Human rights and religious tradition are not in conflict

“In your life-long efforts you have always sought to emphasize that authentically living out one’s own religious tradition and respecting human rights need not be contradictory”, Pope Francis wrote in a message to Argentinian Rabbi Abraham Skorka, on the occasion of the conferral of an honoris causa from the Faculty of Theology of the University of Trnava, Slovakia. The Holy Father’s message was read out loud during the conferral ceremony. The Pope highlighted that throughout his 42 years of pedagogic and academic activity, Skorka had positively influenced not only two generations of rabbis, but also Catholic and Protestant theologians, while fully respecting the scholarly aspects of theology. At the same time, the Pope added, Skorka had sought to demonstrate that “people of faith can and must stand up for human rights in all of life’s situations”. It is my hope, the Holy Father’s message concluded, “that the commitment to dialogue, justice and peaceful coexistence will increasingly characterize the relations between all men and women, whatever their religious beliefs”.