Archbishop Moth urges UN to act against global persecution of believers

Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster in England issued “a vital call to action in support of people around the world oppressed for their faith” to national governments and the United Nations.

Moth, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, called on Catholics and people of goodwill to sign a petition urging world leaders to ensure countries fulfill the religious freedom requirements in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Religious freedom is a right not a privilege,” Moth said in the Aug. 18 statement .

The article, created and adopted in 1948, “affirms the right to freedom of religion or belief,” he said. “It was ratified by the United Nations and quickly became recognised around the world.”

“The Second Vatican Council affirmed this right, teaching that ‘this freedom means that all people are to be immune from coercion… in such a way that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his or her own beliefs,’” he said.

The petition is part of a campaign organized by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). It is intended to advocate for Article 18 ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Red Wednesday, an…