A man reacts during mass burials near St. Sebastian church in Negombo, Sri Lanka.
Since Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka has mourned its dead. Families have been decimated, hundreds of people have been killed or injured by the appalling attacks in three churches and hotels.
This fragile state was overcoming a long civil war. He was taking “a path of pacification, of appeasement throughout the country, between all the communities,” a Buddhist journalist told La Croix (1) . This is why these Easter attacks […] plunge us into a state of shock ”.
In Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country, minority Christians were actively working for reconciliation. These attacks threaten peace between communities. In this country where Christians are persecuted (2) , anger is brewing. Because the authorities, however warned of the attacks, seem to have neglected the alerts. The Archbishop of Colombo demanded an impartial investigation and asked everyone to renounce taking justice into their own hands. The Pope condemned “these terrorist, inhuman, never justifiable acts”.
Claimed by the Islamic State organization, these heinous acts were mainly directed against Christians. For human rights defender Ruki Fernando: “The religious freedom of Christians and their right to practice their religion have been targeted. “
Persecution increases for the 6th year in a row
These tragic events therefore also remind us that religious freedom is far from being acquired everywhere in the world. They call attention to the plight of Christians: “The persecution is increasing for the sixth year in a row. It is taking root more and more deeply in certain cultures with the radicalization of societies ” . One in nine Christians is affected, or 245 million people: discrimination, imprisonment, assassinations.
Worldwide, in 2018, more than 4,300 Christians were killed, 1,000 more than the previous year. Nigeria holds the sad record. Over 3,000 Christians were also imprisoned. China even encourages its citizens to denounce, against hard cash. In many countries, Christians face discrimination: studies, jobs are closed to them.
We also see growing religious intolerance in a country like France. Attacks on Jewish worshipers bear witness to this. Regularly, religious places are desecrated: Jewish cemeteries, more and more churches.
Freedom of religion is, however, part of democratic freedoms. To attack one is to weaken the others. Because religious freedom, which is a fundamental human right, presupposes freedom of conscience, thought and expression without which democracy cannot exist. It is therefore no accident that the countries and totalitarian ideologies that want to dominate the world are striving to destroy religious freedom.
Since the massacres of Syrians and Iraqis Yazidis, Christians and even Muslims, we know to what inhumanity terrorist madness leads. To prevent such tragedies from happening again, we must neither remain silent nor give up on helping all the victims of today’s religious persecutions.
(1) La Croix, April 23, 2019.
(2) Global Index of the Persecution of Christians 2019.
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