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no major reason for the persecution of Anabaptists was their claim the separation of church and state.
Based on the concept that the church was formed only by believers, those who freely and responsibly, accepting the faith in Christ through baptism and committed themselves to follow their teachings as disciples, there was no room for a church founded on the baptism of infants. A baptism that the imperial legislation of the fourth century (CTh. 16.1.2) required at birth as a mandatory rite of belonging, common and indivisible, the only empire and its only church, "Catholic" as "Catholic" means "universal" was the Empire. Baptism was regarded as a "sacramental register" which contained inseparably united, the effects of religious and civil rights.
" Religious " to define a Christian, that is "faithful" subject to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in matters of faith but also, following the appointment of bishops to magistrates public reflected in any civil and criminal penalties associated with it (hence the Inquisition, the first bishop and then universal).
" Civil " to define the subject to which they were granted, depending on their religious affiliation, some basic civil rights, those of which was also a participant who had no political rights, as women, children and slaves.
The transition from traditional christening aware of the obligation of adult baptism at birth demanded that innovation would be adequately justified and that they thought the great church fathers, Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine with the theological formulation of the dogma of original sin.
The assertion by the Anabaptists that adherence to Christ must be an individual choice and conscious claim to the freedom of conscience can cripple a state and a church that for centuries were based on their own power on the denial of religious freedom and coercion that was at the same time civil and religious.
The power was so sensitive to the possible consequences of a breach of religious unity that since the days of Theodosius the ribattessimo was considered a serious crime that was punished with the death penalty. Similarly, the Church had established the "courts of faith", before then entrusted to the bishops and the Inquisition, to search for and punish dissident directly and independently (a heretic). In the event of a death sentence, the Church, becoming its principal, however, required the duty of enforcement to the civil power.
was then just the ribattessimo that was administered to believers and stressed that the invalidity of the received from infants to the will of others and through intermediaries, the excuse that allowed the civil and religious authorities to condemn to death without any trial, all those who were renamed or re-name, by virtue of what had been established in the Theodosian Code and in that Justinian (Cth CJ 16.6.6 and 1.6.2.). Hence the opportunity for authorities to define these Christians as "Anabaptists" already involved their sentence.
been almost five hundred years, but today, it has served all this blood offered by Thousands of Christians "Anabaptists" in the name of freedom of conscience?
We are facing a complete separation of church and state which allows the exercise of true religious freedom?
And in Italy ... · When will the approval of the Law on Religious Freedom that lies dormant for years in Parliament? · A when approval of practices also waiting for years in Parliament? · When will the repeal of discriminatory law n.1159, 1929 for non-Catholic cults, among other provisions, requires the appointment of a pastor or minister must be approved by the Government? A Palermo, on 21-22 May 2010. was held on Conference on "The representative of religions without understanding ". particularly interesting we intervention Prof. Valerio Tozzi, (professor of ecclesiastical law at the Faculty of Political Science 'University of Salerno) titled "Confessions lack of understanding does not exist."
The text, which we recommend to our readers and confirms how little religious freedom there is in Italy, can be read or downloaded at the following address:
Too many people who love freedom, and religious freedom in particular, are now induced between mystification and media spin, watching, with the colored glasses of prejudice in other people's houses but not at home ...!
Communiqué of FGEI prevent extremism ensuring that all citizens freedom of religion no privileges for anybody. In a press release issued yesterday, the Council of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI) meeting in Rome on January 11, 2011 pointed out that today in Italy there is no organic law on their religious freedom. Here is the text passed by the Council FCEI: "The Federation of Protestant Churches believe strongly that religious freedom and respect for all faiths are the foundation of a peaceful civil society, and stresses the close connection between religious freedom (of thought and conscience) and secularism. (...) rights of those who believe, unlike most of those who believe and those who do not believe, are compelling and incoercible rights, and as such are protected by the most important instruments of international law, starting with the Universal Declaration of human rights. However, as an expression of some Christian minorities in this country, which have always been committed to the promotion of the fundamental right to religious freedom, we must remember that in Italy there is still no legal framework governing this matter in an organic way.
In our time we live strong pushes 'identity' that come not only from minority groups, but also expressions of the dominant culture. These pressures threaten to undermine the peaceful coexistence of increasingly pluralistic society. As evangelicals we believe that the best food for the journey to avoid any extremism or fanaticism is to assure everyone the freedom of conscience, thought and religion, with no privileges for anybody.
We believe that a real enjoyment of the rights deriving from freedom religion is possible only in the context of a concrete application of secularism, namely the neutrality of the state against religious expression, but also of its non-indifference, which is expressed in respect for all faiths, religious or philosophical convictions.
Therefore, we urge the Italian government to become champion of religious freedom not only internationally but also in Italy to promote a genuine culture of secularism as a system of guarantees of freedom of each. ;
(Rome-NEV-, January 12, 2011)
