Irish Senator highlights ACN report, calls for urgent debate on Christian persecution

Senator Rónán Mullen calling for an urgent debate on Christian persecution last Thursday.

Speaking in the Seanad last Thursday, Senator Rónán Mullen called for “an urgent debate”, in the Seanad regarding the topic of Christian persecution and highlighted the importance of Aid to the Church in Need’s upcoming Week of Witness in raising awareness of this “global human rights crisis”.

Addressing members of the Seanad, Senator Mullen said:

“I rise today to raise a global human rights crisis that has been ignored for far too long. Next week the charity Aid to the Church in Need will mark their annual ‘Week of Witness’ which highlights the ongoing persecution of Christians around the world. It’s a sobering thought that while we think of the first century AD of the Roman Empire as a time of Christian persecution, more Christians have been killed for their faith in the last 100 years than in 4th previous 1,900 years of Christian history.

“The latest Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025 published by Aid to the Church in Need shows that a staggering 413 million Christians live in countries where religious freedom is severely violated - that’s 18%, or about one in five Christians. Of these, approximately 220 million live in countries where they are directly exposed to persecution - that’s 10%, or one in ten of all Christians.

“I am seeking an urgent debate on this matter. At a time when there is heightened awareness of human rights abuses globally, there is a blind spot when it comes to violence against Christians and the wider threat to religious freedom for people of all faiths and none.

“According to Aid to the Church in Need, the right to believe — or to live according to one’s convictions — is in decline in 62 countries, affecting billions of people. Religious persecution destroys communities, fuels conflict and forces millions to flee. Now, more than ever, religious freedom must be defended and protected worldwide.

“Religious freedom is a litmus test for all other freedoms, without the freedom to believe all other freedoms are under threat,” he said.

ACN’s Week of Witness starts today, Sunday November 16. Find out how you can get involved at https://www.acnireland.org/witness