Survivors of persecution, senior Church leaders, and global experts will gather in Rome on October 21 for the launch of the 2025 Religious Freedom in the World Report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Hosted at the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum, the event will feature a keynote by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and first-hand testimonies from people who paid a steep price for conscience—including two women once condemned to die for their faith.
Published every two years since 1999, ACN’s report remains the only global, non-governmental study that examines religious freedom across all countries and faith communities.
"Since the first edition of the RFR, the situation has steadily worsened, and unfortunately, this negative trend is expected to continue,” says editor-in-chief Marta Petrosillo, who will unveil this year’s findings.
A major focus is Africa, where jihadist violence is spreading into places once relatively untouched by interfaith conflict, including Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
To ground the data in lived experience, the program brings together voices from some of the hardest-hit regions: Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto (Nigeria), Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs (Syria), Archbishop Linus Neli of Manipur (India), and Latin America specialist Marcela Szymanski.
Two testimonies will anchor the day. Mariam Ibrahim, sentenced to death in Sudan in 2014 for converting to Christianity before eventually securing asylum in the United States, will speak about courage, family, and the costly decision to claim her faith publicly. Shagufta Kausar, who spent eight years in a Pakistani prison after a blasphemy conviction that was later overturned, will share what sustained her through years of uncertainty and fear.
Italy’s government will be represented by Alfredo Mantovano, Undersecretary of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers — an acknowledgment that safeguarding freedom of religion or belief requires collaboration far beyond Church walls.
A second panel turns the lens toward Western societies, where tensions increasingly surface in law, education, healthcare, and the digital public square. Speakers include José Luis Bazán (COMECE), Mark von Riedemann (ACN International), and international advocate Roger Kiska, with moderation by Elisabetta Piqué, Vatican correspondent for La Nación. The goal is not alarmism but clarity: identifying where believers of any tradition face unfair hurdles and how democracies can protect both pluralism and peace.
For Catholics, this conversation is anchored in a firm principle. The Catechism teaches that “the human person has a right to religious freedom” (CCC 2106), a right that belongs to every person—not only Christians—and that should be recognized by civil authority. In other words, defending the mosque, the synagogue, and the church is part of the same moral duty.
The day will conclude with a 5:00 p.m. Mass offered as a prayer for persecuted Christians worldwide. Yet the scope is broader: the report invites all people of goodwill to see and stand with neighbors whose basic freedoms are at risk. Listening to survivors, learning the facts, and advocating for fair laws are simple, essential steps toward a world where no one must choose between conscience and life.
