A 40-page report setting out the facts and figures related to intolerance and discrimination against Christians in different European countries: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, as well as Turkey, Greece and Albania. The report, drafted by the “Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe”, was presented today in Vienna on the occasion of the Meeting on religious freedom promoted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).  The Report (click here) is organised into thematic paragraphs. In the chapters on freedom of conscience and expression, reference is made to the case of a British MP who urged the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to pass a law which would have introduced limitations to conscientious objection in case of abortion. Reference is also made to the case of Msgr. André Leonard, the Primate of the Belgian Catholic Church, who faced accusations of homophobia for expressing controversial positions on the causes of HIV/Aids. Mention is also made of the lack of respect towards public religious places. An example of this is the provocation organized in February by a group of gay activists in front of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. 
Christians are discriminated against even at work. In 2008, a judge was suspended in Spain for opposing the adoption of a little girl by the lesbian partner of her mother. Parents in Europe also face difficulties in bringing up their children according to their religious views, with particular reference to the sexual education classes that are part of the school curriculum in Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Even the media are in the spotlight of the Observatory, especially when they promote negative stereotypes against Christians. The examples given in the Report are the film adaptation of Dan Brown‘s “Angels & Demons” and the popular British soap opera broadcast on the BBC “Coronation Street”, which presents Christianity as “ridiculous and absurd”. Another chapter is on “defamation and insult”. The document recalls that in a meeting on child abuse at the European Parliament (in May 2010), it was said that the Catholic Church was protecting criminals and that its behavior was “comparable to that of the Sicilian Mafia”. In Hungary, in a famous talk show broadcast in January, the statement was made that “a child‘s life can be destroyed by two things: Christianity and pornography”.
The Report points the finger at those works of art that are disrespectful of religious identity and convictions. Reference is made to the Italian television program “Annozero” (April 2009) which showed satirical vignettes of the Way of the Cross. Another chapter is dedicated to the removal of Christian symbols. “The wearing or displaying of religious symbols – reads the Report - is a constitutive element of one’s faith”. The example cited is the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the removal of crucifixes from Italian public schools, as well as other similar cases in Germany and England. The Report goes on to focus on the acts of desecration and vandalism against Churches and other religious places such as cemeteries. But unfortunately, Christians are also a direct target of violence, especially in Turkey. The example given is the tragic murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese. Finally, the Report calls on the Governments of the European countries “to ensure freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression, and the right to conscientious objection”. It also calls on international human rights organisations and the European Union to “monitor carefully the situation of Christians”.

© SIR - 10 dicembre 2010