Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently announced that Italy intends to set an example in Europe by allocating more than ten million euros to support persecuted Christians around the world, ‘from Syria to Iraq, from Nigeria to Pakistan’. The Italian prime minister highlighted that
it’s just the first step of the government in helping Christians in need which will be followed by many more.
In a video message for the presentation of the 16th edition of the Religious Freedom Around the World report published by the Aiuto alla Chiesa che Soffre (Help the Church that Suffers) foundation, Meloni emphasised that ‘religious freedom is not a second-class right’ and is ‘not a freedom that comes after others, and it cannot be forgotten in favour of new freedoms or rights’.
The Italian prime minister’s statement came a day after Madrigal-Borloz, an independent ‘expert’, declared at the UN that when religious liberty clashes with LGBT rights, religious liberty must yield. In his controversial statement, Madrigal-Borloz suggested that ‘religious narratives that clash with the beliefs and lifestyle choices of LGBT persons are beyond the scope of the right [of] freedom of religion or belief.’ As Thomas D. Williams pointed out in his Breitbart article, predictably, the UN Council didn’t call on an expert in religious freedom to offer a counterpoint to the position of Madrigal-Borloz.
In her message, Meloni also declared: ‘Religious liberty is a natural right and precedes every juridical formulation because it is written in the heart of man. It is a right proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but still today,
it is trampled underfoot in too many nations in the world, too often in the face of almost total indifference.’
The Italian prime minister concluded by highlighting that because of this indifference, ‘it happens that countless men, women, and children not only suffer the pain of seeing themselves deprived of the right to profess their faith but also the humiliation of being ignored. This is doubly unacceptable because keeping silent over the denial of religious freedom is tantamount to complicity.’
After Six Years, Italy Followed Hungary in Helping Persecuted Christians
State Secretary in Charge of Aid to Persecuted Christian Communities Tristan Azbej reacted to Giorgia Meloni’s decision in a Facebook post. ‘I welcome the appointment of the Italian government’s special envoy for helping persecuted Christians, whom I personally congratulated and to whom I offered my cooperation’, Mr Azbej wrote.
Marcela Szymanski of the charity Aid to the Church in Need also welcomed the announcement. ‘It is absolutely extraordinary that six years after Hungary created a department in charge of persecuted Christians, another country finally joins them in acknowledging this reality. Not one single other nation with a Christian majority has dared [to do so]’, she told Premier.
As Hungarian Conservative reported, in 2023, Hungary will support programmes worth 1.4 billion forints (3.7 million euros) in 25 countries within the framework of the Hungary Helps Programme, which contributes to helping people stay in their local communities.
