By Devin Watkins
Ahead of the publication of the Religious Freedom in the World Report on Oct 21, Pope Leo XIV held an audience on Friday with members of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN).
In his address, the Pope said their visit to Rome comes at a time of rising hostilities and violence “against those who hold different convictions, including Christians.”
The mission of ACN, he added, stands in contrast to that violence, proclaiming that the Church can never abandon our persecuted brothers and sisters.
Every person’s right to religious freedom is “not optional but essential,” he said, noting that everyone carries within their heart a “profound longing for truth, for meaning, and for communion with others and with God.”
“Rooted in the dignity of the human person, created in God’s image and endowed with reason and free will, religious freedom allows individuals and communities to seek the truth, to live it freely, and to bear witness to it openly,” he said.
Religious freedom is therefore the cornerstone of society, since it safeguards the moral space in which we may form and exercise our conscience.
“Religious freedom, therefore, is not merely a legal right or a privilege granted to us by governments,” he said. “It is a foundational condition that makes authentic reconciliation possible.”
Pope Leo went on to note that, when religious freedom is denied, people witness the slow disintegration of ethical and spiritual bonds within communities.
Citing Pope Francis, the Pope said, “There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and respect for the views of others.”
The Catholic Church upholds religious freedom for all people, he said, recalling the Second Vatican Council’s declaration that religious freedom is a right that must be recognized by every nation.
Aid to the Church in Need, said Pope Leo, was born in 1947 in response to the suffering caused by war, seeking to foster forgiveness and reconciliation while giving voice to the Church anywhere she suffers or is threatened.
He praised ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report, published every two years, as an important tool to raise awareness and reveal the “hidden suffering of many.”
The Pope also thanked ACN for providing financial support for Church institutions across the globe, noting especially the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique.
“Wherever Aid to the Church in Need rebuilds a chapel, supports a religious sister, or provides for a radio station or a vehicle,” he said, “you strengthen the life of the Church, as well as the spiritual and moral fabric of society.”
Support for local Christians, concluded Pope Leo, allows minorities to be peacemakers in their homelands, so that they may become a “living sign of social harmony and fraternity, showing their neighbors that a different world is possible.” – Vatican News
