Faith is not, in that sense, a private matter. But when the Pope says religion suffers and loses its very soul if it is only a private matter, I think that needs teasing out. Personal faith is indeed a private matter- and I would not want it any other way. The fact is, however, that most of us are strengthened in our faith and works by practicing our religion with others who share it. We are also often strengthened by being together with people of other faiths and seeing what unites and divides us- and we may be strengthened by joining together with people of other faiths and none-though ourselves motivated by our own faith- to do something to make the world a better place. In my view, faith is both private and public. What it should not be is so dominant in the public space that there is no room for other faiths and none. But it should also not be so private that its very power is lost from view, so that the way it motivates people to do things, both good and bad, is completely missing from public debate.

We need faith to be both private and public, and we need to be less precious about how we define where faith fits. If we are truly people of faith, it colors all that we do. Public, private, and not for profit. But we do not need is a separation between church and state as toughly laid down as in the US. It has probably strengthened faith in the US, but it may not have strengthened the quality of some of the public services that Americans receive, even though the presence of faith is overwhelming in American society.