Vatican City, Dec 7, 2011 / 17:13 pm
Religious freedom advocates are praising the Vatican's proposal to establish an international day against the worldwide persecution of Christians.
People are “used to defending animal rights, the rights of people with disabilities, the equality of women, the need to respect ethnic and cultural diversity—and rightly so,” said Neville Kyrke-Smith of Aid to the Church in Need.
However, there is often a “deafening silence” when it comes to protecting the rights of Christians, he told CNA on Dec. 7.
“Particularly in the light of the worrying fall-out from the Arab Spring,” Kyrke-Smith added, the Vatican's proposal “is in itself an important sign that our brothers and sisters in Christ are not forgotten.”