Budapest, Hungary, Sep 12, 2016 / 23:08 pm
The Hungarian government has established a new office on the persecution of Christians to address both persecutions of Christians in the Middle East and the subtle forms of discrimination some Christians face in Europe.
Zoltan Balog, the Hungarian Minister for Human Capacities, explained the new office. His ministry oversees the newly established sub-secretariat on the persecution of Christians.
"Today, Christianity has become the most persecuted religion, where out of five people killed out of religious reasons, four of them are Christians," Balog told CNA. "In 81 countries around the world Christians are persecuted and 200 million Christians live in areas where they are discriminated against. Millions of Christian lives are threatened by followers of radical religious ideologies."
This is the reason why the Hungarian government considers the establishment of the specialized government office to be of the "utmost importance" to help persecuted Christians, to raise international awareness of their "untenable situation", and to coordinate humanitarian actions.
The new office's exact mission has not yet been established. It has primarily a humanitarian focus, but it will also examine the state of Christianity in Europe.