The Catholic Church of Winnipeg runs the risk of undermining the arguments made by the Vatican regarding religious freedom
Just recently, the Winnipeg Roman Catholic Church announced it would invite representatives of the regime in the small African country of Eritrea to a local parish festival. Subjectively speaking, Eritrea has one of the poorest human rights records in the world. Eritrea allows only four churches to freely worship in their country, one of which is the Catholic Church. The Eritrean-Canadian Human Rights Group of Manitoba was among one of the first organizations to react, asking for a change of policy by the local Church bureaucracy. They have requested this on account of the country’s human rights abuses. Evidently, this observation is quite true. Thousands flee the country every day, becoming refugees in the process.
The position of the Universal Life Church on this issue is clear. As part of our core beliefs, we respect all faiths and allow anyone to be ordained regardless of his or her religious background. We have found that the action taken by the Winnipeg Catholic Church has overly insensitive to religious rights, and hence contrary to this key principle. But with our own stance aside, the Catholic Church has many other good reasons to rescind their unofficial endorsement of the Eritrean government. Consider, for example, the cries of religious freedom abuses in the United States. In that country, the Catholic Church is accusing the federal government of violating religious freedom, citing the recent mandate that will soon require all medical institutions to provide contraceptives, a practice contrary to Church teachings.
The Universal Life Church is not asking for the Winnipeg Catholics to kow-tow to the wishes of human rights activists. We especially do not expect them to cancel their festival altogether. A radical demand such as that would counter the purposes of our policy allowing anyone of religious creed to be ordained.
Instead, we are merely asking for the Roman Catholic Church to take a more sensitive route. Currently, by standing by their decision, the Winnipeg Catholics are maintaining a glowing hypocrisy to their Pope’s call for religious freedom in other nations. After all, Catholicism is one of only four faiths that are allowed in the country of Eritrea. This fact should not be surprising as it relates the decision made in Winnipeg. However, now that Catholic authorities have been reminded of their duty to protect religious freedom, it is incumbent on them to alter their decision as necessary. Such a decision, if anything, would not just reflect the beliefs of the Universal Life Church, human rights groups, and the Catholic Church itself. Rather, such a decision would reflect the universal concepts of human rights, justice, and the common good.
