EU report highlights religious freedom threats across the globe

September 7, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Brussels, Belgium, Sep 7, 2018 / 04:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An annual report released by a special group within the European Union warned of serious religious freedom violations in some parts of the world. It highlighted the importance of protecting this freedom, particularly in developing countries.

The report examined 34 countries that have recently faced threats to religious freedom. It found serious restrictions against freedom of religion in 19 out of 34 nations.

Among the countries with the most serious violations of religious freedom were Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, China, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Nigeria and Libya.

The report, compiled annually by the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance, provides recommendations that the EU can implement in the selected countries to “promote and protect freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief for all people.”

Among the concerns noted in the report were anti-conversion laws, such as those present in several states in India, which ban conversion from the majority religion of Hindu to minority religions such as Christianity or Islam.

“The EU should also insist on the protection of the rights of non-hindu communities to maintain their own dietary practices and call for action on the impunity enjoyed by self-proclaimed ‘cow-protection mobs’ who are in fact vigilantes who lynch people, and demand their immediate accountability, as per the guidelines,” the report noted.

Anti-conversion laws have also been of particular concern to the legal group ADF International. Robert Clarke, Director of European Advocacy for the organization, said that the report highlights the “challenges we face. We will continue to work to hold those responsible for violations to account, and to challenge laws that prevent people from living in accordance with their faith.”

The report similarly calls on the EU to work to repeal the blasphemy laws in Pakistan.

“At least 19 people are on death row as a result of sentences passed under Section 295c166 of the penal code and many more are serving prison sentences,” the report noted.

As many as 71 people, many of them Christians, are reported to have been killed in the country since 1990 due to these anti-blasphemy laws.

The report also highlighted the ongoing plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar, also known as Burma, and called for a “thorough investigation into the egregious human rights violations against the Rohingya community, other serious human rights violations in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states, and an analysis of the general human rights situation in the country.”

Despite widespread use of the word Rohingya in the international community, the term is controversial within Burma. The Burmese government refuses to use the term, and considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They have been denied citizenship and numerous other rights since a controversial law was enacted in 1982.

Last year the Rohingya faced a sharp increase in state-sponsored violence in their homeland, which reached levels that led the United Nations to declare the crisis “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled across the border to Bangladesh, and are living in refugee camps, many of which are located in a swampy sort of “buffer zone” along the border between the two countries.

“We cannot accept that people are being killed, tortured, or oppressed, because of their religious convictions or beliefs,” Adina Portaru with ADF International said in a statement after the report’s release.

New this year, the report also highlighted signs of hope related to religious freedom in these countries, “in an attempt to appreciate glimmers of light in otherwise dark places,” its co-authors reported.

Four particular signs of hope were highlighted by the report, among others mentioned within each country’s report.

One such sign of hope is the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, which met at a conference in Oslo and included religious and indigenous leaders from 21 countries who met with forest advocates, climate scientists and human rights experts “to develop goals and actions, along with milestones to mark their progress.”

Another sign of hope was the Global Anglican commission, a new initiative launched in England and designed to “bring mutual understanding and build trust where there is ignorance, fear and hostility” between different faith groups.

The third highlighted sign of hope was the renewal of a commitment to peace and reconciliation by Burundi’s faith leaders, who also called on the international community to “re-establish good diplomatic relationships” with their government.

The fourth “sweet note of religious harmony” highlighted in the report was in Indonesia, whose Constitutional Court issued a ruling last year that upholds religious freedom and ensures equality before the law regardless of a person’s faith.

The report also recommended the strengthening of the position of the Special Envoy of the group, Jan Figel, by making it a full-time position with adequate human and financial resources.

“[W]e as an Intergroup are committed to do what is possible within our power to prevent the continued violation of freedom of religion or belief,” the report said. “We must put the people of the world before our financial and political interests.”

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Europe

Christian doctor in England denied work because of his traditional gender beliefs

July 14, 2018 CNA Daily News 2

Birmingham, England, Jul 14, 2018 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Dr. David Mackereth, a Reformed Baptist who has worked for 26 years at the National Health Service, has said he was denied employment at the Department for Work and Pensions because he would not refer to transgender people using their preferred pronouns.

“I’m not attacking the transgender movement. But, I’m defending my right to freedom of speech, and freedom of belief,” Mackereth told The Sunday Telegraph July 8.

“I don’t believe I should be compelled to use a specific pronoun. I am not setting out to upset anyone. But, if upsetting someone can lead to doctors being sacked then, as a society we have to examine where we are going,” he reflected.

Mackereth, 55, is from Dudley, 10 miles west of Birmingham. He was training to take a job as a disability assessor, but maintained his belief that sex is genetic and biological, and is the basis of gender. Mackereth spent much of his time at the NHS working in Accident and Emergency departments.

His instructor had said reports on those claiming disability must refer to the patient by their gender identity, in accord with the Equality Act 2010, an anti-discrimination law in England, Wales, and Scotland which includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender reassignment among its protected classes.

“I said that I had a problem with this. I believe that gender is defined by biology and genetics. And that as a Christian the Bible teaches us that God made humans male or female. I could have kept my mouth shut. But, it was the right time to raise it,” Mackereth said.

He maintained that he could not in good conscience conform with the policy, and his contract was terminated.

Mackereth said that “Firstly, we are not allowed to say what we believe. Secondly, as my case shows, we are not allowed to think what we believe. Finally, we are not allowed to defend what we believe.”

“By stating … that gender and sex are determined at birth – you can come under ferocious attack.”

Under the Equality Act 2010 “everyone who holds my views can be sacked on the spot,” he stated. “I’m not an isolated case.”

[…]

Cardinal Joachim Meisner, one of four ‘dubia’ cardinals, dies at age 83

July 5, 2017 CNA Daily News 5

Bad Füssing, Germany, Jul 5, 2017 / 05:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop emeritus of Cologne, Germany and one of four cardinals who sent the “dubia” to Pope Francis last year, passed away Wednesday morning at the age of 83.

According to a press release from the Archdiocese of Cologne, the cardinal died July 5 while on vacation in Bad Füssing, Germany. Recently, the prelate had lived in Cologne.

Archbishop of Cologne from 1989-2014, he retired with the permission of Pope Francis in February 2014, at the age of 80, the same year his age made him ineligible to vote in a conclave.

Cardinal Meisner, alongside Cardinals Carlo Caffarra, Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Leo Burke, submitted five “dubia,” or doubts, about the interpretation of Amoris laetitia to Pope Francis on Sept. 19, 2016.

The letter, made public in November, asked for clarification on Chapter 8 of the document, which touches on the reception of communion for divorced and remarried couples.

In May, the four – dubbed the “dubia cardinals” – sent a letter to the Pope requesting a private audience to discuss the content of the “dubia,” since they have yet received no response.

Cardinal Meisner, considered a leading conservative Catholic figure in Germany, stood in contrast to other German prelates who have propagated one of the more liberal interpretations of Chapter 8 of the post-synodal document.

Born in Breslau, Germany on December 25, 1933, Cardinal Meisner was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Erfurt-Meiningen in 1962. Later he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, receiving his doctorate in theology in 1969.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop to the Apostolic Administrator of Erfurt Meiningen in 1975, and elected a delegate to the fourth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in 1977, where he renewed a friendship with then-Cardinal Karol Wojty?a.

Cardinal Wojty?a became Pope John Paul II one year later, and appointed Meisner Bishop of Berlin in 1980, elevating him to the position of cardinal in 1983.

In 1988 Cardinal Meisner was made Archbishop of Cologne, serving in this position until his retirement at age 80 on Feb. 28, 2014.

He participated in the 2005 and 2013 papal conclaves which elected Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. He had close relationships with both Pope St. John Paul II as well as Joseph Ratzinger, now-Benedict XVI, whom he would visit at the Vatican.

[…]

Remembering the devastating fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls 200 years later

July 14, 2023 Catholic News Agency 0

Illustation of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, before the fire that destroyed it in 1823. / Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018

Rome, Italy, Jul 14, 2023 / 03:00 am (CNA).

As the bicentennial anniversary of the devastating fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome draws near, the profound significance of the July 15, 1823, event is recalled among those who love the basilica. The tragic incident left an indelible mark on the architectural landscape and the hearts of believers.

Illustration of the destruction of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome in 1823, depicted in Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book "St. Paul's Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era," 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book "St. Paul's Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era," 2018 — Illustration of the destruction of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome in 1823, depicted in Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018

To commemorate this solemn anniversary, a series of events are planned in collaboration with various embassies, universities, and choirs.

On July 11, the Benedictine friars residing in the monastery at the basilica offered a special vespers service open to the public. Additionally, a community event organized by the nearby university Roma Tre will take place in Rome’s Ostiense neighborhood on July 14 and 15 in the Parco Schuster, a small neighborhood park in the shadow of the iconic basilica. The gathering aims to honor the memory of the great fire and pay tribute to the enduring spirit of the basilica. It provides an opportunity for Catholics, architectural enthusiasts, and community members to come together and reflect on the profound impact of the fire and the subsequent reconstruction efforts, complete with 3D imaging technology developed to show what the basilica used to look like.

Cardinal James Michael Harvey, the appointed archpriest of St. Paul Outside the Walls, expressed the importance of commemorating the tragic event, stating: “We want the future to know that the memory of this event was taken seriously during its 200-year anniversary.”

Harvey also noted that the basilica is organizing an assembly of 19th-century scholars, experts, and historians to visit the basilica and discuss the significance of the tragedy sometime in November. The announcement of this event is still pending.

To gain deeper insights into the fire and its aftermath, Nicola Camerlenghi, assistant professor of Art History at Dartmouth College and a renowned expert in architectural history, shared his expertise during an interview with CNA. According to Camerlenghi, “The fire at St. Paul’s Basilica was a great tragedy. What was lost was the last imperial basilica built in Rome and one of the few monumental buildings from early Christian times that had survived relatively untouched by subsequent alterations.”

Color illustration of historic fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823, depicted in Professor Nicola Camerlenghi's book "St. Paul's Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era," 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi from his book "St. Paul's Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era," 2018 — Color illustration of historic fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823, depicted in Professor Nicola Camerlenghi’s book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018

Reflecting on the decisions made during the meticulous reconstruction process, Camerlenghi emphasized the faithful restoration of the basilica. The architects and artisans recreated its original state while adapting to the loss of certain materials and using materials that are more fireproof. As a result of Camerlenghi’s research, 19th-century French writer Stendhal’s journal entry from his time in Rome surfaced, providing a glimpse into Rome after the fire. Stendhal wrote: “I found in it a severe beauty and an impression of calamity such as only the music of Mozart can suggest. The terrible painful traces of the misfortune were still alive… Thus perished the most ancient basilica not only of Rome, but of all Christianity. It had lasted 15 centuries.”

The fire was ruled an accident, caused by a distracted welder named Giacomo who unknowingly left a pan of coals burning on the roof. Despite initial suspicions of arson, conspiracy theories involving revolutionary movements and even the prominent Rothschild family failed to gain traction.

Lithograph image of fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823, depicted in "St. Paul's Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era," by Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi from his book "St. Paul's Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era," 2018 — Lithograph image of fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823, depicted in “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” by Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018

The reconstruction of St. Paul Outside the Walls proved to be a formidable undertaking amid the political and cultural turmoil of Rome at the time. To honor the basilica’s historical significance, Pope Leo XII decided to restore it to its former glory, without the architectural modifications and additions that had accumulated over the centuries.

At the bicentennial anniversary of this devastating fire, one is reminded of the enduring faith and unwavering spirit that define St. Paul Outside the Walls and even St. Paul himself. As Camerlenghi noted: “In turn, the reconstruction that ensued was a testament to the importance of the figure of St. Paul to the Catholic Church and indeed to the Christian community at large. No figure has been quite as ecumenical as Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles.”

[…]

EU report highlights religious freedom threats across the globe

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Christian doctor in England denied work because of his traditional gender beliefs

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