THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
THE POPE AND HIS HUMAN RIGHTS
INSIDE & OUTSIDE THE
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Issue: The Pope has Human Rights inside and outside the
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: Healing Schism, Pope Risks
Another, by
Rachel Donadio, New York Times,
Excerpts:
“Pope Benedict XVI
recently revoked the excommunications of four schismatic bishops, including
one, British-born Bishop Richard Williamson, who in a recent television
interview said he thought the ‘historical evidence’ was against six million
Jews dying in Nazi gas chambers.”
“That Benedict apparently
did not widely discuss a matter that has provoked anger among Jewish groups and
liberal Catholics was not out of character, however. It was just the latest
example of how the pope is increasingly focused on internal doctrinal issues
and seemingly unaware of how they might resonate in the larger world.”
“The revocation seemed to
move the papacy further toward intellectual concerns rather than the daily
lives of Catholics.” Father Hans Kung, a Catholic priest who has for decades
been Benedict’s most formidable critic on the left agreed; Benedict “does not
see that he is alienating himself from the larger part of the Catholic Church
and Christianity. He doesn’t see the real world. He only sees the
____________________________________________________________________________________________
In a broader world than
Hans Kung speaks of the question becomes whether or not Pope Benedict XVI is
separating himself from universal human rights principles on freedom of
religion or belief in the United Nations context. International Human Rights Standards on
Freedom of Religion or Belief give the pope human rights protection as head of
a religious institution in one context but challenge him to seek broader
reconciliation with the real world in another.
Article 6.7 of the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination
of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief
declared all religions or beliefs have the following right: To train, appoint, elect or designate by succession appropriate leaders
called for by the requirements and standards of any religion or belief.
Religion or belief under Article 18 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the 1981 UN
Declaration declares Separation of Religion or Belief and State have the
following right: Freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief
may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are
necessary to protect public safety, order, health, morals or the fundamental
rights and freedoms of others.
International Human
Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief protects the right of all
religions or beliefs to train, appoint, elect or designate leaders according to
the norms of their own tradition. This right can only be revoked on a
case-by-case basis by law under Article 1.3 of the ICCPR. The inviolable right
to freedom of opinion and expression needs balance by law only in extreme cases
where such expression may violate limitations under this article.
United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; never
in our lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and
committed dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among
and between nations. Another writer in different setting said; the warning
signs are clear, unless we establish genuine dialogue within and among all
kinds of belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism,
the conflicts of the future will probably be even more deadly.
The challenge is to
reconcile international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief
with the truth claims of religious and non-religious beliefs.
Did God create us or did
we create God? This question disturbs some and is prohibited by others. It
calls for inclusive and genuine dialogue, discussion of taboos and clarity by
persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive and genuine is dialogue between people of
theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as
well as the right not to profess any religion or belief. These
categories are embodied in international law to promote tolerance and prevent
discrimination based on religion or belief.
Inclusive and genuine
dialogue is essential as a first step in recognition of the inherent dignity,
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as a foundation
for freedom, justice and peace in the world. Leaders of religious and
non-religious beliefs sanction the truth claims of their own traditions. They
are the key to raising awareness and acceptance of the value of holding truth
claims in tandem with human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief.
The Word Documents
attached: How Close - Inclusive & Genuine Dialogue on
Freedom of Religion or Belief; Catholics and Muslims Pledge to Improve Links;
The Pope and French President Sarkozy Address Secularism in France, provide
insights to reflect on the direction Pope Benedict XVI may be taking the
Vatican on dialogue in the real world.
Excerpts: Excerpts are presented under the Eight Articles of
the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Examples of extracts are presented
prior to an Issue Statement for each Review.
1.3 Freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief may be
subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to
protect public safety, order, health, morals or the fundamental rights and
freedoms of others.
6. 7 To train, appoint, elect
or designate by succession appropriate leaders called for by the requirements
and standards of any religion or belief;
News Analysis
By
RACHEL DONADIO
ROME — A day after Pope Benedict XVI said he would
revoke the excommunications of four schismatic bishops, including one who has
denied the Holocaust, concern about the pope’s decision extended into the Vatican itself.
Cardinal Walter Kasper,
the director of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the
liaison for Vatican-Jewish relations, said Sunday that he had not been
consulted. “It was a decision of the pope,” the cardinal said in a telephone
interview.
That Benedict apparently
did not widely discuss a matter that has provoked anger among Jewish groups and
liberal Catholics was not out of character, however. It was just the latest
example of how the pope is increasingly focused on internal doctrinal issues
and seemingly unaware of how they might resonate in the larger world.
As such, it perfectly
captured the theological aspirations — and political shortcomings — of his
four-year-old papacy.
In 2007, Benedict approved
broader use of the Latin Mass, a reform sought by the same traditionalists he
has now reinstated, but one seen by many in the church as divisive. The year
before, the pope angered Muslims when he cited a medieval scholar who said that
Islam brought things “evil and inhuman,” and he was seemingly ill prepared for
the repercussions. He later apologized.
Again this weekend, a
doctrinal question exploded into a global polemic. Benedict’s decision to
extend an olive branch to the four men was apparently born from a deep personal
and theological desire to heal the only schism in the Roman Catholic Church in
a century.
On Saturday, he said he
would welcome back into the fold the four members of a sect founded in
opposition to the reforms of the Second
The most contentious of
the four is the British-born Bishop Richard Williamson, who in a recent
television interview said he thought the “historical evidence” was against six
million Jews dying in Nazi gas chambers.
Some saw the pope’s
decision as part of a trend, or at least an indication of his priorities.
“There is obviously a
theological strategy, but the repercussions on the public opinion field beyond
the church are obviously only secondary in priority,” said Mordechay Lewy, the
Israeli ambassador to the
The move baffled Alberto
Melloni, a professor of church history and the director of the liberal Catholic
John XXIII Foundation for Religious Science in
The Society of St. Pius X
does not appear to have issued any public statements on Bishop Williamson’s
views on the Holocaust. But the society has never been welcoming toward other
faiths.
Jewish leaders said the
pope’s decision was a setback. “It’s a very serious situation,” said Riccardo
di Segni, the chief rabbi of
Rabbi di Segni said he did
not know what the next chapter would bring. “I don’t know what kind of
resolution there can be at this point,” he said.
In a public statement, the
Other liberal critics said
the pope’s decision to welcome the Lefebvrists showed that he was more willing
to embrace schismatic conservatives than wayward leftists.
In his days as Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, Benedict censured many left-leaning prelates, including ones adhering to
the Marxist-inflected Liberation Theology movement popular in
“I would be happy if the
pope would be for reconciliation, especially also for people on the progressive
side,” said Hans Küng, a professor of theology at the University of Tübingen,
Germany, who has for decades been Benedict’s most formidable critic on the
left. A Catholic priest, Father Küng was forbidden by the church to teach
theology.
The revocation seemed to
move the papacy further toward intellectual concerns rather than the daily
lives of Catholics. Under Benedict, the church “risks becoming a
Father Küng agreed.
Benedict “does not see that he is alienating himself from the larger part of
the Catholic Church and Christianity,” he said. “He doesn’t see the real world.
He only sees the
ISSUE STATEMENT: International Human Rights Standards on
Freedom or Religion or Belief are international law and universal codes of
conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and resolution of
conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on core principles
and values within and among nations, all religions and other beliefs.
As we are all painfully
aware, religious conflict continues to escalate worldwide whether in the
Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept
one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an
exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with
mediation, compassion and understanding.
______________________________________________________________________________
Documents Attached:
The Pope's Human Rights - Inside & Outside the Vatican
Catholics and Muslims Pledge to Improve Links
How Close - Inclusive & Genuine Dialogue on Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Pope & French President Sarkozy - Address Secularism in France
STANDARDS: http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.htm
The Tandem Project: a non-governmental organization founded
in 1986 to build understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity, and to
prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.
The Tandem Project, a non-profit NGO, has sponsored multiple conferences,
curricula, reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and 1981 United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief.
The Tandem Project
initiative is the result of a co-founder representing the World Federation of
United Nations Associations at the United Nations Geneva Seminar, Encouragement of Understanding, Tolerance
and Respect in Matters Relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief,
called by the UN Secretariat in 1984 on ways to implement the 1981 UN
Declaration. In 1986, The Tandem Project organized the first NGO International
Conference on the 1981 UN Declaration.
The Tandem Project
Executive Director is: Michael M. Roan, mroan@tandemproject.com.
The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations
Challenge: to reconcile international human rights
standards on freedom of religion or belief with the truth claims of religious
and non-religious beliefs.
United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; never
in our lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and
committed dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among
and between nations. Another writer in different setting said; the warning
signs are clear, unless we establish genuine dialogue within and among all
kinds of belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism,
the conflicts of the future will probably be even more deadly.
Did God create us or did
we create God? This question disturbs some and is prohibited by others. It
calls for inclusive and genuine dialogue, discussion of taboos and clarity by
persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive and genuine is dialogue between people of
theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as
well as the right not to profess any religion or belief. These UN
categories are embodied in international law to promote tolerance and prevent
discrimination based on religion or belief.
Inclusive and genuine
dialogue is essential as a first step in recognition of the inherent dignity,
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as a foundation
for freedom, justice and peace in the world. Leaders of religious and
non-religious beliefs sanction the truth claims of their own traditions. They
are the key to raising awareness and acceptance of the value of holding truth
claims in tandem with human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief.
_____________________________________________
Goal: To eliminate all forms of intolerance and
discrimination based on religion or belief.
To build understanding
and support for Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights –Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion - and the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of
Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Encourage the
United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs, Academia, NGOs, Media and
Civil Society to use International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief as essential for long-term solutions
to conflicts in all matters relating to religion or belief.
Objectives:
1. Use International
Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief as a platform for
genuine dialogue on the core principles and values within and among nations, all
religions and other beliefs.
2. Adapt these human
rights standards to early childhood education, teaching children, from the very
beginning, that their own religion is one out of many and that it is a personal
choice for everyone to adhere to the religion or belief by which he or she
feels most inspired, or to adhere to no religion or belief at all.1
History: In 1968 the United Nations deferred work on an
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious
Intolerance, because of its apparent complexity and sensitivity. In the
twenty-first century, a dramatic increase of intolerance and discrimination on
grounds of religion or belief is motivating a worldwide search to find
solutions to these problems. This is a challenge calling for enhanced dialogue
by States and others; including consideration of an International Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief for protection of and accountability by all
religions or beliefs. The tensions in today’s world inspire a question such as:
Should the United Nations
adopt an International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief?
Response: Is it the appropriate moment to
reinitiate the drafting of a legally binding international convention on
freedom of religion or belief? Law making of this nature requires a minimum
consensus and an environment that appeals to reason rather than emotions. At
the same time we are on a learning curve as the various dimensions of the
Declaration are being explored. Many academics have produced voluminous books
on these questions but more ground has to be prepared before setting up of a UN
working group on drafting a convention. In my opinion, we should not try to
rush the elaboration of a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
especially not in times of high tensions and unpreparedness. - UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
Option: After forty years this may be the time,
however complex and sensitive, for the United Nations Human Rights Council to
appoint an Open-ended Working Group to draft a United Nations Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief. The mandate for an Open-ended Working Group
ought to assure nothing in a draft Convention will be construed as restricting
or derogating from any right defined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the 1981 UN
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief.
Separation of Religion or Belief
and State
Concept: Separation of Religion or Belief and State - SOROBAS. The First Preamble to the 1948 United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads; “Whereas
recognition of the inherent
dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. This concept
suggests States recalling their history, culture and constitution adopt fair and
equal human rights protection for all religions or beliefs as described in
General Comment 22 on Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, UN Human Rights Committee,
Article
18: protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not
to profess any religion or belief.
The terms belief and religion are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not
limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs
with international characteristics or practices analogous to those of
traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency
to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reasons, including the
fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that
may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community.
Article
18: permits
restrictions to manifest a religion or belief only if such limitations are
prescribed by law and necessary to protect public safety, order, health or
morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
Dialogue: International Human Rights Standards on
Freedom or Religion or Belief are international law and universal codes of
conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and resolution of
conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on core principles
and values within and among nations, all religions and other beliefs.
Education: Ambassador
1981 U.N. Declaration on
Freedom of Religion or Belief
5.2: Every child shall enjoy the right to have access
to education in the matter of religion or belief in accordance with the wishes
of his parents, and shall not be compelled to receive teaching on religion or
belief against the wishes of his parents, the best interests of the child being
the guiding principle.” With International Human Rights safeguards, early
childhood education is the best time to begin to build tolerance, understanding
and respect for freedom of religion or belief.
5.3: The child shall be protected from any form of
discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. He shall be brought up in
a spirit of understanding, tolerance, and friendship among peoples, peace and
universal brotherhood, respect for the freedom of religion or belief of others
and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the
service of his fellow men.