The Association of the Republic and Laicidad wrote to RTP condemning what it considers the illegal dissemination of the Christmas message from the Lisbon Patriarch and reminded that there is an opinion against this kind of situation.
In a letter sent before the broadcast of today’s message by Rui Valerio, the association warned that the message was announced on several RTP channels, with RTP1 and others also broadcasting various religious ceremonies, namely the “Dominal Eucharist” (24th day of the morning). ) and “Mass in honor of the Nativity of the Lord” (25th morning).
“The Republic and the Secular Association consider that the provision of airtime on public television channels of any religious denomination violates the constitutionally defined principle of secularism of the Portuguese Republic. This principle, which all government representatives are required to follow, including public television, is not mandatory. is compatible with the use of public resources for the protection and promotion of religious faith, whatever it may be,” the association warns in the letter.
Which also takes into account that, since there already exists a certain space for various religious communities (the “Human Faith” program on channel RTP 2 and Antenna 1), the annual dissemination of the messages of the Patriarch of the Catholic Church outside this space and “in a format similar to broadcast time” , constitutes “a privilege incompatible with the secular character of public service and, therefore, which must be terminated.”
The association also notes that the message, which will take place this year and will be broadcast at 21:00 on the RTP1 channel, is a setback in the secularization of RTP, since the message was not broadcast in 2022.
Let us recall that there is an opinion of the Advisory Council under the Prosecutor General’s Office, according to which “all advertising aimed at promoting a religious denomination or having religious ideas as an object should be considered illegal, and the violator bears administrative liability.” “.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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