The international pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) this week launched its biennial report Religious Freedom in the World 2025. The report offers a global overview of the state of this fundamental right. The study, covering the period from January 2023 to December 2024, warns of a worrying decline with two-thirds of humanity - more than 5.4 billion people - living in countries without full religious freedom.

The report analyses the situation in 196 countries and documents serious violations of this right in 62 of them. Of these, 24 are classified as countries of "persecution" and 38 as "discrimination". Only two nations, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka, showed improvements compared with the previous edition.

"The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - protected under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - is disappearing in many countries," warned Regina Lynch, executive president of ACN International. During her speech, she highlighted that this year marks the 25th anniversary of ACN's first report.

Authoritarianism: The greatest global threat

The report identifies authoritarianism as the principal driver of religious repression. In 19 of the 24 countries in the persecution category, and in 33 of the 38 countries with discrimination, governments apply systematic strategies to control or silence religious life. In China, Iran, Eritrea and Nicaragua, the authorities employ mass surveillance technologies, digital censorship, restrictive legislation and arbitrary detentions to suppress independent religious communities.

War, forced migration and organised crime

The decline in religious freedom has also been aggravated by armed conflicts affecting countries such as Myanmar, Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Palestine.

Wars and religious-based violence have triggered a silent displacement crisis. In Nigeria, attacks by armed groups linked to radicalised Fulani herders have left thousands dead and entire communities uprooted. In the Sahel, especially in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, whole villages have been destroyed by Islamist militias. In Sudan, civil war has wiped centuries-old Christian communities off the map.

Organised crime has also emerged as a new agent of persecution. In Mexico and Haiti, armed groups murder or kidnap religious leaders and extort parishes to assert territorial control.

A global petition for religious freedom

For the first time in its history, Aid to the Church in Need launched during the event a global petition calling on governments and international organisations to ensure the effective protection of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees every person the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

"Why this petition? Because the right to believe, or to live according to one's convictions, is in decline in 62 countries, affecting billions of people. Over the past 25 years, ACN has documented how religious persecution destroys communities, fuels conflict and forces millions to flee. Now, more than ever, religious freedom must be defended and protected worldwide," said Lynch, inviting everyone to support the petition, while mentioning the slogan of this initiative: Religious freedom is a human right, not a privilege.

Resilience and hope

Despite this bleak outlook, the ACN report also highlights the resilience of religious communities which, even under persecution, continue to provide humanitarian aid, education and hope. In Mozambique and Burkina Faso, interreligious projects have shown that faith can be a driving force for reconciliation and social cohesion.

"Religious freedom is the thermometer for all other human rights. Its decline signals a wider collapse of fundamental freedoms," Lynch concluded.

ACN (Malta) national director Stephen Axisa said: "For the last 11 years, our voluntary organisation (VO/2227), has been highlighting the serious erosion of religious freedom on mass scales. We feel the responsibility of informing the people living in this country about this on-going persecution and discrimination in several countries across the world. While here in Malta, we have all the freedom to pursue the faith we respectively believe in; this is not the case in most countries."

Axisa concluded: "This report is a call for justice for those who are suffering. It is a call to take action to help those whose only crime is the faith they profess. Let us do everything we can to ensure that the world's persecuted Christians are not forgotten."

One may contact ACN (Malta) on 2148 7818 or 7922 5500 (available also on WhatsApp) for more information about its work in Malta. Volunteers are welcome.