Christian Life Under Difficult Conditions Teaches Freedom to Everyone

A meeting was held in Brussels under the title “Christian Life Under Difficult Conditions Teaches Freedom to Everyone.”

The European Parliament hosted a meeting this week in Brussels centered on the annual report of the “Open Doors” organization regarding the status of Christians worldwide. In this meeting, alongside the presence of one of the “Open Doors” officials and representatives from the European Parliament, three persecuted Christians from Pakistan, North Korea, and Cameroon also attended.

“Lucas Mandl,” an Austrian representative in the European Parliament, opened the meeting by referring to the title of the event, namely “What Christians Living Under Difficult Conditions Can Teach Us All About Freedom,” and emphasizing the importance of religious freedom. In his speech, he discussed the “Open Doors” report on the status of Christians worldwide and announced that over 380 million Christians globally face persecution and harassment.

Following Lucas Mandl, “Natalie Lovasoo,” a European Parliament representative from France, delivered a speech. In her remarks, she referred to the use of digital tools by authoritarian regimes such as China to monitor and suppress Christians. She also stated, referring to the Open Doors report: “Open Doors reports are not merely a collection of data, but rather a voice for the real narratives of persecuted Christians.”

“Tiffany Barns,” one of the directors of the Open Doors organization, also addressed the role of artificial intelligence in authoritarian countries such as China and Iran in this meeting. She also referred to ten anti-Christian countries according to the Open Doors annual report and stated: “North Korea tops this list, and the Islamic Republic of Iran ranks ninth.”

She further added: “Since the Houthis expanded their power in Yemen, which is under the support of the Iranian government, the situation of Christians in that country has worsened. Christians even fear holding secret meetings. Jews are considered enemies and Bahais are considered infidels. Yemen is also introduced in this report as the third anti-Christian country.”

“Miriam Lexmann,” a representative of the Slovak Parliament, also delivered a speech at this meeting. In her remarks, she emphasized that the European Union cannot rightfully claim that Christians are the world’s largest persecuted group. She stated in this regard: “In Europe, it is difficult to explain to people why defending religious freedom in other countries matters. They should be told that one of the main reasons for migration to Europe is this violation of religious freedom. Furthermore, authoritarian countries such as China use artificial intelligence to monitor and suppress Christians.”

In addition to speeches by European Parliament representatives, three persecuted Christians present at the meeting also delivered speeches. They presented testimonies about the status of Christians in their respective countries. “Timothy Cho,” who was imprisoned in North Korea and China, spoke of severe repression in North Korea and China, as well as about the North Korean leader.

“Hanna,” a pseudonym for a young Christian woman from Pakistan, delivered her audio message via the internet. Hanna also spoke about the extremely dire and painful situation of Christian girls who are often kidnapped. She announced that they are forced to convert their religion and must marry their kidnappers. In addition to this dire situation, she referred to severe discrimination against Christians and the use of terms such as “impure” and “unclean” in schools. It is worth noting that Pakistan also ranks eighth on the list of anti-Christian countries.

“Mary Olinguo” is also a Christian woman from Cameroon who spoke about the difficult conditions of Christians in the northern part of that country at the aforementioned meeting. In her remarks, she said: “Many villages have been completely destroyed and their residents displaced, and the only reason for these persecutions was that the people in those areas are Christian.” Cameroon also ranks forty-third on the list of anti-Christian countries in the Open Doors organization’s report.