Cordoba, Spain, Jun 8, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Europe and the West must “fight discrimination and intolerance against Christians and members of other religious communities,” Archbishop Charles Chaput told an international summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) yesterday.
The archbishop of Denver spoke at the OSCE conference, held in Cordoba, Spain, whose main aim is to find ways to fight discrimination and intolerance against Jews, Muslims and Christians living in Europe. Its objective also includes exploring the role of government, civil society and the media in this initiative.
The archbishop spoke directly, telling the summit that the OSCE must “protect Christian communities and other religious groups from discrimination and intolerance. The media should be encouraged to offer truly balanced coverage of religious faith. Educational systems should teach the value of faith in people's lives.”
He noted that various OSCE media often allow the Christian faith and its symbols to be publicly mocked and abused. This, he said, stands in stark contrast to OSCE commitments to promote religious freedom.