“We know from studying the Holocaust that genocide and related crimes against humanity, persecution, is never spontaneous,” Kikoler said. “There’s a wide range of early warning signs, and if detected and their causes are addressed, it could be possible to prevent catastrophic loss of life.”
Where is persecution occurring?
“The right to practice one’s religion of choice is so frequently violated by governments all over the world,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, a Catholic Democrat from Massachusetts, while speaking at the summit. “The Uyghurs and Tibetans by China, Muslims and Sikhs in India, Coptic Christians in Egypt … Shia Muslims in Sunni-governed countries, Catholics in Nicaragua, Jews in France, I could go on and on and on, the list is way too long.”
“As a practicing Catholic myself I know how important and personal the right to freedom of religion is,” McGovern added.
The history of Catholics in America is itself marked by the fight for religious freedom, said Robert Destro, a Catholic and the former assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
“People forget, American Catholics were among our own nation’s leaders in fighting for religious freedom,” Destro told CNA.
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