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Question: In his speech to U.S. bishops last week, Pope Benedict XVI said: "Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted . . . To the extent that religion becomes a purely private affair, it loses its very soul." Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Since becoming a serious follower of Jesus of Nazareth thirty-five years ago, I have been puzzled by those who claim “religion” should be private. In some sense, it is, as when Jesus instructed those who follow Him to go into their closets and pray rather than praying publicly for show as the Pharisees did. But the suggestion that faith should never escape the boundaries of one’s own heart and mind is a kind of selfishness, an unwillingness to share the greatest news ever proclaimed. And that is that Christ died for our sins and by confessing our sins and receiving the crucified Christ as Savior and Lord, people can find a reason and power for living this life and be assured of a home in Heaven after it ends. Who wouldn’t want to share that incredible news with others in need of its hopeful message?

The Apostles didn’t believe in keeping their faith private. On the contrary, they shouted it from the housetops and saw thousands converted for their efforts. In our day, where would the civil rights movement be without the public voice of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; or the pro-life movement without the voices of public men and women, exercising their faith?

At its best, faith drives people and movements that are good for humanity. At its worst, it can become a tool of a political party or candidate and divert attention from the Kingdom that will not end in favor of a temporal kingdom that is passing away.