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OTTAWA — Canada's Roman Catholic bishops weighed in on the issue of eroding religious freedom, while an appeals court panel determined that Colorado's Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops says religious voices have a right to be heard in public debates and shouldn't be shouldered aside in the name of separation of church and state.
The group issued a 12-page pastoral letter on religious freedom, arguing that freedom of worship includes the right for believers to publicly state their views on key questions of the day.
The letter says there are radical elements that want to relegate religion to the private sphere, denying it any influence on society.
It says the idea of banning religious feasts and symbols supposedly out of respect for members of other religions or non-believers is a sign of the marginalization of religion, and Christianity in particular.
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Cardinal: Catholics and Latter-day Saints partners in defending religious freedom
In 2010, Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, delivered BYU's weekly forum address. He called Catholics and Latter-day Saints partners in defending religious freedom."In a constitutional democracy such as Canada's, the system of justice must strive to protect more effectively freedom of religion and of conscience as key elements of our free and democratic society," the letter said.
The bishops argue that excluding believers from public debate deprives society of an important dimension.
They said they see a disturbing trend of threats to freedom of conscience and religion both at home and abroad.
The right to religious freedom is a litmus test for the respect of all other rights, the bishops said.
"Where it is protected, peaceful co-existence, prosperity and participation in cultural, social and political life flourish," they wrote. "But when it is threatened, all other rights are weakened and society suffers."
Colorado Day of Prayer Unconstitutional
The Colorado Court of Appeals last week ruled that state's Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the court came in a case brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Former Governors Bill Ritter and Bill Owens made proclamations of a state Day of Prayer from 2004 to 2009.
The court said the proclamations sometimes included biblical verses and religious themes and were effectively a government endorsement of a religion in violation of the state constitution.
The appeals judges sent the case back to a trial court to decide whether any other Colorado governor should be barred from making similar proclamations. They said they didn't consider presidential National Day of Prayer proclamations in their ruling and noted people can still pray.
