Global status of religious liberty dire, House lawmakers warn

Friday, Jul. 28, 2023

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — U.S. House lawmakers called the global status of religious liberty “dire” during a hearing July 18, citing concerns across the globe from China to Nicaragua.

At a hearing of the Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations titled, “The Dire State of Religious Freedom Around the World,” lawmakers identified several countries where religious freedom is “under serious assault,” subcommittee chairman Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said.

“Tragically, billions of people around the world – half of the world’s population – are not able to practice their faith freely,” Smith said at the hearing. “Many are persecuted by oppressive governments or extremist groups – brutally attacked, tortured, jailed and even slaughtered for their beliefs.”

Some of the countries identified by lawmakers on the panel include China, where Smith said the “Chinese Communist Party is committing horrific crimes against believers, including genocide against Uyghur Muslims,” and Nigeria, where Smith said he has “seen firsthand the aftermath of Boko Haram’s destruction of churches and mosques.”

“While on paper Nigeria has robust protections for all religions, violations of religious freedom are escalating,” he said. “Extremist groups like Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa commit indiscriminate violence against those they consider to be infidels. In the Middle Belt, Fulani Muslim extremists target and kill predominantly Christian farmers in brutal raids.”

Smith also took aim at “the Ortega regime’s brutal persecution of the Church in Nicaragua,” referencing the committee’s earlier examination of what it called Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s anti-Catholic persecution.

“I remain deeply concerned for Bishop Álvarez, who was recently released only to be rearrested for bravely refusing to leave his country,” Smith said in reference to Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was sentenced in February to 26 years in prison the day after he refused to be deported to the U.S. with more than 200 other Nicaraguan political prisoners.

“The Ortega regime is attempting to silence the Catholic Church as the single most important independent institution remaining in Nicaragua, but it will not succeed,” Smith continued. “I am committed to doing everything possible to urge the release of all Nicaraguans imprisoned for their faith.”

“The challenge we face today is clear: to protect and expand freedom of conscience, the ability to freely believe or not to believe, in the face of the forces of authoritarianism and exclusion,” Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., said during remarks at the hearing. She noted these forces “have gained momentum in far too many corners of the world, including right here at home.”

“I am convinced that people of all faiths and backgrounds can find common ground in our most precious common resource, our democracy,” Wild said.

“When authoritarian forces attempt to use religion as a weapon to target specific groups of people, or to target our multiracial, multicultural democracy itself,” she said, “let us reject those forces with one voice across religious, political and social lines.”