A Sister from the Poor Clares, Italy showing a prayer card of Our Lady of Peking
Many Christians across East Asia live under dictatorial or oppressive regimes which squash their human rights. State-sponsored persecution has led to events such as the destruction of churches, the arbitrary imprisonment without trial of the faithful, and even the killing of Christians. Asia continues to be the continent where religious freedom is violated the most, and in the east the long shadow of communism and militant atheism are still responsible for the repression of millions of believers on spurious charges such as “threatening the good of society”. This talk will explore not only the pressing challenges facing Christians in East Asia, but how the faith continues to flourish despite daily violations of their human rights and religious freedom.
The talk will be given by Dr John Newton, who has worked for 15 years in Aid to the Church in Need (UK)’s Press and Information department, which oversees various areas of the charity’s work including PR, research and parliamentary outreach. Dr Newton is the co-author of the charity’s keynote Persecuted and Forgotten? report on the oppression of Christians. His Religious Freedom Today: The Catholic View which summarises the Church’s teaching on religious liberty was printed by CTS, and The Eastern Catholic Churches: A Short Introduction was published by ACN earlier this year.
This event is free to Friends of St Mary’s Cathedral. Friends should email this address to reserve a seat for this event.