When the book edited by Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson was published in 1994, the separation between the public and private spheres was well established. This division aimed—among other things—to preserve the secularity of the public space, resting on the assumptions that public space should be sheltered from the influence of potentially conflicting belief systems and that religion was incapable of peacefully and reasonably handling conflict.
Historically, the roots of the estrangement of religion from politics and international relations go back to the religious wars that bloodied Europe in the modern age. The Peace of Augsburg (1555) established the principle cuius regio eius religio (whose realm, his religion), and the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) ushered in a new international order: a system in which states recognized each other precisely and only as states, beyond the beliefs of the various sovereigns. Thus, the concept of state sovereignty assumed importance, and an international community closer to how it is understood today was born.
The Enlightenment and secularization further reinforced the separation between religion and politics, leading people to believe that religion was now something residual destined to disappear. However, in the face of greater freedom in whether or not to adhere to a religion or even the possibility of publicly proclaiming oneself opposed to it, religion continued to be an integral part of people's lives and continued to determine their choices.
One of the merits of Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft was to grasp this change and put forward the issue from a completely different angle. The fact that diplomacy persisted in relegating religion to the private space and did not address the role it played in the public space did not mean that it did not hold one. As the case studies discussed in the book show, this was true both in the Western world and outside it—both when looking at religion as an institution and in its being a system of practices and beliefs embraced by the population.
In light of this, the assumption that conflicts could be resolved exclusively through political and economic negotiations proved insufficient, while the authors demonstrated that religion could be not only a source of conflict but also a resource for its resolution. Alongside this, another aspect is highlighted: the fact that one sits at the negotiating table bringing not only one's reasons, but also one's beliefs (including religious beliefs) and that what can be evoked is not self-denial but respect for the other.
Six years after publication, the September 11, 2001, attack on the Twin Towers set the stage for the degenerate form of religion—fanaticism—from which every religion must know how to defend itself. While this attack threatened to put religion back in the corner again, it instead prompted an increasing number of scholars to abandon the separation between religion and politics, recognizing that both help shape the world order and often interpenetrate. In this sense, Johnston and Sampson had already provided the framework through which diplomacy could assess whether and how religion could serve as an ally in conflict resolution.
Their vision of the role of religion in international relations converged with a path taken by the Catholic Church during the Second Vatican Council. The Council spoke prophetically of the need for religions to relate to each other and to do so in a non-confrontational way, through dialogue. Dialogue is a word often misused in places and occasions where it would be more honest to use words like negotiation or argumentation. Interreligious and ecumenical dialogue born out of the conciliar directives are paths toward mutual understanding, through which believing communities strive to build the foundations for peaceful coexistence.
In the wake of these reflections, pontiffs have engaged in building networks of institutional dialogue charged with guiding communities of believers toward more peaceful relations. Religious communities transcend national borders and are found within every state. Paul VI (1963-1978) worked for the establishment of the bishops' conferences in the various continents; John Paul II worked strongly for the realization of the conciliar project of interreligious dialogue (the first prayer meeting in Assisi took place in October 1986) and religious freedom, just to name a few. Benedict XVI supported the truth and dignity of human beings, and Pope Francis is committed to a global brotherhood, capable of including the peripheries of the world.
Until the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church was committed to defending freedom only for its faithful. After the council, it was committed to defending religious freedom for every human being, going so far as to have this freedom recognized as the foundation of human rights in the Helsinki Conference (1975). A few years later, the importance of this achievement emerged vigorously in the erosion of communist ideology and in providing peoples with an instrument of new awareness and struggle for recognition.
In 1900, there were only about 20 countries that had diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Under Pope Francis this number has reached 184 (plus the European Union and the Order of Malta). In recent years the Holy See has actively intervened in international issues, such as the peace process between Chile and Argentina in the Beagle Channel conflict, the peace process in Northern Ireland, and the transition in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin wall. Alongside them is the unceasing activity of many communities, such as that of the Community of Sant'Egidio, which played a key role in the cessation of the civil war in Mozambique (1992).
Pontifical representatives or apostolic nuncios (ambassadors) are officially accredited to states and international organizations, recognized as diplomatic agents of the Holy See. Although it does not possess an army or special economic means, the Holy See is everywhere recognized for its moral authority, including through its global presence. As the Vatican City State, the Catholic Church is the only religious authority to hold the role of permanent observer at the United Nations and, as such, can participate in conferences and influence final decisions.
As the case studies analyzed in the book show, Johnston and Sampson had grasped the new role of religion in international relations, and subsequently other scholars addressed the issue, including Huntington, Toft, Philpott, and Shah, and Driessen. Gradually, religion has emerged from the shadows and is being rediscovered in its complexity of content, institutions, and social and cultural impact. It has become a key element in conflict resolution, even when it is blatantly instrumentalized to camouflage reasons for conflict that one prefers not to expose in public debate.
