It happens in 2011

Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. …and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved (Matt 10:17-22). This is the passage from Matthew’s Gospel which we usually read at Mass on the Solemnity of Saint Stephen (26 December). Since in 2010 that date was a Sunday, this Gospel passage, which is perhaps more topical than ever, was not read. Instead, the cry of pain and desperation from the families and Coptic Christian community of Alexandria brought us down to reality, reminding us in an abrupt way that the festivities of Christmas were over. At dawn on 1 January, we all saw with shock how religious fanaticism led to a vile gesture of death. And so we have learned that martyrdom is not something belonging to the past, just as the persecution of Christians is not something just written in the pages of history, just as religious hatred continues incessantly to scatter victims in different parts of the world (India, Pakistan and the Philippines, Sudan and Nigeria, Eritrea and Somalia, Iraq). In 2011, too, Christian men and women are being killed for their religious adherence. We thought that humanity was protected from such atrocities. We have The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, this achievement of humanity, which in Article 18 states “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”, speaks to us. We have become aware how the ever more evident acts of persecution and forms of discrimination testified to how much further and how fraught with difficulties is the path to full and real recognition of human rights. The incident in Alexandria in Egypt has shocked public opinion in such a way that it can no longer pretend to see nothing. 2011 opens with an ever greater wake-up call: Christians in the world are again being persecuted for their faith. We thought that what Jesus preached to his disciples (persecution “because of my name”) was a thing of the past and was not part of our daily life.In Europe, too, even if the most radical forms of persecution of people for religious reasons are not present, types of intolerance and discrimination for religious motives, especially against Christians, are increasing. How can one forget the incident about displaying the crucifix in schools and public places, or the omission of Christian feasts on the European school agenda, the unfulfilled restitution of goods confiscated from churches in the Communist era and not yet handed back, or the attempt to limit and circumscribe the right to conscientious objection especially in issues of great ethical importance. The list could go on, as evidenced by the recent report published last December by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (www.intoleranceagainstchristians.eu). Today, it is perhaps more necessary than ever that Governments throughout the world give a clear signal of their commitment and responsibility to preserve the universal and indivisible character of human rights. Today, it is perhaps more necessary than ever that Governments throughout the world give a clear signal of their commitment and responsibility to preserve the universal and indivisible character of human rights.Above all, it is essential that the European Union continues to support more and more the promotion and safeguarding of human rights in accordance with the Treaty of the European Union, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the declarations of the Council of Europe. No arrangement motivated by considerations of a national, economic, religious or cultural nature, like a superficial application of the principle of non-discrimination which leads in fact and paradoxically to the limitation of the rights of believers to publicly manifest their own faith, can legitimately disregard the principles sanctioned by these resources with which humanity is bestowed. So will 2011 be characterised by a new taking stock at a personal and institutional level of this fundamental right of freedom of religion in Europe and the world? We will see. The Catholic Church has already done this as seen by the many stances taken by the Holy Father and, in particular, by his Message for the 44th World Day of Peace on the theme “Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace”. For its part, CCEE will continue to monitor and denounce cases of intolerance and discrimination that it will hear about from the reports received from Bishops’ Conferences.