ACN reports that religious freedom is not fully guaranteed for 5.4 billion people
Aid to the Church in Need released its 2025 report in Rome. China, India, and North Korea are among the worst offenders. Cardinal Parolin cites Dignitatis Humanae, 60 years after the Second Vatican Council, noting that religious freedom should “be enshrined as a fundamental civil right in constitutions”. Those persecuted “should not be forgotten” whether in Pakistan, Syria or elsewhere.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) today released its biennial report on human rights, stating emphatically that “Religious freedom is a human right, not a privilege”. The document, which covers the 2023-2024 period, was presented today at the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum in Rome.
According to the Catholic NGO, its research raises a worrying concern, namely that two thirds of humanity, or 5.4 billion people, live in countries where religious freedom is not fully guaranteed.
The worst offenders include China, India, and North Korea. During the reporting period, only two countries, both in Asia, showed improvements: Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka.
On 10 October, Pope Leo XIV received ACN staff and collaborators in audience. The Catholic aid organisation began publishing a report on violations of religious freedom in 196 countries in 1999.
Speaking about it, the pontiff said: “For more than twenty-five years, your Religious Freedom in the World Report has been a powerful instrument for raising awareness. This report does more than provide information; it bears witness, gives voice to the voiceless, and reveals the hidden suffering of many.”
Card Pietro Parolin, the Holy See Secretary of State, spoke at the presentation this morning, echoing the pope’s words.
In his address, he cited Dignitatis Humanae, the Second Vatican Council's declaration on religious freedom of 1965, exactly 60 years ago, a document that stands as a "milestone" underpinning this universal right.
“The principle of religious freedom permeates all aspects of human interaction, both individual and collective,” the cardinal said. Indeed, it “protects the inner sanctuary of conscience,” and at the same time “promotes vibrant communities where people of different faiths can live together.”
For the Vatican’s top diplomat, this principle, to be affirmed, must be "formally recognised in the legal and institutional life of every nation.”
This principle should “be enshrined as a fundamental civil right in constitutions, domestic laws, and international treaties.” Through far-sighted political action, it is possible to overcome "practical limits," the cardinal explained, underlining the responsibility of civil authorities.
For this reason, he hopes to see “diligent collaboration against practices that could erode ethical norms, such as incitement to violence or exploitation disguised as religious expression.”
“Religious freedom is not a contingent privilege but an inalienable right, indispensable to the full realisation of human potential,” Parolin added, citing Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Finally, regarding the report, he expressed concern that this is the most extensive edition ever published. "This indicates that violations of religious freedom are increasing year after year."
“The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion — protected under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — is not only under pressure, in many countries it is disappearing,” warned Regina Lynch, Executive President of ACN International.
The Religious Freedom in the World 2025 Report, which marks its 25th anniversary this year, points the finger at authoritarianism as the primary global driver of repression.
At times, authorities in places liked China and Iran, use mass surveillance technologies, digital segregation, and arbitrary arrests.
The report also highlights the steady growth of Islamist extremism, particularly in Asia and Africa, but repression is also driven by ethno-religious nationalism.
In Myanmar and India, attacks and legal exclusion of Christian and Muslim communities are commonplace. In India, "hybrid persecution" involves a combination of discriminatory laws and violence.
Wars too contribute to the decline of religious freedom. Such is the case in Myanmar, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, and Palestine. This often involves what ACN refers to as a "silent displacement crisis” caused by fighting and religiously motivated violence.
The report also notes that the Western world is not immune. In 2023, nearly a thousand attacks on churches were reported in France, with similar incidents in Greece, Spain, Italy, and the United States.
For Lynch, “these acts reflect a growing climate of ideological hostility towards religion.” Sadly, “Religious freedom is the thermometer for all other human rights. Its decline signals a wider collapse of fundamental freedoms”.
At today's launch at the Augustinianum, people from Pakistan, India, and Syria, to name those from Asia and the Middle East, also spoke about the importance of religious freedom and the loss that its absence causes.
Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs (Syria) spoke this morning at the "Voices from the Suffering Church" discussion panel. Head of his archdiocese since 2023, he and Father Paolo Dall'Oglio founded the monastic community of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi. He was abducted by the Islamic State group in 2015, but managed to escape.
In his address, he shed some light on the crisis facing his country.
"The [international] community should adopt a clear position regarding what is happening in Syria," he said. “Cooperation is needed between all local and international institutions and organisations."
Amid enduring instability in the Mideast country, the Church "seeks to play an important role in social formation," as evinced by its work in Aleppo, with forums dedicated to "training people capable of playing a political role when the opportunity arises," Archbishop Mourad explained.
“Today, we feel like strangers in our own land," he lamented. Violence-induced emigration has not stopped despite international action; instead, a "well-defined" political model is needed, he noted.
For him, "the conflict in Syria is not an internal decision” because of the influence exerted by foreign powers: meanwhile, the situation in the country remains delicate with no clear "vision for the future”.
"Over the past 14 years, we have seen wars and internal conflicts multiply," he said. But “We thank God for the existence of the Church, which brings us back to the ethics of justice and human dignity as supreme values.”
Another speaker who addressed the panel was Shagufta Kausar, a Pakistani Christian who, along with her husband Shafqat Emmanuel, was falsely accused of blasphemy in 2013 and sentenced to death. After eight years on death row, she was acquitted in 2021 and granted asylum in Belgium.
“What we want now is to defend our brothers and sisters who are still behind bars,” she said together with her brother. “Many people have been raped in Pakistan, simply because of their faith, simply because they were Christians, [. . .] falsely accused of blasphemy.”
For Shagufta Kausar, people who are persecuted for belonging to a Church “should not be forgotten.” Her story of pain bears witness to the global erosion of religious freedom, a human right, not a privilege.
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