Religious rights activists say people of faith suffer abuse worldwide

Published: 2005-12-15

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Religious rights activists, including Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, said Christians and people of other faiths continue to suffer at the hands of governments throughout the world. Speaking at a Dec. 14 forum, "Christmas Under Siege Around the World," inside the Capitol hosted by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who is co-chair of the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom, they painted a picture that showed Christmas as just another day when believers could be subjected to oppression, harassment and even torture because of their beliefs. "Anti-Christian discrimination and violence seem to be growing throughout the Islamic world," said Archbishop Chaput, who is a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. "In the past several years, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and even Muslim-controlled areas of the heavily Catholic Philippines have all seen extraordinary acts of bloodshed against Christians," he said.

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