Fr. Mourad reflected on the future of religion in the world.
"If we are to break the cycle of violence threatening to engulf our world, we need to replace war with peace," he said. "In this day and age more than ever, it is time to cast aside religious hatred and personal interests and learn to love one another as our faiths call us to do."
Islamic extremism is not the only threat.
The report says that countries where one particular religion is identified with the nation state have "stringent religious freedom restrictions." These include Hindu India, Islamic Pakistan and Buddhist Burma.
Aid to the Church in Need highlighted 38 countries where religious freedom at risk. Of these, 23 are ranked among the most at risk.
In 12 of these 23 countries, the threat to religious freedom is driven by non-state actors. There, discrimination and persecution involve organized non-government groups.
Religious freedom has worsened in 37 percent of the world's countries. In 55 percent of the world's countries, there have been no changes on state of religious freedom in comparison with the 2014 Aid to the Church in Need report.
Religious freedom improved just in three countries: Egypt, Bhutan and Qatar.
The worst places in terms of religious freedom are Eritrea and North Korea. In China, religious minorities are considered threats to the stability of the country. This is why the Chinese government pushes for these groups to come under State control, with grave consequences for groups that do not toe the party line.
For instance, in the Chinese province of Zheijang, government authorities issued a series of new rules in 2015 that led to the demolition of crosses and the removal of symbols of faith. According to the new rules, religious buildings cannot be taller than 78 feet. Crosses cannot be placed at the top of the church tower, but they must be placed on buildings' walls. Their size on the wall can only be one tenth the size of the building.
These new rules were part of a campaign to demolish crosses and churches that began in 2013 in Zheijang.
While Chinese officials claimed that the buildings torn down in the demolition campaign violated construction rules, both Catholics and Protestants showed that many of the buildings were built after local authorities had given permission.
Over 2,000 crosses and churches had been destroyed by March 2016.
The process of "Sinicization," that is, making everything Chinese, has harmed other religions. In China's Xinjiang region, Muslims who were students, teachers and civil servants were forbidden to fast during Ramadan.
Aid to the Church in Need's 2014 report had found religious freedom dwindling in Europe and the U.S., mainly due to pressure from extreme feminist and LGBT lobby groups.
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Andrea Gagliarducci is an Italian journalist for Catholic News Agency and Vatican analyst for ACI Stampa. He is a contributor to the National Catholic Register.