US bishops respond to religious freedom report: ‘primary and inalienable right’
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Caroline Molloy
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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) emphasized the fundamental nature of religious freedom in a statement it released after a report from the Catholic organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) identified violations affecting 4.9 billion people across 61 countries.
The ACN report, released biennially in six different languages, monitors the state of religious freedom in 196 countries.
In commemoration of International Religious Freedom Day, Bishops A. Elias Zaidan and Kevin C. Rhoades stated in an October 25 news release that “religious freedom is a basic human right, which has even been called the ‘synthesis and summit of all other fundamental rights.’”
They called attention to the challenges people of faith face in numerous countries where blasphemy and apostasy laws restrict personal religious choice and prevent individuals from freely practicing or converting to their chosen faith.
“As Christians,” the bishops wrote, “we seek to build up the common good by fostering peace, tolerance, and respect for the dignity of others, but blasphemy and apostasy laws in many countries essentially criminalize what should be a person’s ability to choose one’s own religion.”
