• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Father Liam McDonald, pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Montauk, N.Y., holds a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament as he leads a Eucharistic procession in Montauk in observance of Religious Freedom Day Jan. 16, 2022. (OSV News photo/CNS file, Gregory A. Shemitz)

25 years after International Religious Freedom Act, limits on religion rise worldwide

November 3, 2023
By OSV News
OSV News
Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

In the 25 years since the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act became law, “restrictions on religious freedom have been steadily increasing for several years” around the globe, said the chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ religious liberty and international policy committees.

“Sadly,” 80 percent of the world’s inhabitants “live in countries where there are high levels of governmental or societal restrictions on religion,” said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace.

The prelates made the comments in a joint statement issued to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the law that promotes freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as “a fundamental human right.”

People hold rosaries while participating in a roadside prayer rally marking Religious Freedom Week at St. James Church in Setauket, N.Y., June 24, 2020. (OSV News photo/CNS file, Gregory A. Shemitz)

President Bill Clinton signed the International Religious Freedom Act into law Oct. 27, 1998, to elevate religious freedom as a U.S. foreign policy goal, promote religious freedom in countries that violate this basic human right, and strengthen advocacy on behalf of individuals persecuted in other countries on the basis of religion.

The law established the Office of International Religious Freedom and the position of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom within the U.S. Department of State. The ambassador-at-large, who is currently Rashad Hussain, serves as principal adviser to the secretary of state and the president on religious freedom conditions and policy.

The law also created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, known as USCIRF, an independent, bipartisan body that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.

“The Catholic Church has long recognized the essential and inviolable nature of religious freedom,” Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Malloy said in their Oct. 25 statement.

In 1965, St. Paul VI promulgated the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom (“Dignitatis Humanae”), which stated that this right is founded “‘in the very dignity of the human person,’ so that everyone has a right to religious freedom,” the bishops noted. “The declaration went on to say governments must protect the rights and safeguard the religious freedom of all its citizens so that ‘no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, within due limits.'”

“Let us join with our Holy Father in his prayer ‘that freedom of conscience and freedom of religion will everywhere be recognized and respected; these are fundamental rights, because they make us free to contemplate the heaven for which we were created,'” Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Malloy said.

In his own statement marking the anniversary of the law, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “We reaffirm the United States’ strong and enduring commitment to advancing religious freedom for everyone, everywhere. This instrumental legislation provided a range of new tools to give voice to the persecuted, to empower advocates, and to promote religious freedom around the world.”

“Freedom of religion or belief is a bedrock American value,” he said in his Oct. 27 statement, recalling Clinton’s words when he signed the bill into law: “When we promote religious freedom, we also promote freedom of expression, conscience, and association, and other human rights.”

“The right to freedom of religion or belief, including the freedom to think and worship in our own way, to follow our consciences, and to change our beliefs is inextricably linked to so many rights we hold dear,” Blinken stated.

Both USCIRF and the State Department release annual reports on international religious freedom, but each has different purposes, according to the USCIRF website.

The State Department’s report documents religious freedom violations in every country in the world. USCIRF’s annual report, by statute, recommends countries to be designated as “countries of particular concern” which the Executive Branch must consider. The report “also examines select countries, and while also documenting abuses, makes policy recommendations to the executive and legislative branches of government,” the site said.

Read More Religious Freedom

Prayers continue for release of abducted Nigerian priest who recently served in Alaska

Papal diplomats must always defend poor, religious freedom, pope says

Washington state bishops ask court to block mandatory reporter law without Catholic confession protections

Supreme Court rules in favor of Wisconsin Catholic agency over religious exemption

Religious freedom in Russia continues to decline, say experts

FBI memo with ‘anti-Catholic terminology’ said to be distributed to over 1,000 FBI agents

Copyright © 2023 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

OSV News

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Religious sisters played role in pope’s formation in grade school, N.J. province discovers

  • With an Augustinian in chair of St. Peter, order sees growing interest in vocations

  • Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

  • Indiana Catholic shares story of his life-changing bond with friend who is now Pope Leo

  • Washington Archdiocese announces layoffs, spending cuts, restructuring

| Latest Local News |

OLPH’s fourth eucharistic procession, set for June 21, ‘speaks to the heart’

Franciscan Sister Francis Anita Rizzo, who served in Baltimore for 18 years, dies at 95

Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

Radio Interview: Dominican sister at Mount de Sales shares faith journey from astrophysics to religious life

Mount de Sales Dominican sister shares journey after pursuing science, finding faith 

| Latest World News |

Prayers continue for release of abducted Nigerian priest who recently served in Alaska

Kyiv’s historic cathedral damaged in Russian air strikes

Vatican bank reports increased profits, charitable giving

UN secretary-general meets Pope Leo, top Vatican officials

Call out to Jesus for healing; he will hear you, pope says

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Prayers continue for release of abducted Nigerian priest who recently served in Alaska
  • Kyiv’s historic cathedral damaged in Russian air strikes
  • Vatican bank reports increased profits, charitable giving
  • UN secretary-general meets Pope Leo, top Vatican officials
  • Call out to Jesus for healing; he will hear you, pope says
  • Movie Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’
  • Yes, it’s our war, too
  • OLPH’s fourth eucharistic procession, set for June 21, ‘speaks to the heart’
  • Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en