We have also seen the court side with a public school employee who merely wanted to exercise his right to pray after a public event. “We have seen the Supreme Court of the United States come down decisively in favor of neutrality when religious groups wanted to participate with secular groups in displays on public property. What is worse, people of faith are often scapegoated for the outbreaks.”īut “the fog of the pandemic” is lifting, he said, noting that in recent months in the United States, momentous court decisions at every level struck down discriminatory restrictions on people of faith and religious practices. “We saw that when fear and panic strikes the general population, people of faith are often the first to suffer the repressive restrictions of government. Since the time of the initiative's founding three years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how vulnerable freedom of religion actually is - and how little it is valued by those in power, said Cole. This year’s summit in Rome underscored the Religious Liberty Initiative’s global reach. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles participated in the inaugural Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in 2021, held on the University of Notre Dame’s campus in Indiana. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, offered a keynote address of the summit - calling for “ a global effort to defend and advance the religious freedom of all the children of God in every nation of the world.”Ĭardinal Timothy Dolan, Catholic archbishop of New York, and Elder Quentin L. “The protection and defense of religious freedom is central to the Catholic faith today,” he said. This document sets out the Catholic Church’s support for religious freedom.
7, 1965, at the end of Vatican Council II. Welcoming guests to the 2022 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit, Cole addressed the summit’s theme, “Dignitatis Humanae” - taken from the statement of the same name promulgated by Pope Paul VI on Dec. “The world is also learning that it is an essential precondition for political freedom, economic prosperity and human flourishing,” he said. Marcus Cole, dean of Notre Dame Law School and founder of the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Initiative. We welcome the opportunity to host a resident who would provide ongoing leadership to further this work.ROME, Italy - Religious freedom is a necessary precondition for anyone to choose a faith, said G. In addition to weekly online services that reach thousands of people, the Freedom Church holds regular Bible study (Including its Reading the Bible with the Poor cohort), and is developing ways to provide ongoing prayer and support to the church community. The Freedom Church of the Poor helps identify and develop moral/spiritual leadership for the struggle to end poverty, systemic racism, ecological devastation, militarism, and the false moral narrative of Christian nationalism. It follows a much longer tradition of church being inseparable from the active struggle for justice in our world. The Freedom Church of the Poor is dedicated to being a spiritual community of movement leaders and to providing space for spiritual grounding, reflection, and pastoral care to movement leaders.
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