The core of the idea is that a “healthy” secularism is one in which church and state are separate, but in which religious institutions and believers are encouraged to play important roles in public life.
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ROME – Channeling his inner Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Leo met a “Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue” yesterday sponsored by the European Parliament and extolled what he called “healthy secularism,” a core concept for the late German pontiff which he elaborated and advocated in a variety of venues.
“European institutions need people who know how to live a healthy secularism, that is, a style of thinking and acting that affirms the value of religion while preserving the distinction — not separation or confusion — from the political sphere,” Leo XIV told the group.
