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CV NEWS FEED // The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) emphasized the fundamental nature of religious freedom in a statement it released after a report from the Catholic organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) identified violations affecting 4.9 billion people across 61 countries.
The ACN report, released biennially in six different languages, monitors the state of religious freedom in 196 countries.
In commemoration of International Religious Freedom Day, Bishops A. Elias Zaidan and Kevin C. Rhoades stated in an October 25 news release that “religious freedom is a basic human right, which has even been called the ‘synthesis and summit of all other fundamental rights.’”
They called attention to the challenges people of faith face in numerous countries where blasphemy and apostasy laws restrict personal religious choice and prevent individuals from freely practicing or converting to their chosen faith.
“As Christians,” the bishops wrote, “we seek to build up the common good by fostering peace, tolerance, and respect for the dignity of others, but blasphemy and apostasy laws in many countries essentially criminalize what should be a person’s ability to choose one’s own religion.”
The bishops noted that Pope Francis has repeatedly described religious freedom as a “basic, primary and inalienable right that must be promoted everywhere.” In alignment with the Holy Father’s message, the USCCB has intensified its advocacy for religious freedom, especially through policy support for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which monitors severe violations around the world, including in China, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Russia, and Syria.
“Let us uphold freedom of religion and pray that globally, the dignity of the human person will be recognized, tolerated, and respected,” the bishops stated.
CatholicVote reported multiple instances of severe religious persecution in recent months in Pakistan, most resulting in the death of Christians accused of violating blasphemy laws.
In Iran, a Christian convert was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison, charged with “membership in groups aiming to disrupt national security” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic through the promotion of Zionist Christianity.”
Additionally, Islamist Fulani terrorists in Nigeria have repeatedly kidnapped, attacked, and killed Christians by the dozens, crimes which Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi in Benue State stated amount to “genocide trying to wipe out indigenous communities, indigenous tribes, to enthrone Islam.”
