My Homelandthe

Country of Tolerance

The word To lerance i s a term re ferr ing to the co l lec t ive capac i ty o f the peop le o f l i v ing peacefu l ly together w i th other men and women who has d iff erent ideas

The Member States of the Organization of the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), met

in Paris from 25th October to 16th November 1995 and signed

this statement to emphasize the importance of tolerance , from

every point of view, for the countries of the United Nations.

DECLARATION

OF

THE PRINCIPLES OF TOLERANCE

An Impor tant Moment In The H is to ry O f Europe

I s Represented By The

1.1 - Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the richness and diversity of the cultures of our

world ... Tolerance is harmony in difference ...

 

2.2 - In order to establish a more tolerant society, States should ratify international conventions on human rights.

3.1 - In the modern world, tolerance is more essential than ever.

It 's an age marked by the globalization of the economy and by rapidly increasing mobility, communication,

integration and interdependence, migrations, displacement of populations, urbanization and changing social

structures.

4.1 - Teaching and the most effective means of preventing intolerance ...

 

4.2 - Education for tolerance should be considered as a priority ...

 

Article 5 - Commitment to action

We are committed to promoting tolerance and non-violence through programs and institutions in the fields of

education, science , culture and communication .

 

Article 6 - International Day for Tolerance

In order to mobilize public opinion , to emphasize the dangers of intolerance and to reaffirm our commitment to

act in favor of the promotion of tolerance and education for tolerance, solemnly proclaim November 16

International Day for Tolerance .

The Most Impor tant Ar t i c les Are The Fo l low ing :

In the Bible it was recommended the respect

for the stranger and the ethical value

of the recognition of human dignity.

It’s a word always linked with

non violence, religion, racism and policy.

The Most Impor tant Ar t i c les Are The Fo l low ing :

The concept of tolerance was very rooted in the Greek

culture, in fact, in Plato's Symposium, Socrates

reveals that he has been taught about love from

Diotima, a priestess of Mantinea, strong symbol of

diversity (a woman, and for more foreign).

I n Anc ient Greek

Religious tolerance was typical of the Roman Empire.

The Emperor Constantine was one, without any doubt, of the more tolerant Emperor.

He, in fact, signed the famous “Edict of Constantine”;

The agreement was signed in February 313 in Milan, which was the capital of the Western Roman Empire.

According to the traditional interpretation of the Edict, it granted to all the citizens of the Empire, and thus also to the Christians, the freedom to honor their gods.

This happened after that Constantine, the night before the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge, didn’t make the usual sacrifices to propitiate the will of the gods, because he claimed that God had appeared in the dream foretold the victory if he had used on the shields of soldiers the symbols of Christ X and P in the Greek Alphabet.

Constantine had converted himself to Christianity and wanted to give the opportunity to all the people to profess the religion they preferred.

The Emperor Costant ine

The modern concept of tolerance was born in the Modern Age

because it’s based on the new idea of “DIVERSITY”.

The humanist intellectuals such as Erasmus and Thomas More

introduced it after the Lutheran Reformation.

The Peace of Augsburg (1555) had established the principle of

“Cuius regio, eius religio”, according to which the subjects

would have to embrace the faith of their king, while supporters

argued that tolerance of religious beliefs depended on a free

choice in which the State could not intrude.

The modern concept o f to le rance

In Italy Sebastiano Castellione with his “De haereticis, an sint

persequendi”

1554, argued that no one could judge and answer the

questions of faith because it was "divine matters" and

therefore not fully comprehensible to humans.

The work was published in Basel under the pseudonym

Martinius Bellius.

After so many centuries before a breakthrough occurred

there was the “Edict of Nantes” (1598) by which the French

king Henry IV recognized civil rights and freedom to the

Huguenots (Protestants tend to Calvinism)

The tolerance in the broadest sense has become the guarantee of freedom of

thought, of speech, of press opinion, which are the main forms of freedom

conceived in the Enlightenment.

Sebast iano Cas te l l i one

In modern times the most important treaty of religious tolerance is

the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), up to

the (1976).

The TOLERANCE in the modern leg i s la t ion

The to le rance in I ta ly

In Italy and in the Western countries there is a high rate of tolerance,

in fact, it is not allowed the persecution of others' ideas.

The Italian Constitution is the synthesis of three ideologies,

Christianity, Liberalism and Socialism, and it is therefore an example

of a very high tolerance.

The 1st Article of the “Albertine Statute” of 1848, which will be the fundamental law of the Kingdom

of Italy until 1948, proclaims the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion

"the only religion of the State", attributing to the other cults, the status of

"tolerated accordance with the laws "; but the Count Camillo Benso of Cavour

is disappointed by the "lack of recognition of the full Constitutional "freedom of

worship", a principle that should not be introduced" in the constitution of a people

Highly civilized" to" indirect "but proclaimed as" one of the fundamental basis of

the social contract”.

It begins a process of secularization linked to religious tolerance that will be up to the present day.

The Zanardelli Code of 1889, as opposed to the pre-existing code of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1859, which

reserved a privileged treatment to the Catholic religion, provides for equal protection of all religious

denominations, symbolically placing such discipline among the "crimes against liberty" (Book II, Title II),

as "crimes against freedom of worship".

Something changed with the coming to power of Mussolini and with the approval of the "Lateran

Treaty" 1929,

that according to Art. 1, are "allowed" in the kingdom cults other than the Catholic religion, provided they

profess not to follow the principles and rites contrary to public order or morality. "

 

Re l ig ious To le rance in I ta ly

B U T

A special mention deserves the persecution of the Jews with the “Racial laws” of

1938 which wiped out all progress in the field of religious tolerance that had been

made by previous Liberal governments.

 In 1948 there was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December

1948 and the right to fraternity-tolerance.

Two years later there was the European Convention on Human

Rights, signed in Rome November 4, 1950.

In Italy You have to get to 1958 to topple the provisions of

Fascist legislation from which they derived the most serious

injury to religious freedom.

Re l ig ious To le rance in I ta ly

The Second Vatican Council was a moment of great importance in the history of

religious freedom, in April 1963, two months before his death,

Pope John XXIII signed the Encyclical “Pacem in Terris”; in it he affirmed that:

“every human being has the right to "freedom of research the truth”.

In this work, John XXIII reacted to the political situation in the middle of the Cold War.

The "peace encyclical" was issued only two years after the erection of the Berlin Wall

and only a few months after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Pope explains in this encyclical that conflicts "should not be resolved by

recourse to arms, but rather by negotiation". He further emphasizes

the importance of respect of human rights as an

essential consequence of the Christian understanding

of men. He clearly establishes “that every man has the

right to life, to bodily integrity, and to the means which

are suitable for the proper development of life...".

The Second Vat i can Counc i l

and Pope Jonh XX I I I

But Pope John XXIII had started its openness towards other religions before becoming Pope, when

he was Apostolic Nuncio first in Bulgaria and then to Turkey.

He was able to learn about the variety of rites and traditions of the Catholic Church and the

Orthodox Churches.

Here Catholics were much less than in Bulgaria, and in addition, the Turkish government had

enacted a law prohibiting the wearing of the sacred to the priests.

Gladly he visited monasteries and Orthodox churches to admire and venerate the ancient icons, the

marvellous mosaics and manuscripts of ancient times.

He also went to visit the monks of Mount Athos, all amazed to see among them the representative of

the Bishop of Rome. He also visited the Orthodox Patriarch of

Constantinople at Fanar .

During World War II, Msgr. Roncalli played an active role on

behalf of refugees, wounded, prisoners of war; he protected

populations and the Italian soldiers .

The Second Vat i can Counc i l

and Pope John XX I I I

Remarkable was primarily his skill in removing the Jews to the

fierce fighter who gave them the Nazi troops.

Because of this close link with the Turkish people is known as the "Turkish Pope".

Several books have been published on this close relationship that bound John XXIII to

neighboring Turkey, including John XXIII friend of the Turks published by Rinaldo Marmara in

2013.

The magisterium of John Paul II definitely continue on this path, considering the religious

freedom veritable 'cornerstone' and 'heart' of human rights, "the root of all other rights and

freedoms of each other .”

From this moment on, many agreed were signed between

the Italian State, the Holy See and all other religions, up to the

present day in which the presence of orthodox Islam has become

a massive thanks to the new migratory flows.

Today, this work of brotherhood among peoples of all cultures and religions is carried out by Pope

Francis, who, in one of his Angelus, wanted to greet all the Muslims around the world at the end of

the month of Ramadan, hoping a commitment on the part of Christians and Muslims to promote

mutual respect, and said: “ they are our brothers.”

The words of Pope Francis are effective, promising and essential for the people and the land where

Italian immigrants arrive daily from the countries of the northern Mediterranean in search of a

better life and to escape war and persecution of all sorts are a warning to us Italian citizens to be

tolerant and accept these people as brothers and sisters who are suffering.

As regards the countries where we live, San Giovanni Rotondo and Monte Sant' Angelo, they are

places of worship open to everyone. San Giovanni Rotondo is

considered the town of the “welcome” for all the faithful who

come to this place of peace and prayer, and especially for

patients who come to the hospital “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”

to be cured by relying on the patron saint of the city.

Today

On the other side Monte Sant' Angelo, as Father Mark Director of Saint Michaels’s Basilica tells us: “

The Shrine of St. Michael the Archangel is “ the House of God and Gate of Heaven ”, as it is said

in an inscription at the entrance of the Basilica, and therefore all the people from every race, religion,

and even atheists are welcome; arriving in this so unique place, everyone can pray or meditate or just

watch.

He adds: "Over the centuries Popes, Kings, Queens and even warriors arrived at the Shrine in Gargano,

and not always with good intentions, Saracens, Byzantines, Aragonese, predators have also been

accepted in the same way as devotees.

The hope however, is to reach an understanding and mutual

acceptance to replace the term tolerance with that of brotherhood.

Today

This particular word brings to mind the Patron Saint Italy 's St. Francis of Assisi,

who was among the first in the second half of the fourteenth century to approach a

foreign culture. He took part, in fact, the fifth Crusade and it is said to have met the

Egyptian Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil.

This epic encounter is depicted in the Upper Basilica of Assisi

Giotto di Bondone - Legend of St Francis - 11.

St Francis before the Sultan (Trial by Fire)

BROTHERHOOD