A non-guaranteed right

“Freedom of Religion in the European Neighbourhood: What role for religious actors and EU external action?” is the theme of the meeting held in Brussels October 11, at the European Parliament (PHS Building, Room 7C050, 18:00 – 20:00). The meeting is promoted in the framework of the second series of seminars on “Islam, Christianity and Europe” by COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community). “The Lisbon Treaty provides that in its relations with the wider world, the European Union shall uphold and promote its values”, COMECE explains. The protection of the right of religious freedom is therefore, not only a matter for the EU’s own human rights regime, but also a concern for its “external policies” which “is still not guaranteed everywhere, and the level of protection varies considerably”. Denied right. Nobody in Europe can remain silent before the oppression and persecution of religious – and not only Christian – minorities, which is ongoing in numerous world countries in the 21st century. “The man of God doesn’t question the freedom of choice, conscience and religion, not even for a moment. He doesn’t strip anyone from his right to assume his own decisions”, marked out Bishop László Tökés, Vice-President of the European Parliament, opening the COMECE seminar. “Public religious personalities – he said – have a special responsibility in transforming the values of democracy and European ideals of social justice in the daily reality according to the spirit of our religious creeds”. And he added: “the right to religious freedom is in harmony with the European ideal and the right of each person to confess, practice and change his own religious confession or creed”. Tökés recalled that 75% of the victims of religious persecution are Christian and according to statistics over 100 million people in the world are persecuted each year in the world because of their faith. “It is equally true – he added – that oppression and persecution are not Christians’ exclusive prerogative”, and unfortunately this also occurs in some fundamentalist Muslim regimes to the detriment of Hindu and Buddhist religious minorities”. In countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Somalia, Yemen or also in ex- Communist countries like Russia, China, Azerbaijan, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Uzbekistan, Tagikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam “the right to freedom of religious continues being restricted by law”. “It doesn’t matter who and where – Tökés said -, we must fight for the freedom of all religions, faiths and religious denomination and for the religious rights of each single person and minority” and “make an effort so that this principle and spirituality prevail in the relations between Christianity and Islam, in Europe and in the relations between Europe and the so-called Third Countries”. The role of religious leaders. The seminar was attended also by Andrea Pacini, consultant of the Commission for the relations with Muslims at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who spoke of “the role of religious players in the establishment of democracy and peace”. “Religious actors – he said – can play an important role in the promotion of the freedom of religion as it is their belief that religion is the fruit of a personal choice and that it is in the very interest of religion to ensure this choice”. Pacini spoke of a “serious” situation experienced by Christian communities in the Middle East and in Turkey, a region in which the number of Christians dropped to 6% of the overall population, as the result of ongoing migration abroad. Such a strong trend enroots the “psychological conviction that there is no longer space for Christians in the Middle East”. “Modern Constitutions of the States of the Middle East – Pacini said – recognize equal citizenship for all citizens, although there are norms and social customs that prevent their full implementation. It is therefore an imperfect form of citizenship”. The norms which Pacini refers to are related to marriage; the absence of a law on the freedom of conscience and the restrictions to the freedom of worship. “The problem of the freedom of religion – he said – is linked to the freedom of conscience. It is a question that also involves Muslims, not only Christians”. Hence the appeal to all religious players to cooperate, underlining that the battle focuses not so much on the “respect of the rights of a confessional minority”, but rather “on the claim of the full citizenship right (that includes religious freedom) and the respect of human rights”. The Christians of the Middle East “want to be citizens and not protected individuals”. In this claim there is also place for a common action of Christians and Muslims, involving those currents of Islam open to themes related “to the human rights and the freedom of religion”. However – the expert added – “it’s important to work not only on the juridical plane but also at cultural and educational level” since “the influence of neo-traditionalist Muslim currents within the ministry of education in some Countries doesn’t promote the development of cultural and social consensus on these issues”. Hence the need for a cultural action “aimed” at interiorizing the values of freedom as “fundamental social values”.