Italian government official: anti-Christian laws in 15 European nations

May 29, 2013

Addressing a recent OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) conference devoted to tolerance, an Italian institute that monitors religious liberty issues said that 15 European nations have anti-Christian laws.

“In Europe, we have identified 14 laws that are likely to negatively affect the religious liberty of Christians in 15 countries,” said the report from the Observatory on Religious Liberty of the Italian foreign affairs ministry. “Fortunately, Italy is not among them. In 2012, we also reported 169 rulings made in European courts that we judged to be dangerous to the freedom of Christians.” “The most dangerous areas, are those which limit the conscientious objection of Christians who do not want to cooperate in abortion, the sale of abortifacient pills, or the celebration of same-sex marriage; those which limit the freedom to preach through the misuse of laws against so-called ‘hate speech’; those which restrict the freedom of religious education and parents’ rights to educate their children, and those which place restrictions on the use of religious symbols,” the report continued.

“It would be a mistake to place homicidal violence against Christians occurring in some countries of Africa and Asia on the same plane with legal and administrative discrimination against Christians in Europe,” the study added. “But in terms of religious liberty, the logic of the inclined plane applies. Where discrimination becomes normal, the transition to violence is never far away.”

 

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Further information:

• Discrimination Against Christians in Europe on the Rise (Aleiteia)
• Holy See diplomat strongly denounces intolerance against Christians in Europe (CWN, 5/28)