Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, sent a message to the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, which was hosted by the UK government.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Trust delivered the opening speech at the July 5-6 conference.

“Because humans are inherently social, they cannot be prohibited, without violation, from externally expressing their religious or faith beliefs, as long as such expression honors the common good,” Cardinal Ayuso Guixot said in his message to the conference.

Turning to the topic of fundamentalism, the prelate said that “extremism and fundamentalism find fertile soil not only in the exploitation of religion for purposes of power, but also in the vacuum of ideals and the loss of identity which dramatically affect many societies, especially those that are, in material terms, ‘developed.’”

“This vacuum of meaning easily gives rise to fear which leads to seeing the other as a threat and an enemy,” he added.