Vatican envoy highlights religious freedom in address to UN session on human rights

October 30, 2015

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's permanent observer at UN headquarters in New York, emphasized religious freedom in an October 30 address to a General Assembly session on human rights.

The archbishop reminded UN representatives that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms religious freedom, specifically including the right to public expressions of faith and the right to change one's religious affiliation. "Yet the most heinous crimes against religious freedom are being committed even as we speak," he said.

Archbishop Auza cited the confiscation of property of religious minorities, forced conversions, the "blasphemy laws" that are selectively enforced, and the violence perpetrated against religious minorities-- often Christians-- by both government officials and "non-state actors." 

Speaking more generally on the topic of human rights, the archbishop called for effective action to protect "the most vulnerable members of our society-- the unborn, the elderly, the handicapped, the victims of war and violent extremism, the migrants and refugees, the women and girls who are victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, and the extremely poor who are deprived of their rights." 

 

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Further information:

• Statement of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza (Holy See Mission)