Helping the suffering Church today www.acnmalta.org
KIDNAPPED NUN: “I was singled out, beaten, and insulted for professing my Catholic faith”
CASE STUDYNIGERIA: Stoned to death for a WhatsApp Chat
PAKISTAN: Helping Women standup to prejudice and discrimination
Read inspirational stories
…of faith-strong men and women around the world who are shining the light of Christ even in the darkest parts of the world.
Click on “play video” to catch a quick glimpse of the reach and impact of ACN’s work around the world.
Part of the mission of ACN is to be a voice for persecuted Christians - to tell their stories of faith and courage and to call for prayer and justice on their behalf. Reports about the persecution of Christians rarely make the headlines and it is a rarity when such a story is covered by some media.
Yet the individual voices of the suffering Church are compelling, courageous and often inspirational. They are today’s martyrs and deserve our respect and support so as not to be left on their own against the forces of evil. ACN produces regular reports focusing on the situation faced by Christians in a particular country or region. The reports comprise first-hand testimonies garnered from our international network of staff and contacts. Every two years, we publish a Religious Freedom Report, which is the main subject of this month’s edition of Faith Alive
We invite you to consider making a donation to help us fund key projects which provide essential aid to Christians in need around the world.
As you read through this edition, you will discover latest findings and firsthand testimonies on the reality of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world, and I invite you to join hands with ACN to support them and give them hope. You can:
• Pray: pray for the victims of discrimination and violence;
• Share information: spread the word about this report in your networks – family, friends, in person and on social media – and highlight the report’s Main Findings;
• Speak up for victims of persecution: use this report to identify cases of individuals or groups of people who have suffered religious freedom violations, and advocate for them in your communities and networks using social media;
• Engage with politicians: inform and encourage your political representatives (e.g. members of parliament) to defend the rights of those who suffer discrimination and persecution for their faith &
• Keep informed: find out about new laws and policies which could be used to persecute vulnerable faith groups.
If you have any questions about the work of ACN, or would like to reprint any of the articles in this magazine, please do get in touch.
• Religious persecution has increased – in 47 of the most dangerous countries the situation has worsened
• Acceleration and concentration of threats to the faithful in all regions of the world
• Impunity is on the rise – in 36 countries attackers are rarely or never prosecuted
The RFR has been published by international Catholic foundation ACN every two years since 1999 and is the only non-Governmental report on global religious freedom that covers all faiths.
The fundamental human right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is violated in one out of every three countries (31%), which is to say in 61 out of 196 nations. In total, almost 4.9 billion people, or 62% of the world’s population, live in countries where religious freedom is heavily restricted.
The 2023 Religious Freedom in the World Report (RFR), published on 22 June by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), underlines the accelerating threats and trends against this right, revealing that persecution on grounds of faith has worsened overall, and impunity has increased.
The study covers the period between January 2021 and December 2022, and is the only non-governmental report that analyses compliance and violations worldwide, for all religions, of the right as laid out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The report finds that discrimination and persecution are clearly noticeable in 61 countries, and that in 49 of these it is the government that persecutes or even murders its own citizens on religious grounds with scarcely a reaction from the international community. Even majority religious communities are now under threat.
According to the RFR map, 28 states are marked in red as “hot countries” (indicating persecution), denoting the most dangerous places in the world for practicing religion freely, and 33 are orange indicating high levels of discrimination. In 47 of these countries the situation has worsened since the last report was published, whereas things only improved, in terms of religious freedom, in nine of them.
One of the main conclusions of ACN’s report is that minority religious communities are in an increasingly dire situation, and in some cases face the threat of extinction due to a combination of terrorism, attacks on their cultural heritage, and more subtle measures such as the proliferation of anti-conversion laws, manipulation of electoral rules and financial restrictions. However, there are also cases of majority religious communities being persecuted, such as in Nicaragua and Nigeria.
Over the past two years, the report also notes the global increase of the power and scope of authoritarian governments and fundamentalist leaders who seek to exercise limitless power and are both jealous and fearful of the spiritual authority and mobilisation capacity of religious communities. This has a deadly effect on religious freedom. Impunity has become a constant around the world, and in 36 countries (18%) attackers are rarely, if ever, prosecuted for their crimes.
The silence on the part of the international community contributes to this culture of impunity for regimes considered to be strategically important for the West, such as China and India, which end up not being subjected to international sanctions or any other consequences for their violations of religious freedom. The same applies to countries such as Nigeria and Pakistan.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has released the latest edition of its Religious Freedom in the World Report (RFR), which reveals that persecution has increased since January 2021, while impunity continues to be the rule when it comes to attackers, including oppressive governments.
One such example of these oppressive regimes, according to the RFR, is Nicaragua, which for the first time was included on the list of countries with the highest levels of religious freedom violations.
Africa continues to be the most violent continent, with an increase in jihadist attacks making the religious freedom situation even more alarming. Almost half of the “hot countries” in the RFR map, that is 13 out of 28, are in Africa. The concentration of jihadist activity is especially evident in the Sahel region, around Lake Chad, Mozambique, and Somalia, and is spreading to neighbouring countries, many of which remain under observation, having suffered Islamist attacks on their borders.
China and North Korea remain the two countries in Asia with the worst record of human rights violations including religious freedom, with the state exercising totalitarian control through surveillance and extreme measures of repression against the population.
The RFR also pays close attention to India, where persecution levels have been on the rise, with the imposition of a dangerous ethno-religious nationalism that is harmful to religious minorities. Anti-conversion laws have been approved, or are under consideration, in 12 of India’s 28 states, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Furthermore, these laws include financial benefits for those who convert, or revert, to the majority religion.
Incidents of forced religious conversion, abductions and sexual violence (including sexual slavery) have not decreased during the two-year period under review, and in fact remain largely ignored by local law-enforcement, as is the case in Pakistan where young Christian and Hindu girls are often abducted and subjected to forced marriages. Besides the gross violation of their human rights including religious freedom, these practices also have the effect of limiting the growth of their religious communities.
The RFR also highlights the serious internal crises that are occurring in Muslim communities all over the world. On one hand, many young Muslims continue to be attracted to Islamist terrorist networks, but on the other, especially in the Middle East, there are signs of a widespread
secularisation. In Iran, for example, there are surveys indicating that 47% of the population claimed no religious affiliation and only 32% identified as Shiite during the recent Iranian women’s “hijab revolution”.
The RFR draws attention to concerns over increasing limits to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion in countries that belong to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Over the past two years the West has shifted from a climate of “polite persecution” towards those who want to openly live and express their faith to one of a “cancel culture” and “enforced speech” with strong social pressure to conform to current ideological trends.
On a positive note, the report points out an increase in interreligious dialogue initiatives, and the joyful return to unrestricted religious celebrations in many countries after COVID 19 lockdowns.
Regina Lynch, recently appointed as executive president of ACN International, explains that the main purpose of this report is to “motivate people to get involved and help those suffering from religious persecution through prayer, sharing information, speaking up for victims, engaging politicians and keeping informed about reality on the ground in different parts of the world”.
“The ACN Religious Freedom in the World Report seeks only to collate information and provide analysis about the abuse of this fundamental human right worldwide. It is a tool. The tool is only as good as those who take it up, share it with others, and work to effect change”, says Regina Lynch.
Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you
KIDNAPPED NUN:
Sr Gloria Cecilia Narvaez at the celebration of the Red Week evidencing the Religious Persecution in the world in Colombia, November 2022
On 7 February 2017, I was kidnapped in Karangasso, southern Mali, by what we later discovered was a jihadist group. After four years and eight months, I was eventually released on 9 October 2021. Undoubtedly, it was one of the most spiritually transformative experiences of my life. Today, looking back, even though it sounds paradoxical, it was perhaps one of the greatest blessings that God has given me.
Sr Gloria, who has directly experienced persecution, is vocal about the plight of persecuted Christians around the world
I began to work in this African country in 2010. As a sister in a mostly Muslim region, I reached out especially to women. And I want to draw particular attention to this fact (working in a Muslim-majority region) because the charism of Saint Francis of Assisi for my religious community – the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate – places special emphasis on fraternity as a gift from God.
It was precisely this fraternal nature that made the people of Mali so fond of us missionaries. The Muslims of the community in which we served admired us for two things: constant prayers and open fraternity. They always saw us united and praying, working for others, with kindness, regardless of discomforts or precarious conditions, with a permanent smile and neighbourliness.
Differences in ethnicity, class or religion made no difference to us; we treated everyone with love. Families, for their part, welcomed us into their homes and shared their food; for example, at the end of Ramadan (in Islam, this is a month of fasting which ends with a great feast), we were invited to celebrate in their homes, and we were always treated with great kindness. There were no closed doors or walls.
At the same time, this provided an opportunity to evangelise in our own way, for we told them that our work and fraternal relationship with different people was not the work of this or that sister, but that everything was done thanks to God, who is the giver of all blessings. But to my kidnappers, all that didn’t matter. In such a situation, the fraternity that until then had been a constant in my missionary work vanished. Freedom, not only physical liberty, which allowed me to move without restrictions, became only a word, an immense longing. As time went by, and perhaps because of what I had previously experienced in continuous, loving, respectful and kind contact with people of every religious denomination and all conditions, I realised that I had not
only lost my own freedom, but also my religious liberty: I was singled out, beaten, and insulted for professing my Catholic faith, or at least for trying to.
Yet, despite such adverse circumstances, the bad weather, the daily abuse, humiliations, deprivation of food and water, I never – not once – failed to thank God for allowing me to wake up and be alive amid all the difficulties and dangers: How could I not praise you, bless you and thank you, my God? For you have filled me with peace in the face of insults and mistreatment!
I also prayed – and continue to pray – for my captors. Even when I was beaten for no reason, or simply because I was saying my prayers, I said to myself: ‘My God, it is hard to be chained and to be beaten, but I live this moment as you present it to me... And, despite everything, I would not want any of these men (my captors) to be harmed.’
In my work as a missionary, I have done my utmost to be respectful towards others, and this has been essential to perform my work. If we love, we accept, and are respectful. If we respect the freedom of others to live according to their religion, then we can receive the same respect.
From my mission work in a Muslim environment and sharing a good part of my captivity with two women, one Muslim and the other Protestant, I learned that if we love, accept and respect one another, we can live as brothers and sisters and that acceptance does not mean giving up one’s beliefs, for true respect is about listening, welcoming, and acknowledging every one for who they are.
Lifted from the Foreword of ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report, by Sr. Gloria Cecilia NarvaezPlease “Help us support those in Need” thank you
IS SAVING LIVES
CASE STUDY- NIGERIA:
According to ACN’s 2023 edition of the Religious Freedom in the World Report, Nigeria is one of the “hot countries” denoting the most dangerous places in the world for practicing religion freely. On 12 May 2022, a 22-year-old Christian, Deborah Samuel Yakubu, was attacked by her classmates, stoned to death, and her body set on fire.
A second-year economics student at the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, northern Nigeria, Deborah was accused of having sent a blasphemous message complaining via WhatsApp to her class about the forced introduction of religion into an academic study group. It was upon her return to school following the holidays that classmates led a group to capture her. Witnesses described that “school security and police attempted to rescue the victim but were overwhelmed by the students.”
Contrary to Islamic legal norms, the brutal act of mob violence was a summary execution. A statement released by Sa’idu Mohammadu Maccido, the Sokoto State Sultanate Council Secretary, denounced the attack stating: “The Sultanate Council condemns the incident in its totality and has urged the security agencies to bring the perpetrators of the unjustifiable incident to justice.”
After the attack, two individuals were arrested for the murder whereupon groups of young rioters – encouraged by adults in the background – attacked two Catholic churches; the vandals destroyed windows at the Holy Family Catholic Cathedral and partially burned the St. Kevin’s Catholic Church.
Notwithstanding the Sultanate’s condemnation, the series of attacks reaffirmed the fears among Christians of increasing Muslim radicalisation in the north.
Msgr Matthew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto diocese, expressed his sympathy for these fears stating: “Far from universal condemnation of this horrific act, many Islamist extremists and their Imams applauded the murder, claiming it was justified, and calling for additional violence against any who might ask for legal justice against the perpetrators.
Notwithstanding the tensions and violence, it is also important to highlight constructive interreligious efforts. Of note were the visits of Pope Francis to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan in January and February 2023 in which he called upon leadership in both countries to work towards peace.
Among the myriad of national efforts, in Cameroon, government officials joined 60 Muslim and Christian clerics and hundreds of Muslims and Christians in the capital, Yaoundé, to pray for peace during the Africa Football Cup of Nations.
Christian and Muslim religious leaders gathered in Abidjan, the largest city of Ivory Coast, for an international symposium entitled “The Eternal Message
of Religions” in which a common declaration was agreed that “solidarity, fraternity and dialogue among all religions must be the very basis of social peace”.
In the Central African Republic, an interfaith group called the Platform of Religious Confessions of Central Africa united the religious leaders of the country’s Muslim, Evangelical, and Catholic communities. Together the leaders courageously travelled to the front lines to reopen dialogue between armed groups and elected officials.
Firstly, through the publication of the Religious Freedom in the World Report (RFR), where all religious denominations are included. This serves as a tool with
which to draw attention to this universal human right for each individual.
Secondly, ACN supports projects in areas of potential interreligious conflict where in many cases the Catholic Church serves as a mediator between religious denominations and seeks to bring together the same parties around the table to address issues of concern. This is, for example, the case with the Silsilah dialogue project in Mindanao, in the Philippines, with the aim of bringing together Muslims and Christians.
ACN projects related to the support of religious sisters and missionaries also serve as a means of interreligious dialogue and peaceful coexistence. For example, Catholic schools in Pakistan cater to the 99% Muslim population enabling Muslim and Christian students to experience a learned living together.
In areas where there is conflict and atrocities committed against mixed communities, and where there is no other authority in rural areas, the victimsboth Muslim and Christian - seek refuge in the Church. The priests, sisters, and faithful in these areas do not discriminate in their pastoral and social care for those in need.
Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you
Muslim girl and a Catholic sister learning together at the Catholic University in Morogoro, Tanzania
A psychotherapy session, supported by ACN, for forced conversion victims in Pakistan
ACN is now supporting a social course aimed at empowering Christian women living in these extremely difficult circumstances. Many of the women involved in this guidance course are students or domestic workers in the suburban areas of large Pakistani cities.
One of these young women is ‘Samia’ (name changed). She lives in the north of Pakistan with her parents and brothers. “We live in a state of anxiety and constant pressure. We believe that if we do try to defend our rights, we will be accused of blasphemy or some other charge, based on false accusations, as has already occurred in the past,” she explains.
If a Christian woman is alleged to have blasphemed against the Koran or the Prophet, she requires four witnesses to equal that of the male accuser.
Another area where women suffer grievously is sexual violence against religious minorities. Of note is the abduction, rape, forced marriage and forced conversion of principally young Christian and Hindu girls and women in countries such as Pakistan and Nigeria, among others. This is a terrible weapon not only to dishearten the community but also in some way serves to reduce the numbers of that minority faith group - as evidently girls who are forcibly married and converted no longer contribute to the normal population developments of that minority faith group.
“Thanks to my involvement in the women’s advancement course sponsored by ACN, I have found myself strengthened in my Faith. They are helping us to be more aware of our responsibilities and our rights. They are encouraging us to stand strong and fight against discrimination and forced conversion, harassment, and violence, and to defend our equal rights,” says Samia. Nasreen, another participant, said: “I am so grateful to ACN for having been the source of such a great change in my life. Now, the candle of my Faith is lighting my path and I will not let it be extinguished by any kind of discrimination in future.”
Although religious freedom violations are generally not discriminatory between male and female, there are some considerations. Under Pakistan evidence laws, evidence given by a Christian man has half the worth of a Muslim man in a court of law. A Christian woman is valued as one quarter that of a Muslim man.
Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you
