Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has pointed out that “Religious freedom is a serious and urgent concern”. The Cardinal stated this in a speech during the presentation of the Religious Freedom in the World Report , edited by ACN, at the Abat Oliba University (UAO) CEU in Barcelona.
“Our brothers who do not have religious freedom offer their testimony despite their lack of freedom. This should shame those who are free to exercise their faith but choose not to. Persecuted Christians are prophets for us.
The prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples has also made a presentation of the main mission of the Church, despite the difficulties it encounters, which is “the work of evangelization, reaching all human and existential peripheries.”
Asked about the perspective of religious freedom from the Philippines and Asia , he replied that “sometimes we give answers with a vision from the outside, but in many places, the real meaning of religious freedom is not understood. “Not only is it difficult to convey the importance of this right to governments, ethnic and religious groups must also be taken into account. Therefore, we need a dialogue on different levels ”, he said.
Cardinal Tagle called on all Catholic and Christians to reflect on the profound truth that, “our faith does not depend on numbers or scientific analysis of reality . We should not be ashamed to mention that in this scenario we find in our faith the wisdom to turn our enemies into friends , through testimony and dialogue”.
In this regard, he clarified, “we are not happy about the cases of martyrdom, but in Asia, where according to the map of religious freedom it is one of the worst places in the world, Christians here are growing more every day. In the midst of the lack of religious freedom many people are motivated to practice their faith more and to be witnesses of the faith. This gives us hope and is an invitation to imitate them. We are not happy about these limitations, but faith grows where it is persecuted”.
