Abstract

Is there room for religion in the public square? This simple, yet heavy question has been constant and evolving since the Enlightenment period. Prior to this period in the context of Latin
Christendom, the answer was an obvious ‘yes’. The innovative idea that the answer might be ‘no’ has had an immense impact on Church-State relations in various Western contexts in the past 250 years. The experiments in secularity within the past few hundred years wrestling with this question are explored in brief detail. One of the social imaginaries that emerged in France is the concept of laïcité. It is important to address the historical roots of the ideology of laïcité within the broader context of emerging Western secularities. Grievances present within this ideology are also addressed, culminating with a deconstruction of its totalizing features that seek to marginalize other burgeoning ideas of secularity. Ignatian Pedagogy will be illustrated as one of the many examples that illustrate the deprivatization of religion in the public sphere. Furthermore, it will be discussed in terms of its applicability to all students in hopes of both greater human flourishing, and an accomplishment of the possibility for religious freedom and peace among differences, meeting a central goal of the Peace of Westphalia.