Vatican City, Dec 2, 2004 / 22:00 pm
In a conference on religious freedom held this morning at Rome's Gregorian University Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, secretary for Relations with States, underscored that Vatican diplomacy were not determined by political interests but by the aim of ensuring religious freedom and conditions that allow the Church freedom to carry out Her mission.
The conference, "The Holy See and Contemporary Challenges to Religious Freedom," was organized by the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Jim Nicholson, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the Holy See and the United States.
The archbishop noted that the Holy’s contriubution to the question of “religious freedom as the cornerstone of human dignity," is “to ensure that this right is recognized by individual States and, above all, by the international community."
"Considering the importance of religious freedom for the very life of the Church and Her faithful, it is obvious that Vatican diplomacy must actively concern itself with this right,” he said.