In addition to launching a study and analysis of religious freedom around the world, the new Observatory will monitor the conditions of religious minorities across the globe to strengthen their protection and will also formulate proposals for awareness-raising activities. Salvatore Martinez, president of the Vatican Foundation “International Family Center of Nazareth,” has been appointed head of the Observatory.
“The barbaric acts of which we are victims in the Middle East,” comments Archbishop Paul Gallagher, secretary for relations with the states of the Holy See, “precede ISIS. Christians and other minorities [in this part of the world] were already feeling like second-class citizens. The mission now must be to defend the human rights of all, regardless of faith and origin.” For centuries, Christians have coexisted side by side with other faiths in the Middle Eastern regions. Religious pluralism, in those areas, continues Archbishop Gallagher, “is not something to be imported or imposed, but a reality to be recognized. For example, in Iraq, the problem is not that of reconstructing buildings but of re-creating societal, economic and political conditions that can re-establish the foundations for peaceful coexistence.” The Christian presence, he concludes, “is essential for the Middle East, which is a mosaic of different people and religions, because without its Christians and those of other faiths its identity is lost.”