Church leaders chide EU over its failure to condemn persecution: The Church of England Newspaper, Feb 24 2011

Baroness Ashton

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

European church leaders, including the Bishop of Guildford, have condemned the EU’s weak stance on the persecution of Christians and have called upon the EU’s Foreign Ministers to make a firm statement condemning violence and promoting religious liberty.

A communiqué issued by a joint meeting of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Roman Catholic Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) held from Feb 17-20 in Belgrade stated “religious freedom is a right and a value that every democratic society should be open to promoting and safeguarding.”

“In this spirit the members of the joint committee chose to draft and send a letter to Baroness Catherine Ashton, high representative for foreign affairs and security policy of the European Union, asking that the issue of protection of religious freedom and Christian people in the world is tabled at the meeting of foreign ministers of the European Union” on Feb 21.

At their Jan 31 meeting, the EU Foreign Ministers were unable to adopt a joint declaration condemning religious persecution.  AFP reported a split arose after the UK and the Nordic countries objected to mentioning the persecution of Christians in fear that it would offend Muslim sensitivities.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters the proposed statement “didn’t include any mention of Christians, as if we were talking of something else, so I asked the text to be withdrawn.”  Poland and France joined Italy in rejecting the “secularist position,” the AFP reported.

The CEC-CCEE bishops’ statement condemned the EU’s pusillanimity, saying the “reference to the persecution of Christians” must not be “forgotten or buried by abstract and fruitless policies.”

“Western countries where specific relations with areas where persecution exists should show their concrete commitment in protecting all those who are persecuted due to their faith, whichever that faith may be,” said the statement endorsed by the leaders of the two groups, including CEC vice-chairman Bishop Christopher Hill of Guildford.

However, the statement released this week at the close of the EU foreign minister’s Feb 21 meeting stated “the Council expresses its profound concern about the increasing number of acts of religious intolerance and discrimination … against Christians and their places of worship, Muslim pilgrims and other religious communities, which it firmly condemns.”

“Freedom of religion or belief is a universal human right which needs to be protected everywhere and for everyone,” the EU said and it was the “primary duty of States to protect their citizens, including persons belonging to religious minorities, as well as all people living in their jurisdiction, and safeguard their rights.”