Report warns of serious violations of right to religious freedom across world

The international Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) last week launched its biennial report ‘Religious Freedom in the World 2025’.

The report, which is marking its 25th edition this year, offers a global overview of the state of this fundamental right. Covering the period from January 2023 to December 2024, the study warns that  two-thirds of the world’s population ‒ more than 5.4 billion people ‒ live in countries without full religious freedom.

The study analyses the situation in 196 countries and documents serious violations of this right in 62 of them. Of these, 24 are classified as countries of “persecution” and 38 as “discrimination”. Only two nations, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka, showed improvements compared with the previous edition of the report.

“The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion ‒ protected under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‒ is not only under pressure, in many countries it is disappearing,” warned Regina Lynch, executive president of ACN International.

Authoritarianism

The report identifies authoritarianism as the principal driver of religious repression. In 19 of the 24 countries in the persecution category, and in 33 of the 38 countries with discrimination, governments apply systematic strategies to control or silence religious life.

In China, Iran, Eritrea and Nicaragua, the authorities employ mass surveillance technologies, digital censorship, restrictive legislation and arbitrary detentions to suppress independent religious communities.

“The control of faith has become a tool of political power”, states the executive summary, which denounces an increasingly sophisticated “bureaucratisation of religious repression”.

West is not immune

The erosion of religious freedom also extends to Europe and North America, according to the report.

In 2023, France recorded nearly 1,000 attacks on churches; Greece had more than 600 acts of vandalism; and similar spikes were observed in Spain, Italy and the US. These violent acts included desecrations of places of worship, physical assaults on clergy and disruptions of religious services. According to ACN, these acts reflect a growing climate of ideological hostility towards religion.

The control of faith has become a tool of political power

The report also documents a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim acts following the October 7, 2023 attacks and the war in Gaza. In France, anti-Semitic incidents rose by 1,000%, while hate crimes against Muslims increased by 29%. In Germany, 4,369 incidents related to the conflict in the Holy Land were recorded in 2023 ‒ compared with only 61 the previous year.

A global petition

For the first time in its history, Aid to the Church in Need launched a global petition calling on governments and international organisations to ensure the effective protection of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This should guarantee every person the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

“Why this petition? Because the right to believe ‒ or to live according to one’s convictions ‒ is in decline in 62 countries, affecting billions of people. Over the past 25 years, ACN has documented how religious persecution destroys communities, fuels conflict and forces millions to flee. Now, more than ever, religious freedom must be defended and protected worldwide,” Lynch said, while inviting everyone to support the initiative.

The slogan of the petition is: ‘Religious freedom is a human right, not a privilege’.

Resilience and hope

Despite this bleak outlook, the ACN report also highlights the resilience of religious communities which, even under persecution, continue to provide humanitarian aid, education and hope.

In Mozambique and Burkina Faso, interreligious projects have shown that faith can be a driving force for reconciliation and social cohesion.

“Religious freedom is the thermometer for all other human rights. Its decline signals a wider collapse of fundamental freedoms,” Lynch concluded.

Commenting on the report, ACN (Malta) national director Stephen Axisa said: “For the last 11 years, our voluntary organisation (VO/2227), has been highlighting the serious erosion of religious freedom on mass scales. We feel the responsibility of informing the people living in this country about this ongoing persecution and discrimination in several countries across the world. While here in Malta, we have all the freedom to pursue the faith we respectively believe in, this is not the case in most countries.”

He concluded: “This report is a call for justice for those who are suffering. It is a call to take action to help those whose only crime is the faith they profess. Let us do everything we can to ensure that the world’s persecuted Christians are not forgotten.”

One may contact ACN (Malta) on 2148 7818 or 7922 5500 (available also on WhatsApp) for more information about its work in Malta. Volunteers are welcome.