Tunisia's tiny Catholic community prays for the country's transition to democracy and hopes that the nation will embrace full religious freedom, said Archbishop Maroun Lahham of Tunis. "We are certainly for the separation of 'mosque and state,' but we say clearly that a healthy democratic society must have as its foundation values that, whatever anyone says, have a religious root: freedom, respect, peace, equality, the preferential option for the poor, solidarity," the archbishop said. The archbishop wrote a pastoral letter on the attitude that Tunisia's 22,000 Catholics—all of whom are foreigners—should have toward the North African country's political and social changes. Tunisia's authoritative government was overthrown in January and a process of democratization began. For Christians, Archbishop Lahham said, the first wish "is to see the country finally arrive at a democratic regime. It is clear that a revolution is one thing, and a successful democratic transition is another." As part of a religious community that makes up less than 1 percent of Tunisia's population and is composed of noncitizens, Catholics in the country are called to be prayerful, supportive and humble witnesses of how God's spirit is at work, he said. "The vocation of the church is to love the world as God loves it, to see the world as God sees it," he said.
Bishops Calls for Support of Democracy Movement
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
The lie that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute persisted for centuries. A new play reclaims her story.
"Magdalene: I am the utterance of my name" is advocating for setting the record straight on one of Christianity’s most vital disciples.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley struggle to resist the temptation to “type” each other as they learn about the Enneagram from Liz Orr, author of “The Unfiltered Enneagram: A Witty and Wise Guide to Self-Compassion.”
Keeping President Biden on the ballot is like telling voters: “Trust us. Don’t believe your eyes and ears.”
Many watching last night’s debate wondered if this was the end for Joe Biden. But I could not help but wonder if this was the end of presidential debates.