Christian life in difficult circumstances teaches freedom to all

A meeting was held in Brussels under the title "Christian life in difficult circumstances teaches freedom to all."

The European Parliament hosted a meeting in Brussels this week on the annual Open Doors report on the state of Christians around the world. The meeting was attended by an Open Doors official and representatives from the European Parliament, as well as three persecuted Christians from Pakistan, North Korea, and Cameroon.

Austrian MEP Lukas Mandel opened the session by referring to the title of the session, “What Christians Living in Difficult Circumstances Can Teach Us All About Freedom,” and emphasizing the importance of religious freedom. In his speech, he spoke about the Open Doors report on the state of Christians in the world, stating that more than 380 million Christians worldwide face persecution.

Following Lucas Mandel, Nathalie Loiseau, a French MEP, spoke. In her speech, she referred to the use of digital tools by authoritarian regimes such as China to monitor and suppress Christians. Referring to the Open Doors report, she said: “The Open Doors report is not just a collection of data, but a voice for the real stories of persecuted Christians.”

Tiffany Barnes, one of the directors of the Open Doors organization, also mentioned the role of artificial intelligence in authoritarian countries such as China and Iran at the meeting. She also mentioned the ten anti-Christian countries according to the Open Doors annual report and said: "North Korea is at the top of this list and the Islamic Republic of Iran is in ninth place."

He also added: "Since the rise of the Houthis in Yemen, who are supported by the Iranian government, the situation of Christians in the country has worsened. Christians are even afraid to hold secret meetings. Jews are considered enemies and Baha'is are considered infidels. Yemen is also identified in this report as the third most anti-Christian country."

Miriam Legsman, a member of the Slovak parliament, also spoke at the meeting. She stressed that the European Union cannot rightly claim that the largest persecuted group in the world is Christians. She said: “In Europe, it is difficult to explain to people why it is important to defend religious freedom in other countries. They have to be told that one of the reasons for immigration to Europe is this violation of religious freedom. In addition, authoritarian countries like China are using artificial intelligence to monitor and suppress Christians.”

In addition to the speeches by the European Parliament members, three persecuted Christians also spoke at the meeting. They gave testimonies about the situation of Christians in their countries. Timothy Cho, who was imprisoned in North Korea and China, spoke about the severe repression in North Korea and China, as well as the character of the North Korean leader.

"Hana", the pseudonym of a young Christian woman from Pakistan, delivered her voice message via the Internet. Hana also spoke about the very bad and painful situation of Christian girls who are often kidnapped. She announced that they are forced to convert and have to marry their kidnappers. In addition to this deplorable situation, she pointed out the severe discrimination against Christians and the attribution of words such as "impure" and "unclean" to them in schools. It is worth noting that Pakistan is also in eighth place on the list of anti-Christian countries.

Marie Olingo, a Christian woman from Cameroon, spoke at the meeting about the difficult conditions for Christians in the north of the country. She said: "Many villages have been completely destroyed and their inhabitants displaced, and the only reason for this persecution is because the people in those areas are Christians." Cameroon is also ranked 43rd on the list of countries that are hostile to Christianity in the Open Doors report.