Religious freedom denied

Religious persecution or oppression is on the increase across the world and the majority of the victims are Christians. This is one of the main findings of the 2010 Report on Religious Freedom in the World compiled by the international catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need.

Covering 194 countries in the world, the 2010 report was formally released in Rome on Wednesday. Among those who presented the new report was Peter Sefton-Williams, Chairman of the UK office of Aid to the Church in Need, who spoke to Susy Hodges about its findings.

Sefton-Williams says "the overall picture indicated in our research is that the situation has tended to deteriorate since our last report." He went on to say that in the developed western world, rather than actual persecutution, it was more a case of 'Christianphobia' with "a growing intolerance towards Christianity." He also spoke of "a militant atheism which is on the rise and which is making it very much harder for anyone with a Christian or a Catholic belief" to work in certain sectors.