‘A violation of the right to have a religion’: Montreal Archbishop slams Quebec’s proposed charter

MONTREAL, September 10, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Montreal's Archbishop denounced the Marois government’s proposed Charter of Values yesterday — one day before its release — calling the ban on conspicuous religious symbols worn by public workers a violation of rights.

"I think it is a violation of the right to have a religion, and to be religious. Because it is not only about private religion, private life. It's also about public life," said Archbishop Christian Lépine, according to CBC News.

Lépine, who has a strong reputation as an advocate for life and family values, called the charter “excessive” for attempting to control people’s expression of faith in the public sphere.

“When you want to contain the visibility of faith, you are saying to people: ‘You cannot be all you are,” he said in an interview with Global News.

Lépine said that the charter’s proposal for religious neutrality and secularism is simply another name for non-religious values that would be imposed by a few on everyone. Such a move would not be respectful nor democratic, he said.  (more...)

‘A violation of the right to have a religion’: Montreal Archbishop slams Quebec’s proposed charter

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