Conclusion Receiving an ACN delegation in October 2025, Pope Leo XIV declared that religious freedom is “a cornerstone of any just society for it safeguards the moral space in which conscience may be informed and exercised." 20 The Pontiff went further, stating: “Religious freedom, therefore, is not merely a legal right or a privilege granted to us by governments; it is a foundational condition that makes reconciliation possible.” The fundamental precepts of religious freedom are set out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document the Pope hailed in his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas as “one of the highest expressions of human conscience of our time." 21 Article 18 guarantees the right to religious freedom — and to manifest your beliefs either alone or in community, in private or public, through worship, teaching and observance. 22 The evidence cited in Persecuted and Forgotten? 2024- 26 demonstrates not only that Article 18 is ignored in many parts of the world but that many of the worst violations are against Christians. Indeed, the scale and severity of Christian persecution today amounts to a human rights catastrophe, one that is worsening in many places. That this should come as a surprise to so many reflects the prevailing view in the West which presumes that most Christians are to be found in the northern hemisphere where their faith is accepted — or even part of the culture — and where there are no significant obstacles to its practice. The reality, however, is that most Christians live in the less wealthy global south and are scattered widely in cultures increasingly hostile to them. Amid a rise in nationalism, extremism and anti-Western sentiment they are frequently seen as unwanted aliens in their own countries. Rarely is religious animosity the sole driver of acts of hatred toward Christians. Mostly it forms part of a matrix of factors which can include ethnicity, access to resources, poverty and politics. The lack of religious literacy in the West is such that anti-Christian animus is frequently downplayed in favor of other factors. Hence a skewed understanding of the human rights context often exacerbates an already critical situation for persecuted Christians. ACN remains committed to religious freedom and helping persecuted Christians. Solomon Ako, the man from northern Nigeria kidnapped and repeatedly assaulted after he refused to abandon his Christian faith, told ACN that in the depths of his suffering what kept him strong was knowing that there were people around the world, praying for him, speaking up and advocating his cause. He said: “Every night when our kidnappers were asleep, we prayed. We prayed knowing that we were not alone, that there were people like you who would never abandon us. That was what kept us strong then and that is what keeps us strong now.”
Lef t: The Church of the Assumption, built in 1894, was destroyed by the Burmese junta in January 2023. The historic church in Chan Thar was significant to the Catholic community: Archbishop Joseph U Win, the very first indigenous bishop had been baptized there as a child at the turn of the twentieth century, and numerous priests and nuns were nurtured in their faith there as they grew up. Above: Pope Leo XIV praying the Regina Cæli in St. Peter’s Square on May 11, 2025, just days after he was elected.
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