God's Religions

The June 7 letter from Archbishop Carlo Vigano to President Trump that called the President’s opposition “children of darkness” made me wonder why the Archbishop would make such a statement.   His reasons are too complicated to mention here but one fact stands out.  Vigano had called on Pope Francis to resign, and he challenged the Pope’s February 2019 declaration of peace, freedom, and women’s rights as “blatant heresy” and a “terrible blasphemy.”  Pope Francis signed that declaration with the Muslim Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb.  Both leaders issued a strong condemnation of terrorism and violence: “God does not want his name to be used to terrorize people.”

Vigano appeared to be very upset that the Pope in the declaration had agreed that “God wants all religions.”  Vigano called the idea “a very serious apostasy.”  In a March interview Vigano said, “Saying that God wants to be worshipped as something other than how He revealed Himself means that the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Savior are completely meaningless.” 

Here’s the declaration statement Vigano challenged that I’ve highlighted in these passages:

This Document, in accordance with previous International Documents that have emphasized the importance of the role of religions in the construction of world peace, upholds the following:

- The firm conviction that authentic teachings of religions invite us to remain rooted in the values of peace; to defend the values of mutual understanding, human fraternity and harmonious coexistence; to re-establish wisdom, justice and love; and to reawaken religious awareness among young people so that future generations may be protected from the realm of materialistic thinking and from dangerous policies of unbridled greed and indifference that are based on the law of force and not on the force of law;

- Freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action. The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings. This divine wisdom is the source from which the right to freedom of belief and the freedom to be different derives. Therefore, the fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept;

- Justice based on mercy is the path to follow in order to achieve a dignified life to which every human being has a right;

- Dialogue, understanding and the widespread promotion of a culture of tolerance, acceptance of others and of living together peacefully would contribute significantly to reducing many economic, social, political and environmental problems that weigh so heavily on a large part of humanity…

The entire Declaration should be read and appreciated.  Vigano's condemnation of the "pluralism and the diversity of religions being willed by God" startles me and makes me wonder why he implicitly says God didn't will Judaism, for example.  Really!? 

If I had been asked to sign the Declaration, I would have and without reservation.   Would you?

Deacon David Pierce