By Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent
The most dangerous place on earth to be a Christian is the continent of Asia.
That’s the conclusion of a recent report by the international Catholic charity organization, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The findings were compiled by the Italian branch of ACN, in its seventh annual report on worldwide religious freedom. The report contains country-by-country analyses, based on direct information, official documents, and reports by human rights organizations and various media sources.
The following are highlights from the report:
Europe
Secularism continues to be the main agent of growing intolerance for religion in Europe, most notably in France, where a new law forbids students from wearing religious symbols in schools.
According to the ACN report, “Negative reactions came from most communities, from the Catholics and the Muslims — the religions most affected by this law — and the Indian Sikhs, due to their obligation to always wear the turban.”
In 2004, six of the 16 regions that constitute the German Federal Republic adopted norms that forbid public employees from wearing religious symbols, such as crucifixes, veils or the Jewish kippa, while at work.
Spain has also seen what is described as a “drastic change” since the Socialist party won the elections in March 2004. The new president is fulfilling his promises concerning family, the right to life and homosexual marriage. Although the Church and the government are in dialogue, “the Socialist government has not allowed the teaching of the Catholic religion to be compulsory,” and is “acknowledging the teaching of the Islamic religion in state schools.”
In Sweden, the only reported episode was the arrest of a 64-year-old Protestant pastor, who was accused of hate crimes after expressing in his sermons his indignation for the tolerance shown in his country for gays and lesbians.
The situation for Christians in Turkey remains “totally unsatisfactory,” the report states. “Christians are effectively denied access to civil and military institutional jobs, it is practically impossible to build churches, and in spite of the constitution’s secularism, the [religious] communities have no civil recognition and therefore are not permitted to own anything.”
Religious and ethnic intolerance also persists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 40 percent of a million refugees who fled ethnic cleansing still unable to return to their homes.
Americas
The report cites a “clear deterioration of life quality” in Cuba, particularly in the harsh conditions experienced in prisons by alleged dissidents. Prisoners are being kept naked in solitary confinement, denied adequate food, medicine and access to any religious books.
Although there is no real material persecution of the Church, Havana’s Cardinal Jaime Ortega described the situation as a more subtle form of persecution — “an attempt to relegate all activities and testimonies to the fringes of society and politics.” The Church has no access to the press, and cannot open schools or teach the faith in state schools.
The United States is cited for a rise in reports of religious discrimination and episodes of religious intolerance, such as attempts to ban the Ten Commandments from public property as well as swearing on the Bible or using the words, “under God.”
“The American model for coexistence puts all religions on the same level and pays great attention to the rights of minorities,” the report states. “However, at times, it appears inadequate in also acknowledging the rights of the majorities.”
Three countries in North, Central and South America — Mexico, Chile and Guatemala — have the sad distinction of being sites where Catholics were martyred for their faith in 2004. Two Catholics were killed in Mexico, one in Guatemala, and one in Chile.
Violations of human and religious rights by various political factions in Colombia cause that country’s situation to be listed as “extremely serious.” More than 3,000 civilians were killed there in 2004, amounting to roughly one murder every 24 minutes; 600 people disappeared, and 2,200 were kidnapped. Since 2000, more than 200,000 have been forced to flee Colombia.
Asia
The continent of Asia contains nine out of the 11 countries listed by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as “Countries of Particular Concern.” They are countries where egregious violations of religious freedom are occurring on an ongoing basis.
According to the ACN report, the most serious problems are occurring in Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, where the persecution of “‘infidels’ (non-Muslims) has reached levels of real emergency … inflicting prison and torture on those contravening Koranic Law.”
Christians are also being targeted by Buddhist extremists in Sri Lanka, and Hindu extremists in India, where anti-conversion laws ban all missionary activity and the extremists frequently resort to violence against Christians.
Communism is another major oppressor of Christianity in Asia.
“The last bastion of concentration-camp-styled social communists in the world, North Korea, has seen about 300,000 Christians vanish into thin air in the course of the last 50 years,” the report states. “The Beijing regime practices analogous repression against Christians, Buddhists and members of the Falun Gong [who are] interned and tortured in camps with no charges brought against them and often only released when dead.”
Lesser known areas of concern include Bangladesh, where non-Muslims experience social discrimination severe enough to warrant that country’s placement on the Commission’s “Watch List.” Christians are denied access to water wells and are the frequent targets of physical violence and the destruction of property.
Attacks and violence against Christian churches continued in Indonesia in 2004. And in Iraq, 88 Christian have been killed since 2003, according to reports from Assyrian-Chaldean Christian organizations. According to the ACN report, “Islamic ultra-extremist groups address serious death threats to the Christian communities with the object of obliging them to flee.”
Africa
Nigeria and Sudan are by far the most dangerous places to practice Christianity on the continent of Africa.
In Nigeria, religion-based clashes between Christians and Muslims claimed 12,000 lives in 2004, adding to “the tens of thousands of victims of past years … since Islamic Law was proclaimed in the 12 northern states.”
ACN calls the situation “extremely critical” for Christians, who have been victims of attacks, persecution and abuse.
Since the imposition of Islamic Law, ACN says, “over 10,000 thousand people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been obliged to abandon their homes. Most of these are Christians.”
In Sudan, where a “fragile” peace agreement has been reached, there is still much work to be done to improve the situation for non-Muslims, as well as non-Arab Muslims.
“The situation concerning the south Sudanese refugees crowded in the camps in the suburbs of Khartoum, is particularly dramatic. Mainly Christians or the followers of traditional religions, these refugees have no right to own property or to build places of worship.” the ACN report states.
Further: “On a number of occasions, the government has ordered these places to be destroyed, obliging refugees to practice their religion in makeshift buildings built with sheets of plastic. During 2004, the Christian Churches were the only ones that tried to provide aid and comfort in extremely difficult conditions, thanks to the commitment of priests, monks, nuns and lay people, who in some cases even risked their lives.”
Other trouble-spots on the continent are Egypt and Morocco where persecution affects any citizen who abandons Islam for Christianity.
For more information on the Web, see: http://www.aidtochurch.org/.
Contact Susan Brinkmann at fiat723@aol.com or (215) 965-4615.
The suffering Church
These countries are identified on the U.S, Commission on International Religious Freedom List as “Countries of Particular Concern” because of ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom:
| • Burma | • Saudi Arabia |
| • China | • Sudan |
| • Eritrea | • Turkmenistan |
| • Iran | • Uzbekistan |
| • North Korea | • Vietnam |
• Pakistan | |
Countries placed on the Commission’s “Watch List” require close monitoring. While their religious freedom violations are not as serious as those listed as “Countries of Particular Concern,” their violations are still extensive:
| • Bangladesh | • Egypt |
| • Belarus | • Indonesia |
| • Cuba | • Nigeria |