ROME — Religious freedom is at risk in 60 percent of the world’s countries, and the rising tide of anti-Christian persecution in various parts of the world is “catastrophic,” according to a new report by an international Catholic charity organization.
The report by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), released Tuesday, comes amid global concern over religiously inspired violence by the Islamic State in the Middle East and Boko Haram in Africa.
With an analysis of 196 nations, the ACN “Global Report on Religious Freedom” is considered one of the most comprehensive of its kind. According to the Germany-based group, this year’s edition is “expected to send out a signal to governments and religious leaders that this is an issue that can no longer be ignored.”
The report, which covers the period autumn 2012 to summer 2014 and was compiled by in-country experts, says that religious freedom is compromised in 116 countries where members of minority groups experience persecution, violence, and systematic discrimination.