Vatican Official Calls for World Day on Anti-Christian Persecution
(December 08, 2011) A Vatican official is calling for a World Day to mark anti-Christian
violence and persecution, saying there might be more than 200 million Christians suffering
discrimination. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Holy See's secretary for Relations
with States, addressed the 18th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The archbishop addressed the Organization's commitments in defence of fundamental
freedoms and human rights, one of which is the right to freedom of religion. "The
right to religious freedom, despite being repeatedly proclaimed by the international
community, as well as in the constitutions of most states, continues to be widely
violated today," he lamented. Pope Benedict XVI himself recalled, in his message
from this year's World Day of Peace, that Christians "are the religious group which
suffers most from persecution on account of its faith," the prelate noted. According
to Archbishop Mamberti, "there may be more than 200 million Christians, of different
confessions, who are in difficulty because of legal and cultural structures that lead
to their discrimination." For this reason, he proposed the institution of an International
Day against persecution and discrimination of Christians as "an important sign that
governments are willing to deal with this serious issue." Archbishop Mamberti also
spoke about the problem of trafficking in human beings, especially of women and minors,
for sexual exploitation as well as for labour exploitation and domestic servitude
and respect their rights in order to build together a common future."