Scottish Catholic Observer

BARONESS Sayeeda Hussain Warsi has asked Pope Benedict XVI for help in returning Christian faith to a central role in British public life.

The Muslim Conservative Party co-chairwoman (right) made the request while leading a high-level government delegation visit to the Vatican to celebrate 30 years of full diplomatic relations between the UK and the Holy See and to offer thanks for the 2010 Papal visit. The ministerial delegation, including Michael Moore, Secretary of State for Scotland, met with the Holy Father, Cardinal Keith O’Brien and Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster during the visit to Rome.

Militant secularisation

“My fear is that, today, militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies,” the baroness said in a speech in the Vatican. “We see it in a number of things: when signs of religion cannot be displayed or worn in government buildings, and where religion is sidelined and downgraded in the public sphere. For me one of the most worrying aspects about this militant secularisation is that at its core and in its instincts it is deeply intolerant. It demonstrates similar traits to totalitarian regimes—denying people the right to a religious identity because they were frightened of the concept of multiple identities.”

Speaking on Tuesday evening before the delegation met the Holy Father after his weekly general audience on Wednesday, she also said that European countries must embrace their Christian heritage without becoming theocracies.

“It seems astonishing to me that those who wrote the European constitution made no mention of God or Christianity,” she said. “Too often there is suspicion of faith in our continent hinging on a basic misconception, that to create equality and space for minorities we need to erase our religious heritage. You cannot and should not extract Christian foundations from the evolution of our nations any more than you should or could erase the spires from our landscapes.”

Diplomatic and deeper ties

The baroness said the trip was a symbolic celebration of ties between Britain and the Vatican but there was also a deeper purpose to it.

“We will be celebrating the decision Margaret Thatcher took 30 years ago to restore full diplomatic relations between our countries,” she said earlier this week. “The relationship between the UK and the Holy See is our oldest diplomatic relationship, first established in 1479. And today, thanks to the great success of the Pope’s visit, it is one of the strongest too.

“But this trip is about more than a Valentine’s Day ‘love in’ with our Catholic neighbours. This is about recognising the deep and intrinsic role of faith here in Britain and overseas. For a number of years I have been saying that we need to have a better understanding of faith in our country. Why? Because I profoundly believe that faith has a vital and important role to play in modern society. But mistakenly, faith has been neglected, undermined, and yes, even attacked, by governments in recent years.”

Papal visit

The baroness spoke of when she met the Pope during his visit to Britain in 2010.

“He told me that he had heard what I had been saying and urged me to carry on making my case robustly,” she said. “So I am taking a renewed message to the Vatican City; one which I want to ring out beyond the Vatican walls,” she added. “So when I have my second audience with the Holy Father, I will not just be looking back on his remarkable visit. I will be giving him my absolute commitment to continue fighting for faith in today’s society.”

The other ministers in the delegation are Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Owen Paterson, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Alan Duncan MP, Minister of State for International Development, Greg Barker, Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change and Lord Howell of Guildford, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

— Read Baroness Warsi’s address in full at http://www.sconews.co.uk/opinion/16330/baroness-warsi-speech-in-the-holy-see/

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