Religious freedom as "the signature issue"

John Allen reports, in NCR, that religious freedom has emerged as "the signature issue" for the Synod of Bishops of the Middle East:

It’s only day one of the Oct. 10-24 Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, but already its signature issue has come into focus: Religious freedom, seen as the cornerstone of a healthy democratic society, and as a universal cause rather than special pleading for the region’s embattled Christian minority.

Freedom of conscience is “not so much a right to be claimed for Christians,” said Patriarch Antonios Naguib of the Egyptian Coptic church this morning. Instead, he said, it’s a “universal right, which Christians and Muslims defend together for the common good.” . . .

 . . .Distinguishing between religion and the state was a key theme.

“A positive laicity would permit an effective and fruitful contribution of the church and help strengthen the idea of citizenship, founded on the principles of equality and democracy, for every person in the country,” Naguib said.

The phrase “positive laicity” has been frequently used by Benedict XVI to invoke a form of secularism that recognizes the autonomy of the state from direct religious control, but without marginalizing religion or treating it as an exclusively private phenomenon. In turn, Benedict borrowed the idea of “positive laicity” from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has argued for a stronger role for churches and religious believers in ultra-secular French society. . . .