Against all intolerance

The present plenary session of the European Parliament is dominated by problems and solutions in the economic sphere, provisions for the protection of citizens’ health, and the appearance of important guests, including Belgian premier Yves Leterme and Hungarian premier Victor Orban, both of whom arrived in Strasbourg to discuss with MEPs and the Commission their vision of the European Community and the next provisions to be adopted at the EU level in terms of crisis management, foreign policy, enlargement and energy. But above all it was the parliamentary session in which a recurrent and pressing issue was that of religious freedom, the need to protect it and to take action to curb the discrimination and violence to which Christian communities are being subjected in various countries of the world.Wide support. MEPs succeeded in defining a draft Resolution on the theme of religious freedom, supported in the chamber by a very wide majority. The vote was preceded by a debate that had expressed unanimous support for the cries for help being raised by beleaguered Christians in Nigeria, Pakistan Iraq, Iran, the Holy Land, Egypt, Vietnam, China, Sudan and other corners of the world in which the freedom to live one’s own faith and to express it in public – through worship, works of charity, or welfare and cultural initiatives – seems often denied. Other religious minorities that suffer violence, however, were also recalled in the chamber; cases of islamophobia and attacks against Jewish communities in Europe were denounced. The text presented to MEPs, after listing cases of discrimination and violence especially in the second half of 2010 and in the first days of this year, condemns “the recent attacks against the Christian communities in various countries” and “any act of violence against Christians and other religious communities, as also all types of discrimination and intolerance based on religion and faith”. In the lengthy document the EP declares its concern about the exodus of Christians from various states; and condemns the fact that in the northern part of Cyprus “the celebration of Christian mass in the villages of Rizokarpaso and Ayia Triada was interrupted by force” by the Turkish authorities. “Abuse” of religion. The text “expresses grave concern about the abuse of religion by those responsible for terrorist acts in numerous regions” of the planet and “the exploitation of religion in various political conflicts”. The resolution of the European Parliament invites the Council, Commission and High Representative for Foreign Affairs “to pay greater attention to the question of freedom of religion or religious belief and to the situation of religious communities, including Christians, in accords and in cooperation with third countries”. The High Representative is asked to “develop as a manner of urgency an EU strategy on the exercise of the human right to freedom of religion, which makes provision for a list of measures to be taken against States that deliberately fail to protect religious confessions”; and “to prepare within the human rights directorate of the European Service for external action a permanent system to monitor the situation of government and social restrictions on religious freedom”. Catherine Ashton, who fills the post of High Representative, emphasized the threats that derive from the forms of violence denounced by the EP: “They are concerns that I personally expressed following the recent attacks [on Christian churches] and during my visit to the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on 6 January”. “The EU condemns any form of religious intolerance, but we must not fall into the trap of the extremists, who would like to use religion to violate human rights”. Ashton recalled that the issue will be discussed during the foreign affairs Council of the Union on 31 January and will also be raised by the EU at the next session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in March.International adoptions. The Assembly then devoted a debate and a vote to the issue of international adoptions: the resolution prepared on this point obtained very wide consent. Roberta Angelilli, vice-chairperson of the Assembly who holds the EP’s portfolio for children’s rights, declared: “With this vote the chamber in Strasbourg has demonstrated that the protection of children’s rights is a priority of the European Union”. “The plight of abandoned children, orphans or street children – Angelilli explained – does not only concern the third world, but has become an extremely grave problem and one of great actuality also in Europe”. Adoption permits “these children to have a family and to avoid having to spend their childhood between orphanages and social care. Above all adoption enables them not to become invisible and end up in the vicious circle of poverty, social exclusion and exploitation”. The text reaffirms that the child’s interest must always be paramount and must in all cases be safeguarded: where possible, adoption should preferably be granted in the country of origin and otherwise within the EU. Various MEPs of Romania, a country that has blocked international adoptions, expressed their opposition to this resolution in Strasbourg.