The Australian-based international Catholic charity, Aid To the Church In Need, last week issued its extensive 2008 Report on Religious Freedom in the World. The 544-page document reports on the state of religious freedom for Christians and for other religious groups in each country in the world. It also contains an Annex titled Worldwide Freedom of Religion--The Catholic Point of View.
ACN's Oct. 29 press release on the report says that religious worship is under attack in more than 60 countries. It concludes: "violations of freedom of worship take place increasingly less for ideological reasons and increasingly more often because of power games. The attempt to stop religious freedom is addressed above all at impoverishing States, maintaining the population in conditions of slavery. In other nations ... such as for example China, fear of opening to freedom of worship coincides with the fear of encouraging other freedoms."
The organization has also issued a shorter report (112 pages) titled Persecuted and Forgotten?, focusing on religious persecution in 30 countries.
