Speaking at a special symposium on Thomas Becket at Lambeth Palace Cardinal Vincent Nichols called for a broadening of dialogue between secular authorities and communities of faith to meet today's challenges.
He asked that "our multiple and complex identities and loyalties can be brought together, rather than separated out to meet the challenges we face."
The Cardinal also referred back to Pope Benedict's address at Westminster Hall in 2010, when the pope said "religion is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to national conversation," and for all of us "to defend those arenas of life in which true religion flourishes, open to the challenges of its' day yet confident that its' insights and gifts are so rooted in human reality as to possess qualities that truly endure".
The aim of the special meeting was to look in greater detail about the historical significance of Thomas Becket.
The relic of the murdered archbishop has been taken on a 'pilgrimage' around England after it was returned to the country for the first time in 800 years.
The fragment of bone, believed to come from his arm, was being held by the Basilica of Esztergom in Hungary.
The piece traveled from London, his birthplace, to Canterbury Cathedral, where he was murdered in 1170, as part of a seven-day 'pilgrimage'.
At each location senior clerics from the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches conducted a series of special services .
Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until he was murdered by knights of King Henry II in 1170.
Saint Thomas Becket is patron saint of both English and Hungarian parochial clergy.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols says his death reminds Christians of their dedication to Christ rather than the prevailing powers of the state.
Cardinal Nichols added that the relationship between Church and state is rarely easy.
"St Thomas' martyrdom reminds us what can happen when the state seeks to dominate religious belief and reshape it to its own ends, to its own selection of values," he said.
"When observance of those particular values becomes absolute requirements then we are on a path of confrontation."
He quoted Pope Benedict, "What are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend?
"By appeal to what authorities can moral dilemmas be resolved.
"These questions take us directly to the ethical foundations of civil discourse.
"If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident - herein lies the real challenge for democracy."
