WASHINGTON — “The Catholic Church teaches that religious freedom is a basic human right, which has even been called the ‘synthesis and summit of all other fundamental rights,’” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades. The bishop chairmen cited the Vatican’s International Theological Commission as they underscored the importance of religious freedom in commemoration of International Religious Freedom Day (October 27). In its most recent report, Aid to the Church in Need found religious freedom violations in 61 countries where 4.9 billion people live. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Religious Liberty released a report earlier this year on the state of religious freedom in the United States.

 

“Religious freedom allows all persons to seek the truth about God and to respond to the truth when it is grasped. Sadly, people of faith do not enjoy this privilege throughout the world. As Christians, we seek to build up the common good by fostering peace, tolerance, and respect for the dignity of others. Still, blasphemy and apostasy laws in many countries essentially criminalize what should be a person’s ability to choose one’s own religion. Other countries stifle religious freedom by forcing faith communities to support the state.

 

“Pope Francis has repeatedly emphasized the importance of religious freedom as a basic, primary, and inalienable right that must be promoted everywhere. Here in the United States, the USCCB has not only echoed our Holy Father’s call but made advocacy of religious freedom a high priority in public policy deliberations, most recently supporting the reauthorization of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Let us uphold freedom of religion and pray that globally, the dignity of the human person will be recognized, tolerated, and respected.”

 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was created in 1998 and monitors and reports on the worst violations of religious freedom globally in countries such as China, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Russia, and Syria.

 

Bishop Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon is chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace. Bishop Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend is chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Religious Liberty.