“Religious freedom in the world: the rights of communities and human dignity”: that was the theme of the international conference held in Lisbon on 27 June. During the conference, held under the auspices of the Foundation Aid to the Suffering Church (ASC), a report was presented on religious freedom in a hundred or so countries, including Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Angola and East Timor. ACS has been publishing an annual report on the situation of religious freedom since 2003 and supports, with targeted projects, Catholic communities in countries where they are persecuted or discriminated against. After the presentation of the report, a conference was held on interfaith dialogue in the context of globalization, with the presence of Monsignor Willem de Smet, of the Syro-Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, and two interventions on the persecutions suffered by religious minorities in the Middle East and in Pakistan.
