US embassy cable - 04VATICAN4838

UNCLAS  VATICAN 004838 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE (Levin); DRL/IRF (Ambassador Hanford) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KIRF, VT, religious freedom 
SUBJECT:  EMBASSY CONFERENCE PROMOTES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AS 
CENTRAL ELEMENT OF U.S. POLICY 
 
REFS: Vatican 4517; Vatican 4441 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.Post's final conference in a series marking the 
twentieth anniversary of diplomatic relations with the Holy 
See promoted religious freedom as a core goal of U.S. 
foreign policy.  An ensemble of high-level Vatican and USG 
officials, along with academics and NGO experts, offered a 
comprehensive overview of the importance of religious 
freedom to democracy and civil society, the challenges to 
religious freedom, and an assessment of what can be done to 
address these challenges.  Ambassador-at-Large for 
International Religious Freedom John Hanford described U.S. 
efforts to combat and monitor freedom of religion, 
highlighting the role of the State Department's Annual 
Report on International Religious Freedom.  The Holy See's 
Foreign Minister equivalent, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, 
reviewed the Vatican's diplomatic activity on behalf of 
religious freedom, emphasizing the central importance of 
religious freedom to the life of the Catholic Church.  All 
speakers agreed that religious liberty was essential for 
enhanced international cooperation and security, and agreed 
that much needed to be done in this area.  Speakers agreed 
that governments, NGOs and religious authorities needed to 
work together to expand such freedom worldwide.  The 
program generated extensive international and Italian media 
coverage.  End Summary. 
 
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U.S. LEADS GLOBAL DRIVE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
2.Opening the Embassy-organized conference, "Religious 
Freedom:  Cornerstone of Human Dignity," Ambassador 
Nicholson emphasized U.S. leadership in promoting and 
defending religious freedom throughout the world. 
Observing that the desire for religious liberty was the 
driving force for the establishment of the first American 
colonies, the Ambassador noted that it has been a central 
tenet of American life from our foundation.  Religious 
liberty, he pointed out, was closely linked to world peace 
and stability, for where religious liberty was not 
respected, and where religious tolerance and respect for 
the rights of others were not common, conflict and violence 
often ensued.  The Ambassador outlined U.S. initiatives to 
monitor and combat violations against religious freedom, 
including the work of U.S. embassies, the 1998 Religious 
Freedom Act, and the establishment of the State 
Department's Ambassador-at-Large for International 
Religious Freedom.  Nicholson highlighted the convergence 
of U.S. and Holy See objectives on religious freedom - 
which President Bush has described as a "fundamental 
freedom" and Pope John Paul II has termed the "basis of all 
other freedoms." 
 
3.Pointing out that over half the world's population 
lives under governments that restrict religious freedom, 
U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious 
Freedom John Hanford outlined U.S. efforts to combat and 
monitor freedom.  While citing progress in Afghanistan, 
Iraq, Turkmenistan, and India, Hanford detailed continuing 
problems in countries of particular concern including Saudi 
Arabia, Iran, North Korea, Burma, China, Vietnam, Eritrea 
and Sudan.  Ambassador Hanford emphasized that religious 
freedom was a personal priority for President Bush, who 
frequently raises U.S. concerns directly with foreign 
n 
leaders.  Turning to Iraq where Chaldean Catholic Churches 
have come under attack, Hanford affirmed USG concern about 
new threats against Christians in Iraq and about the 
resulting Christian exodus from the country.  Religious 
extremism, according to the Ambassador, represented a major 
threat to the international order, as extremists have come 
to believe that religion demands the death of innocents and 
the destruction of liberty.  He said that the U.S. holds 
confidently to the idea that expanded respect for religious 
freedom will ultimately cultivate greater respect for human 
 
 
dignity.  Ambassador Hanford concluded with a strong 
message for those suffering religious persecution around 
the world:  "We will not forget them, and we will never 
abandon their cause." 
 
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HOLY SEE'S RAISON D'ETRE  RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
4.Holy See FM Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, noting "the 
e 
importance of religious freedom for the very life of the 
Church," observed that the Holy See has always placed 
priority on religious liberty as the most fundamental human 
right.  To promote favorable conditions for believers 
everywhere, Vatican diplomacy has engaged both bilaterally 
and multilaterally.  In its bilateral dealings, the Vatican 
has pursued "concordat diplomacy" to allow the Catholic 
Church to operate freely within a particular country, while 
cooperating with national governments as a positive social 
agent.  In this regard, Lajolo pointed out that bilateral 
agreements made by the Holy See with certain countries have 
often led to similar arrangements for other religious 
denominations.  For example, the Holy See's 1984 Concordat 
with Italy, preceded a similar pact that same year between 
Italy and the Waldensian Church. 
 
5.On the multilateral level, Lajolo said that the Holy 
See participates actively in UN Third Committee debates in 
New York and in Geneva at the UN Commission on Human 
Rights.  He said the Holy See supports expanded cooperation 
between the UN and world religions, as proposed recently by 
the Philippines, as long as such cooperation does not 
interfere with inter-religious dialogue, which the Holy See 
considers to be the competence of religious authorities. 
Lajolo also recalled the Holy See's central role in 
ensuring the inclusion of religious freedom in the 
"decalogue" of human rights that OSCE states committed 
themselves to uphold, and then of obtaining an expansive 
description of the content of religious freedom. 
 
6.  Assessing the challenges to religious freedom today, 
Lajolo observed that the war against terrorism, while 
necessary, has had as a side effect "the spread of 
'Christianophobia' in vast areas of the globe" where 
Western civilization and western policies "are considered 
to be determined by Christianity, or at least not separated 
from it."  In Western societies themselves, Lajolo 
cautioned against neglect of the "public dimension of 
religious freedom," which would encompass a healthy 
dialogue between church and state.  In other areas of the 
world, Lajolo lamented restrictions the right of religions 
to organize freely and criticized regimes that created 
difficult conditions for the registration of religious 
communities or imposed penalties for religious conversion. 
On the margins of the Conference, Lajolo called attention 
to the Vatican's recent efforts to place anti-Christianity 
on the UN and OSCE human rights agenda - a point that 
Embassy and the Holy See have recently discussed in depth 
(reftels). 
 
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Religious Freedom as Foundation for International Order 
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7.Seamus Hasson, Founder and President of the Beckett 
Fund for Religious Liberty, offered Conference delegates a 
compelling argument of how in the American tradition 
religious liberty has been regarded as a "human right that 
t 
no government grants in the first place and therefore no 
government may properly deny."  Religious freedom, says 
Hasson, follows from human nature itself.  Hasson recalled 
James Madison's views on religious liberty in which 
everyone had the freedom to embrace, profess and observe 
the religion "which we believe to be of divine origin." 
Madison's hesitancy over enshrining religious freedom in 
law revealed his fear that the inalienable nature of the 
right would somehow be compromised.  Hasson noted that 
Madison consistently maintained that the national right of 
 
 
religious freedom was broader than that enshrined in the 
Constitution.  He went on to attribute much of the 
confusion over religious liberty in present-day America to 
the confusion between natural rights and legal rights. 
When presented examples of abuses of religious freedom 
based on legal systems, Hasson suggested most Americans 
would "continue to follow in the trajectory of our 
founding:  religious liberty is a human right that no 
government grants in the first place and therefore no 
government may properly deny." 
 
8.Notre Dame University Law School Professor Paolo 
Carozza, argued that religious freedom was not merely a 
requirement of respecting individual human dignity, but 
also a requirement for peace, security and cooperation 
among nations.  It would be a grave mistake, said Carozza, 
for international politics and law to exclude or ignore 
religion, because, for huge segments of the human race, 
religious communities and religious traditions are the 
primary context for "wrestling with the meaning of 
reality."  While this religious dimension could not be 
ignored, Carozza cautioned that not all expressions of 
religion manifest openness to a universal common good; and 
that this poses a significant challenge for international 
law and politics.  In this regard, Carozza called for a 
"very robust understanding of religious freedom" in order 
to avoid naivety about its potential dangers. 
 
 
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NGOs:  KEEPERS OF THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FLAME 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
9.The Institute on Religion and Public Policy's Joseph 
Grieboski delivered an impassioned apology for the role of 
NGOs to promote and defend religious freedom, which he 
described as foundational:  "Without freedom of religion 
and belief, there is no freedom of speech, as believers 
cannot communicate publicly their most fundamental beliefs; 
there is no freedom of the press, as believers cannot print 
and share their beliefs with others; and there is no 
freedom of assembly, as like-minded believers cannot meet 
to share their beliefs and worship their Creator according 
to the dictates of their minds, hearts, and consciences." 
Grieboski pointed out that NGOs in the religious freedom 
advocacy field play an important role in gathering 
information, disseminating information to policymakers, 
religious leaders, other NGOs, and the general public, and 
shaping policy to advance the cause of religious freedom. 
Grieboski argued convincingly that a government's guarantee 
of freedom of religion indicates acceptance of the premise 
of democracy:  that every individual has value and worth, 
and that the state is constituted to serve society, not 
vice versa.  In this sense, he concluded, freedom of 
religion serves as the cornerstone of democracy. 
 
10.Attilio Tamburrini, Director of the Italian section of 
Aid to the Church in Need, outlined his NGO's work in 
assisting persecuted Christians and reporting instances of 
religious freedom violations around the world. 
Tamburrini's organization has official status at the Holy 
See and works out of Vatican offices.  Since 1998, Aid to 
the Church in Need has published an annual report on 
religious freedom around the world.  Tamburrini's 
presentation highlighted what he described as an urgent 
need to stimulate the public consciousness on religious 
freedom issues.  Noting the media success of the launch of 
this year's edition of his organization's report, 
Tamburrini lamented the lack of media coverage of religious 
freedom issues throughout the rest of the year - which he 
attributed to a "cultural hostility towards religious 
issues."  Nonetheless, he praised the work of Ambassador 
Hanford and the Embassy's initiative in organizing the 
conference, hoping that such initiatives would multiply, 
and in particular stimulating academic and governmental 
interest in religious freedom issues.  He noted that the 
Italian government had held its first ever parliamentary 
hearings on the subject only within the past year. 
 
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China, Holy Land, Nigeria: Regional Perspectives 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
11.To rounding off the Conference, panelists Bernardo 
Cervellero, David Maria Jaeger and Dan Madigan looked at 
three regions of religious freedom concern.  Cervellero a 
China expert and a member of the Pontifical Institute for 
r 
Foreign Missions,  urged that the current wave of political 
and economic engagement with China be tempered  by a 
recognition of the appalling religious freedom situation in 
the communist state.  While there had been some cosmetic 
changes in regard to religious freedom, Cervellera pointed 
to a recent Party document outlining plans to "promote 
atheism and ban religions and superstitions."  He said 
Chinese authorities saw religious freedom purely as a 
legislative concession by the State and not as a 
fundamental human right. 
 
12. Franciscan Father David Maria Jaeger lauded USG 
support for on-going diplomatic negotiations between the 
Vatican and Israel aimed at regularizing the position of 
the Catholic Church in the Holy Lands.  Jaeger is a member 
of the Vatican delegation negotiating with Israeli 
authorities on elements of the Fundamental Agreement 
established between the two States in 1994.  The Franciscan 
priest formerly served as a senior member of the Vatican's 
Custody of the Holy Land, responsible for maintaining 
Christian holy sites, and the care of pilgrims and resident 
Christians.  He urged Middle Eastern states to recognize 
and adopt international standards of freedom of religion 
and conscience, "assuring their citizens, and all others, 
of complete civic equality."  Jaeger noted the significance 
of Israel and the Palestinian Authority being the first in 
the region to sign agreements with the Vatican guaranteeing 
religious freedom, given the Vatican's interest in the 
plight of Christians in the Holy Land. 
 
13.Jesuit Dan Madigan told the Conference that many 
conflicts that seem to have a religious root are, in fact, 
conflicts in which religious differences are manipulated to 
protect economic or political power.  He cited Nigeria as a 
key example.  Madigan said the global political situation 
is often played out on the local level, with some Christian 
communities suffering because of what some Muslims see as a 
global Christian and Western offensive against Islam. 
Madigan called for a comprehensive approach to human 
rights, saying that if religious freedom was foundational, 
then its defenders should also work to promote the other 
rights inherent to human dignity.  (Note: Madigan runs the 
Gregorian University's Institute for Culture and Religion, 
and trains future Catholic leaders and students from other 
religious traditions in issues related to inter-religious 
dialogue and religious freedom.  End note). 
 
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Extensive Media Coverage 
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14.The Conference garnered extensive media coverage in 
international, Catholic, and Italian  media.  The Italian 
Catholic daily Avvenire devoted a full page to the 
conference under the headline  "Religious Liberty is at 
Risk Everywhere." Other Italian media coverage included 
leading dailies Corriere della Sera and Il Tempo and the 
national news wire service ANSA, which issued three stories 
highlighting challenges to religious freedom.  Coverage 
also included a pre-conference live interview with 
Ambassadors Nicholson and Hanford on Vatican Radio, which 
boasts an international audience of tens of thousands of 
listeners in 40 languages.  The National Catholic 
Reporter's "Word from Rome, with a global Catholic 
audience," ran extensive excerpts of remarks made by Lajolo 
and Hanford.  A pre-conference Q&A with Ambassador 
Nicholson in the international ZENIT News Service -- 
distributed in the English, Italian and Spanish versions -- 
previewed key aspects of the conference, while ZENIT's 
Italian version also ran an extensive pre-conference 
interview with Ambassador Hanford.  Other news service 
coverage included REUTERS, Vatican Information Service 
 
 
(VIS), Catholic News Service (CNS) and AsiaNews. 
 
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Comment 
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15. The Embassy's conference on religious freedom drew a 
large audience -- over 250 -- and extensive media coverage, 
reflecting the growing interest in the subject of religious 
freedom as a "cornerstone" of human dignity and of a more 
secure international order.  The Conference resonated 
strongly with the Holy See, whose Prime Minister 
equivalent, Cardinal Sodano, took a personal interest in 
ensuring high-level Vatican participation.  Indeed, the 
participation of Foreign Minister Lajolo made clear the 
importance the Holy See attaches to this issue.  By 
bringing together the USG's Ambassador for Religious 
Freedom with the Vatican's FM, the Conference served to 
highlight the commonality of U.S. and Holy See views and 
establish some directions for future action to expand the 
reach of religious freedom where it is under threat. 
Embassy greatly appreciates the participation of the U.S. 
Ambassador for Religious Freedom, who was able to convey 
effectively to a diverse international audience the depth 
of the U.S. commitment to greater religious freedom for all 
believers. 
 
Nicholson 
 
 
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 2004VATICA04838 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED