John Paul II backs separation of Church and State (reject, doctrine)

[Pah]

Complete article

Date: 2005-02-14

Church Backs a Balanced Secularity, Says John Paul II

Observes That the Principle Belongs to Social Doctrine

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 14, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The principle of secularity is acceptable when it involves a well-understood separation of church and state, says John Paul II in a letter to the bishops of France.

The letter, sent for the 100th anniversary of the law that introduced the separation of the Church and state in France, was published Saturday by the Vatican press office.

In the letter, the Pope reviewed the history of relations between religion and public life in the past century and backed dialogue between civil and religious authorities in favor of the common good, while respecting the identity of each.

"The principle of secularity to which your country is extremely attached, if it is well understood, belongs also to the social doctrine of the Church," the Holy Father wrote in his letter.

"It reminds us of the need for a just separation of powers," acknowledged the Pope, citing the recently published Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Nos. 571-572

[Pah]

I wonder what "balanced" really means.

Complete article from the BBC

The destiny of Europe is preoccupying the Vatican.

It has complained of a "militant secularism" which, it says, is driving the Church out of public life in Europe.

Cardinals have even complained of an "anti-Catholic inquisition".

They have pointed to policies such as France's ban on conspicuous religious symbols in schools, the EU's rejection of a reference to God in the proposed EU constitution and Spain's proposals to legalise gay marriage.


"In 2,000 years of the Church's existence, those trends have come and gone," Cardinal Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told the BBC World Service's Assignment programme

...

After it lost the Papal States in 1870, the city state developed a distrust of secular rulers - with Pope Pius X complaining that "God has been driven out of public life by the separation of Church and state".