Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Washington, DC (Agenzia Fides) – Over 125 Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical leaders have come together in issuing a statement known as the “Manhattan Declaration,” addressing 3 main issues: the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. The declaration issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not - under any circumstance - abandon their Christian consciences. Its signers include 15 Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and according to the official website of the Declaration the total number of signatures is now at over 107,000.
The “Manhattan Declaration” offers special insight into the subtle and yet real crisis of religious freedom being seen in the United States today. In reflecting on Christ's words: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's” (Mt 22:21), the writers of the Declaration affirm that “the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the example of Christ Himself and in the very dignity of the human person created in the image of God...No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions.”
In light of the current cultural situation in the US, they comment: “It is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law - such persons claiming these 'rights' are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.”
The Manhattan Declaration reminds lawmakers that although as Christians we must comply with state laws, “laws that are unjust - and especially laws that purport to compel citizens to do what is unjust - undermine the common good, rather than serve it....Unjust laws degrade human beings.” (AR) (Agenzia Fides 25/11/2009)
