State authoritarianism is another key factor driving repression, discrimination, and persecution in the region. In countries such as North Korea and China, Christianity can be seen as a harmful foreign influence. The Chinese push toward Sinicization in religion is not so much a move to enculturate Christian worship into the local context, as an attempt to align doctrine with Communist Party principles. Hence religious leaders who refuse to join Patriotic Associations – official state religious groups – can find themselves detained without trial or otherwise sanctioned. Vietnam continues to struggle to move away from its authoritarian past: the rhetoric of religious freedom and attempts to ease registration procedures for religious groups coexist with violent clampdowns on Christian groups in the Highland regions and concerns about scope for possible further restrictions in new government guidelines. However, improved relations between the state and the Catholic Church suggest a desire for positive developments with faith organizations within central government. But more generally in the region, authoritarian governments continue to try to assert their control, regulating religious believers’ ability to gather, organize, and manifest their faith. The war in Burma (Myanmar) presents a unique situation in the region, as following the February 2021 coup, the military junta seem to be using violence to subjugate all opposition to centralized norms. Prior to Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration, the ruling junta implemented a campaign focused on bringing those who did not belong to the majority ethnicity or faith into obedience, which included torching churches whilst Buddhist pagodas were left untouched. This time, with the junta’s February 2021 coup drawing criticism from people across the religious spectrum, places of worship belonging to all faith groups have been targeted. Conclusion By the end of 2024, nearly 50 percent of the world will have taken part in elections over the course of the year. 22 These include world powers, including the U.S., France and the U.K., as well as the European Parliament. For years, governments have been criticized for, at best, paying lip-service to the need for action on persecution against Christians and other religious minorities. The newly (re-) elected administrations are unlikely to take steps to stop persecution because they have other priorities in terms of international affairs. All the while the world is “dividing fundamentally," 23 with “shocking… developments,” 24 including the largest war in Europe since 1945, renewed authoritarianism in China, and the international fall-out following the October 7 th attacks in the Holy Land. However, to ignore the plight of Christians is to ignore “the canary in the coal mine, [that] wherever they are persecuted, the right to religious freedom for all is jeopardized. Wherever they are harassed or jailed, detained or discriminated against, tortured or murdered, governments perpetrate or tolerate abuses against others as well.” 25 For organizations such as Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the need for action on persecuted Christians is, of course, a question of fundamental human rights, but it is something more personal, too; it is about standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. After the ACN delegation in Pakistan bade farewell to Mariam Lal and Newosh Arooj, one of their legal advocates turned around and said: “If you won’t hear our voice, who will? We will just be forgotten.”
The crucifix in Managua Cathedral, Nicaragua after it was attacked in July 2020.
12 Persecuted and Forgotten?
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