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EUROPE: Aid to the Church in Need backs call to stop attacks on Christians
By John Newton
Aid to the Church in Need UK director Neville Kyrke-Smith welcomed the EU Parliament’s resolution condemning recent attacks against Christians
Aid to the Church in Need has welcomed calls by the European Parliament to step up action to defend religious freedom.
The charity's UK director Neville Kyrke-Smith gave his backing to the EU Parliament’s resolution which condemned recent attacks against Christians and called for action to promote religious liberty.
Mr Kyrke-Smith said: “We are pleased that the European Parliament has recognised the reality facing Christians in so many parts of the world.
“Aid to the Church in Need has continually highlighted what people endure for their faith in order to call for prayer and action for those who are suffering for Christ today.”
Mr Kyrke-Smith joined other Aid to the Church in Need representatives in appealing to the EU to call for religious freedom to be respected worldwide.
The statement, issued by Aid to the Church in Need's international headquarters, comes ahead of a discussion in the EU Foreign Affairs Council about stepping up measures to promote religious liberty, scheduled for Monday, 31st January.
Council members are expected to debate the impact of incidents detailed in the EU Parliament’s resolution. They include a bomb attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt on New Year’s Day, the bombing of a chapel in the Philippines on Christmas Day, the arrests of Christians in Iran and attacks on Christians in Nigeria.
Members of the European Parliament also expressed horror at the January 4th murder of Pakistani governor Salman Taseer. He had criticised the country’s blasphemy laws and called for the reprieve of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death in November.
She was convicted under the laws that punish anyone who “defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed” with life imprisonment or death. She denies the charges.
Parliamentarians expressed concern that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are “still being applied in order to persecute faith communities, including Christians”.
Aid to the Church in Need International’s 2010 report on Religious Freedom in the World was one of the sources of the resolution.
The charity’s UK office will shortly be publishing its biennial report on the oppression of Christians, Persecuted and Forgotten?
In a statement on 19th January, Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, condemned the recent terrorist attacks on places of worship.
She said: “I think we can all agree that these attacks are unacceptable, perpetrated by extremists with an agenda of intolerance that must be condemned and resisted.
“Long-established Christian communities in the Middle East face difficulties, which have led to significant displacement in some countries and dwindling numbers in the region as a whole.
“The EU will not turn a blind eye to their plight. We consider their demand to have their rights respected as citizens of their own country as entirely legitimate.”
This was echoed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe which adopted 17 points on “Violence against Christians in the Middle East” on 27th January.
The assembly specifically condemned the 31st October 2010 attack on the Syriac Cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, and the New Year bombing of the church in Alexandria, Egypt.
The assembly stated: “The situation [in the Middle East] has become more serious since the beginning of the 21st century. If it is not properly addressed, it could lead to the disappearance of Christian communities in the Middle East, which would entail the loss of a significant part of the religious heritage of the countries concerned.”