Religion and Secularism in a Global Age

Benedict XVI has stepped down. We await the election of his successor. But life and business at the Holy See, at least for this Embassy, go on – almost as usual.

On 1 March, St David’s day, I attended and chaired the afternoon session of a one day conference organised by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, in co-operation with the British Embassy, the Pontifical Council for Culture and its Courtyard of the Gentiles programme, the American University of Rome, and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The theme was the relationship between religion and secularism in a global age, and the organisers brought together a wide range of speakers from across the world – India, Turkey, Canada, France, Qatar, the UK and Italy – to share their experiences of the tensions between the religious and secular world views.

We explored the conflicts between them, but also how their different perspectives might help illuminate the other in the light of the challenges faced by our societies today.

In my own concluding remarks, I noted that the relationship between religion and secularism – or faith and reason, as set out by Pope Benedict at Westminster Hall in September 2010, and in Berlin in September 2011 – will continue to be one of the great themes of our time.

We heard from the speakers how this represented a challenge both for the liberal democracies of the western tradition, as much as for the emerging powers of the future.

One day could not do justice to the importance of the theme. Discussion ranged from the complex interface of religious and political identity, to the danger of a ‘de-culturalised’ religion (cut off from its historical and cultural roots) drifting into fundamentalism.

We heard a strong critique of Europe’s understanding (or misunderstanding) of modern Islam, but also why Islamism fails to comprehend the needs and requirements of the modern state and the aspirations of the younger generations from Casablanca to Cairo.

We learned how religiosity can flourish within the secular state, and also ways in which the state may also be asked to hold the ring in the relationships between different faiths within its borders.

Above all, we heard how we can learn from solutions achieved on the other side of the world. One of the roles of Rome, home of the global Catholic Church, is to be a place of encounter between the different world religions, and where we think through the roles of religions in contemporary society.

In a global context where, at least outside of western Europe, religion is more important than ever, this remains a place where a diplomat can continue to learn a  great deal about the way the world turns.