Archbishop Mamberti Deplores Hate Crimes Against Christians
At an OSCE round table on hate crimes against Christians, Archbishop Mamberti, Secretary of State for Relations with States said: "Hate crimes almost invariably feed on an environment where religious freedom is not fully respected and religion is discriminated against."
He also said: "...One may contend, and rightly so, that most of the hate crimes against Christians in the world occur outside the OSCE area. There are, however, warning signs even within that area. The annual hate crime report of ODIHR provides irrefutable proof of a growing intolerance against Christians. Ignoring this well-documented fact sends a negative signal also to those countries that are not participating States of our Organization. It is, therefore, important that a renewed awareness of the problem be raised everywhere. This is why the Holy See welcomes the Resolution of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted this year in Belgrade as an important step towards “initiat[ing] a public debate on intolerance and discrimination against Christians”, as stated in the document. Hopefully, concrete measures will be developed to combat intolerance against Christians as a follow-up of this Conference." H.E. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States, Holy See, Opening Address at the OSCE High-level Meeting “Preventing and Responding to Hate Incidents and Crimes against Christians” Rome, 12 September 2011, (Summary p. 29)Read the entire speech here...