In an interview with the Online News Service Kath.net Bernd Posselt, EU Parliamentarian and Member of the executive board of the German Christian-Democratic party CSU said: “Europe must be a continent in which the Christian faith is being cultivated - not persecuted!”
In a speech entitled "Religious Liberty: God's Gift to all Nations is our Responsibility to Defend," US Archbishop Lori spoke about the importance of ensuring that religious freedom is rightly understood and protected. Individuals and groups, the archbishop maintains, have the right "not only to worship freely, but indeed to put their faith into practice, both publicly and privately," he said at the opening of an Italian Observatory on Religious Liberty on June 28th, in Rome.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury warns that people who support traditional marriage are being hit with intolerance by those calling for more tolerance. His comment follows the statement of Nick Herbert, the Policing Minister, who accused Christian leaders of sounding “highly judgmental or intolerant”.
The UK’s most senior Roman Catholic said in May 2012 that “tolerance is being abolished” as secularists seek to wipe out the Christian faith in Britain. Addressing Leicester's Anglican Cathedral, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor warned of a rising and “dangerous” intolerance from atheists, telling the congregation that: "In the name of tolerance it seems to me tolerance is being abolished."
Brendan O’Neill, writing in the Telegraph, said: “The attempt to drain religious schools of religion is a highly illiberal, intolerant exercise. Catholic schools have a certain amount of leeway to teach the Catholic view on life, sex and relationships. If they didn't, then they wouldn't be "Catholic schools" – they'd just be "schools".
In a strong statement submitted to the European Court of Human Rights, former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey has said that Christians in Britain are being “vilified” by the courts and “driven underground” with the same kind of persecution once directed at homosexuals. In particular Carey pointed the finger at the British judiciary’s use of equality law to marginalize Christianity.
“So often the teachings of Jesus Christ are divided and ignored; so often those who try to live a Christian life are made fun of and ridiculed and marginalized...”
In a speech given at the European Commission on March 30th, 2012, Professor Giorgio Feliciani, Director of the Center of Studies on Ecclesiastical Bodies (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano) brings to light the importance of reasserting religious liberty in Europe.
"Whatever the strict legal situation, we believe that individuals should have the right to make statements of faith, and this extends to the wearing of appropriate jewellery."