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Chicago Cardinal Warns Pope of Dissolving Religious Freedom

ROME, June 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Francis Cardinal George is in Rome at the bishops' regular meeting with John Paul II where he told the Pope that the free exercise of religion is under threat in the United States. "The Church's mission is threatened externally by an erosion of institutional freedom," he said. The Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago cited the inadequate response of the US hierarchy to revelations of sexual abuse by priests as a major cause of a new rise of anti-Catholicism, which he says, "has always marked American culture. "In this context, courts and legislatures are more ready to restrict the freedom of the Church to act publicly and to interfere in the internal governance of the church in ways that are new to American life. Our freedom to govern ourselves is diminished," he said.

The Cardinal mentions overturning by the courts of traditional protections of human life that is now creating a clash between the overall culture and the Catholic Church, which is now seen as 'oppressive.' "The Church," he says, "is seen as an enemy of personal freedom and a cause of social violence." He says that the media misrepresents the meaning of the Catholic contribution to what he calls "the public conversation." "It fundamentally distorts Catholicism and any other institution regarded as 'foreign' to the secular individualist ethos. Our freedom to preach the Gospel is diminished."

George also spoke of the 'paralysis' within the Catholic structure created by internal divisions. "On the left," he said, "the Church's teachings on sexual morality and the nature of ordained priesthood and of the Church herself are publicly opposed, as are the bishops who preach and defend these teachings. On the right, the Church's teachings might be accepted, but bishops who do not govern exactly and to the last detail in the way expected are publicly opposed."

To read the full text of Cardinal George's address to the Pope:
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=54597

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