Budapest Report on Christian Persecution 2019
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BUDAPEST REPORT ON CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION 2019 BUDAPEST REPORT ON CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION 2019 Edited by JÓZSEF KALÓ, FERENC PETRUSKA, LÓRÁND UJHÁZI HÁTTÉR KIADÓ Sponsor PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE Authors Tristan Azbej Ferenc Petruska Ekwunife Basil Byrappa Ramachandra Antal Birkás István Resperger Gábor Csizmazia Gergely Salát Vilmos Fischl Klára Siposné Kecskeméthy Péter Forisek Eszter Petronella Soós János Frivaldszky Péter Tarcsay József Kaló Muller Thomas András Kóré Zsigmond Tömösváry Viktor Marsai Lóránd Ujházi József Padányi Péter Wagner Pampaloni Massimo Péter Krisztián Zachar Csongor Párkányi Péter Zelei ISBN 978 615 5124 67 9 The ideas and opinions contained in the present book do not necessarily represent the position of the Hungarian Government. The responsibility for the informations of this volume belongs exclusively to the authors and editors. © The Editors, 2019 © The Authors, 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical metholds, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. CONTENTS Welcoming thonghts of Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary ........................................................... 7 The dedication of Cardinal Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom–Budapest ..................................... 9 Foreword of Brigadier General Árpád Pohl, Dean ......................................................................................... 11 GENERAL SECURITY POLICY REFLECTIONS REGARDING THE SECURITY OF CHRISTIANS József Padányi: The significance of civil-military cooperation in missions and mission preparation in crisis areas ........................................................................................................................................................ 15 József Kaló: Violent acts against Christians in 2019 ....................................................................................... 25 Azbej Tristan: Hungarian assistance to Iraq through the Hungary Helps Program ................................... 41 István Resperger: Methods of militant Islam in the Islamist State and the Boko Haram terror organizations ........................................................................................................... 55 Péter Wagner – Péter Zelei: The security situation of Christian communities in orthernN Iraq ............... 77 András Kóré: The historical engagement of Hungary in the protection of persecuted Christians and its efforts in the present in supporting Christian communities in Africa .......................................... 87 Gergely Salát: Christian persecution in North Korea ..................................................................................... 109 Ramachandra Byrappa: The situation of the persecuted Christians in India and Sri Lanka ..................... 127 Zsigmond Tömösváry: The role of the Russian Orthodox Church in helping Christian communities in the Middle East ................................................................................................................................................ 139 Péter Forisek: The first thousand years of Christianity inorth N Africa ....................................................... 151 Viktor Marsai: The situation of persecuted christians on the African continent ........................................ 159 Basil Ekwunife: Security situation of christianity in Nigeria .......................................................................... 167 5 BUDAPEST REPORT ON CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION 2019 LEGISLATIVE PROCESSES FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERSECUTED CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES Ferenc Petruska: Hungarian legislative processes in protecting persecuted Christians and Christian culture . 187 Gábor Csizmazia: United States efforts to aid persecuted Christians .......................................................... 195 Antal Birkás: Developments to protect persecuted Christians – awakening conscience in the UK: The Truro Review ........................................................................................................................................... 205 Eszter Petronella Soós: Secularism in France: regulations from 1905 ............................................................ 215 Péter Tarcsay: How do Visegrad countries help persecuted Christians? ...................................................... 225 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES’ INVOLVEMENT TO PROMOTE THE SECURITY SITUATION OF CHRISTIANS Lóránd Ujházi: Canonical aspects of the relationship between the apostolic Holy See and the People’s Republic of China ................................................................................................................ 235 Vilmos Fischl: The role of the ecumenical council of the churches in Hungary in aiding persecuted Christians ............................................................................................................................................................................259 János Frivaldszky: Expropriated use of love and acceptance to accommodate migrants in large numbers and build a multicultural society ...................................................................................... 273 METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS TO STUDY THE SITUATION OF PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS Péter Krisztián Zachar: The role and responsibility of Christian intellectuals in aid of persecuted Christian communities .................................................................................................................................... 283 Klára Siposné Kecskeméthy: Changes in the religious geography of Christianity in our days .................... 291 Massimo Pampaloni sj: The pontifical oriental institute at the service of the Christian East ..................... 305 Thomas Muller: Measuring persecution of Christians worldwide – the World Watch List of Open Doors International and the methodology behind it .................................................................... 313 Csongor Párkányi: Research on the relationship between religion and security at the National University of Public Service .................................................................................................... 333 6 Dear Reader, A quarter-billion people. That is the number of our Christian brothers around the world who are persecuted for their faith. However, in a lot of European countries, the tragedies they are experiencing are surrounded by silence. For many years, the Western world, which has forgotten its Christian roots, has been regarding this phenomenon with indifference. In the last decade, we have built a Christian Democratic state in Hungary and included the protection of Christian culture in our Fundamental Law. At the same time, however, we immediately saw that the defence of Christian freedom is a command that transcends our borders. Being a Christian means to act since love, hope and faith are nothing but empty words, empty coins without action. This culture of freedom to act obliges us, Hungarians today, to give hope to our persecuted brothers, to help them start a new life in their homelands, while it is also urging us to be sober and take help where the trouble exists, and not to bring the trouble here. That is why we have established the State Secretariat for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and published the Budapest Report for the third time, which not only provides an accurate picture of the attacks on Christian communities and fills a gap, but also presents the results of our reconstruction efforts in areas previously affected by war. We are certainly aware that Hungary’s strength alone is not enough for this task, but we trust that our stance will encourage other countries to act, for the old wisdom is still true today: nothing persuades us but the truth, and nothing saves us but love. Soli Deo gloria! October 2019 Budapest Viktor Orbán Prime Minister of Hungary 7 PREFACE The Hungarian Government has been assisting persecuted Christian communities as part of its public policy for several years now. As a result of that, it has set up several new programs. The Hungarian uthoritiesa support the reconstruction of those places of worship, private property educational and medical institutions which have been damaged in sectarian clashes. Besides these examples, the Hungarian cabinet also decided to set up a new scholarship program for persecuted Christian youth and as a groundbreaking initiative, it also publishes a yearly summary about the situation of persecuted Christians. The authors of this work give a regional analysis/evaluation of various Christian communities. They overview the prospects of exiled Oriental Churches, the international community, and multiple countries, organizations and religious communities. Those countries are given special attention in the Budapest Report, whose governments are attempting to help Christian communities in need, either through either legislation or assistance programs. That is why this publication includes studies about the United States of America, Great Britain and Russia. The persecution of Christians can have several reasons besides religious fundamentalism and extremism. Therefore, this volume also includes studiesexamine the suffering of Christian communities in communist North Korea, and those threatened by nationalism