Defending the Sacred Right of Belief: A Response to Pope Leo XIV’s October Prayer

The European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights welcomes with profound appreciation the October 2025 message of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, in which he calls upon “believers in different religious traditions” to “work together to defend and promote peace, justice and human fraternity.”

His Holiness’ prayer—that we “recognize ourselves as brothers and sisters, called to live, pray, work and dream together”—resonates deeply with the ethical vision of L. Ron Hubbard, who wrote in The Way to Happiness, Precept 18:

“One is at liberty to hold up his own beliefs for acceptance. One is at risk when he seeks to assault the beliefs of others, much more so when he attacks and seeks to harm them because of their religious convictions.”

This principle has long guided our commitment to religious freedom, mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence among all faiths.

We share the Pope’s conviction that “religions [should] not be used as weapons or walls, but rather lived as bridges and prophecy,” and that they must serve to “accompany life, sustain hope and be the yeast of unity in a fragmented world.”

In a time when religious identity is too often misused to justify exclusion or violence, we stand firmly with Pope Leo XIV’s call to “recognize what unites us” and to “collaborate without destroying.” The Church of Scientology affirms that freedom of religion or belief is a universal human right that must be protected for all—majority and minority faiths alike—without condition or discrimination.

“We join the Holy Father in his appeal for people of all spiritual paths to work together for the common good,” said Ivan Arjona, Representative of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights. “True peace begins when we defend not only our own right to believe—but the sacred right of every person to do the same.”

May all people of conscience heed this call—and turn shared values into action for a more just and fraternal world.

The European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights represents Scientology Churches and missions across the geographical Europe in matters of religious freedom, human rights, and interfaith engagement.