{"id":6705,"date":"2016-04-12T17:26:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T00:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6705"},"modified":"2018-03-06T15:26:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T23:26:17","slug":"pope-francis-modernitys-suppression-of-freedom-of-conscience-is-diabolically-inspired-polite-persecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6705","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis: modernity&#8217;s suppression of freedom of conscience is diabolically inspired &#8220;polite persecution&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"author\">Sean Murphy<a href=\"https:\/\/www.consciencelaws.org\/authors.aspx#Sean_Murphy\" target=\"_blank\">*<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"size-full wp-image-5337 alignleft\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 297px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/164926091\" target=\"_blank\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 150.000000% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"margin: 0px; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; display: inline-block; position: absolute;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/164926091?et=PusyRG7SQaFMDT4FWgK3mw&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=z7Tp4lNbdGvG7MKSjzQ8maTWfGris1lnMUTjJyyCwxQ=\" width=\"297\" height=\"445\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>In the course of a morning homily discussing the martyrdom of St. Stephen in Jerusalem,<a href=\"#001.\"><sup>1<\/sup><\/a> Pope Francis linked the\u00a0&#8220;cruel\u00a0persecutions&#8221; of early Christians with the Easter Sunday\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/worldviews\/wp\/2016\/03\/28\/the-plight-of-pakistans-christian-minority\/\" target=\"_blank\">mass murder of Pakistani Christians<\/a> three weeks ago by\u00a0Taliban killers.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Pope also\u00a0identified\u00a0\u201canother kind of persecution that is not often spoken about.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 In addition to the &#8220;clear, explicit type of persecution&#8221; like the slaughter of Christians who profess their belief in Jesus Christ, there is a second kind, he said, one\u00a0&#8220;\u201cdisguised as culture, disguised as modernity, disguised as progress.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is a kind of \u2014 I would say somewhat ironically \u2014 polite persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This &#8220;polite persecution&#8221;\u00a0is not against those who merely profess Christian beliefs, he explained, but against\u00a0those\u00a0\u00a0who want &#8220;to demonstrate the values of the Son of God.\u201d\u00a0 This &#8220;polite persecution&#8221; does not use bombs or guns, but the force of law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see every day,&#8221; said the Pope,\u00a0&#8220;that the powerful make laws that force people to take this path, and a nation that does not follow this modern collection of laws, or at least that does not want to have them in its legislation, is accused, is politely persecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This denial of freedom includes the legal suppression of conscientious objection, now notably advocated by powerful interests and some politicians in Canada who want to <a href=\"http:\/\/consciencelaws.org\/blog\/?p=6506\" target=\"_blank\">force participation<\/a> of even objecting health care workers and institutions in euthanasia and assisted suicide.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;God made us free, but this kind of persecution takes away freedom!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Canadian health care workers who refuse to provide or facilitate homicide or suicide now face the kind of threats described by Pope Francis,<a href=\"#002.\" target=\"_blank\"><sup>2<\/sup><\/a> who\u00a0explained how &#8220;polite persecution&#8221; works.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[I]f you don\u2019t do this, you will be punished: you\u2019ll lose your job and many things or you\u2019ll be set aside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Calling this \u201cthe persecution of the world,\u201d the Pope\u00a0warned that its leader is the one identified by Jesus Christ as &#8220;the prince of this world&#8221; (i.e., Satan).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The prince of this world&#8221;\u00a0can be recognized, warned Pope Francis,\u00a0\u201cwhen the powerful want to impose attitudes, laws against the dignity of the children of God, persecute them and oppose God the Creator: it is the great apostasy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Christian&#8217;s path, he concluded, is always beset by these two kinds of persecution\u00a0 that bring &#8220;much suffering,&#8221; so Christians must be confident in the presence of Jesus &#8220;with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"001.\"><\/a>1.\u00a0&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/zenit.org\/articles\/popes-morning-homily-denial-of-conscientious-objection-is-persecution\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pope\u2019s Morning Homily: Denial of Conscientious Objection Is Persecution.\u00a0 At Casa Santa Marta, says devil is behind the persecution brought by culture and modernity<\/a>.&#8221;\u00a0 <em>Zenit<\/em>, 12 April, 2016<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"002.\"><\/a>2.\u00a0 See, for example, Attaran A.<a href=\"http:\/\/ipolitics.ca\/2015\/11\/13\/doctors-cant-refuse-to-help-a-patient-die-no-matter-what-they-say\/\"><u><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"> &#8220;Doctors can&#8217;t refuse to help a patient die &#8211; no matter what they say.&#8221;<\/span><\/u><\/a> <em>iPolitics,<\/em> 13 November, 2015 (Accessed 2015-11-24).\u00a0 In response, see Murphy S., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consciencelaws.org\/law\/commentary\/legal073-011.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Amir Attaran and the Elves.&#8221; <\/a> <em>Protection of Conscience Project,<\/em> 15 November, 2015;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sean Murphy* Embed from Getty Images In the course of a morning homily discussing the martyrdom of St. Stephen in Jerusalem,1 Pope Francis linked the\u00a0&#8220;cruel\u00a0persecutions&#8221; of early Christians with the Easter Sunday\u00a0mass murder of Pakistani Christians three weeks ago by\u00a0Taliban killers. However, the Pope also\u00a0identified\u00a0\u201canother kind of persecution that is not often spoken about.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 In &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6705\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Pope Francis: modernity&#8217;s suppression of freedom of conscience is diabolically inspired &#8220;polite persecution&#8221;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,32,643,1185,460,162],"tags":[1964],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-6705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assisted-suicide","category-canada","category-christianity-catholicism","category-christianity-non-catholic","category-commentary-religion","category-euthanasia","tag-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\r\n<title>Pope Francis: modernity&#039;s suppression of freedom of conscience is diabolically inspired &quot;polite persecution&quot; - Protection of Conscience Project News<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6705\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Francis: modernity&#039;s suppression of freedom of conscience is diabolically inspired &quot;polite persecution&quot; - Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sean Murphy* Embed from Getty Images In the course of a morning homily discussing the martyrdom of St. Stephen in Jerusalem,1 Pope Francis linked the\u00a0&#8220;cruel\u00a0persecutions&#8221; of early Christians with the Easter Sunday\u00a0mass murder of Pakistani Christians three weeks ago by\u00a0Taliban killers. However, the Pope also\u00a0identified\u00a0\u201canother kind of persecution that is not often spoken about.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 In &hellip; Continue reading &quot;Pope Francis: modernity&#8217;s suppression of freedom of conscience is diabolically inspired &#8220;polite persecution&#8221;&quot;\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6705\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ConscienceProject\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-13T00:26:06+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-06T23:26:17+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6705#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6705\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Pope Francis: modernity&#8217;s suppression of freedom of conscience is diabolically inspired &#8220;polite persecution&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-13T00:26:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-06T23:26:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6705\"},\"wordCount\":493,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Pope Francis\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Assisted suicide\",\"Canada\",\"ChristianityCatholic\",\"ChristianityNonCatholic\",\"Commentary\",\"Euthanasia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6705#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6705\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6705\",\"name\":\"Pope Francis: modernity's suppression of freedom of conscience is diabolically inspired \\\"polite persecution\\\" - 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