ACN TO LAUNCH NEW REPORT
Part of our mission as Aid to the Church in Need is to be a voice for persecuted Christians – to tell their stories of faith and courage, to call for prayer and justice on their behalf and to call the attention of the world to their plight.
We achieve this through a range of publications such as Newsletters, Campaigns, Appeals and Reports. One of such report is the Religious Freedom in The World Report which is produced biannually.
For the 14th time, our International Pontifical Foundation will be launching The Religious Freedom in the World Report, a report which analyses the situation of religious freedom in 196 Countries in the world.
The launch will take place on Saturday, 24 November 2018 at San Anton Palace, Attard at 17:00hrs by the courtesy of H.E Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, the President of Malta under whose distinguished patronage the event will be held.
Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General, Mgr Joseph Galea Curmi will be in attendance.
The Keynote Speaker, H.G. Mgr. Ignatius Kaigama, Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria, will be giving his testimony and experience of pastoral work among persecuted Christians in Nigeria.
The report which is published every two years by Aid to the Church in Need is the only report on religious freedom prepared by a Catholic institution and draws on research by various consultants.
Examining the two-year period from June 2016 to June 2018, this report disclosed that 61% of the world’s population live in countries where there is no respect for religious freedom and 18 countries with significant religious freedom violations showed signs of deteriorating conditions for faith minorities.
Fresh evidence also shows the extent of sexual abuse of women by extremist groups and individuals in Africa, the Middle East and parts of the Indian subcontinent.
According to the report, Islamic fundamentalism exists in 22 countries in which1.337 million people live and there has been an upsurge in extremist attacks in Europe and elsewhere in the West, motivated in part by religious hatred. The attacks suggest that the threat of militant extremism is now becoming universal, imminent and ever-present.
This Report is therefore of utmost importance to governments, policymakers, the international community and all who are concerned about humanitarian, social and moral conditions of our society.
Malta joins 24 other Countries where this report will be launched and various monuments will be illuminated in red light such as Auberge de Castille Valetta, the Colosseum in Rome, the Westminster and St. Mirin’s Cathedral, Lambeth Palace, Blackpool Tower in the United Kingdom, Houses of Parliament in London, Basilica De La Sagrada Familia Barcelona, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Washington DC, Knock Basilica Ireland in solidarity with Christians who shed their blood for the faith.
