One out of seven Christians in the world, or about 300 million, live in a country where there is some form of persecution because of their religion. They face arrest, violence, and violations of human rights.
According to the report, Christians are still the most most persecuted religious group in the world.
Released simultaneously in 23 ACN offices all over the world, the report entitled “Religious Freedom Report” 2018 by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) covered data from June 2016 to June 2018. It said Christians are still the most persecuted religious group. Also, according to the Vatican News, around 61% of the world’s population, or six out of 10 people, cannot express their faith with total freedom.
ACN, the international pontifical Catholic charity and foundation that helps persecuted Christians worldwide, created the report that looked into 196 countries and examined the degree to which the basic right to religious freedom, based on the definition in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is respected.
In 22 countries, the reasons why Christians are attacked are rooted in radical Islam. In other countries such as China, Myanmar, India, Vietnam, North Korea, and Kyrgyzstan, religious freedom is not respected due to the authoritarianism of states or governments.
Results revealed grave violations of religious freedom in a total of 38 countries. Christians in 17 of these countries face serious discrimination on their religion, while Christians in 21 countries deal with persecution. In some cases, this leads to death. The report also showed that the situation has deteriorated in the last couple of years and in general, respect for religious freedom has worsened.
In 22 countries, the reasons why Christians are attacked are rooted in radical Islam. In other countries such as China, Myanmar, India, Vietnam, North Korea, and Kyrgyzstan, religious freedom is not respected due to the authoritarianism of states or governments. On the other hand, an improved level of religious freedom for minorities was seen in Syria and Iraq. This can be attributed to the military defeat of terrorist group Islamic State or ISIS or Daesh.
Sources:
www.ucanews.com
www.vaticannews.va
