Religion & Law

Pope Benedict has returned to Rome, after what seems to have been a successful visit to the land of St. Thomas More.  More than a few of his statements, it appears, touched on matters of church-state relations, religious freedom, and faith & politics.  (Here is the address at Westminster, in which he invokes St. Thomas More in the very room where the latter was tried.)  So, let's here from bloggers (thanks to Fr. Araujo for his thoughts, below) and readers . . . any thoughts about the visit?  About his message?  Here is Austen Ivereigh, in America; here is Fr. Rutler, at First Things; here is Robert Imbelli, at Commonweal; here is Ross Douthat, in the New York Times; here is David Pryce-Jones, in National Review . . . feel free to suggest your own links in the Comments box.

Here's a bit:

Religion, in other words, is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation. In this light, I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance. There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere. There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none. And there are those who argue ? paradoxically with the intention of eliminating discrimination ? that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience. These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square. I would invite all of you, therefore, within your respective spheres of influence, to seek ways of promoting and encouraging dialogue between faith and reason at every level of national life.