New York:

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has issued a harsh rebuke in response to an increase in acts of religious hatred in the United States and called for peace following the Hamas attacks earlier this month. The chairperson of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty said that every human life has immeasurable value. He said that hating your neighbors is a grave sin against God, who created us all in his image and likeness. Violence only begets more violence, not justice. He prayed that people of goodwill may stand bravely for peace, and may those whose hearts are filled with hatred turn from their hatred.

"Recently, we have witnessed shocking incidents of religious intolerance in America, a country where people have sought safety from religious persecution for hundreds of years. The information that the man in Chicago who is suspected of killing a six-year-old Muslim boy happens to be a Catholic, is particularly depressing. The alleged offense committed by this man could not be more in opposition to the principles of our Church. Moreover, while innumerable voices rejoice over the horrific October 7 terrorist acts, our Jewish brothers and sisters have legitimate concerns for their safety,” he said.

The International Religious Freedom Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1998. Its objectives are to strengthen advocacy on behalf of people who are persecuted in other countries due to their religion, promote religious freedom in nations that violate this fundamental human right, and elevate religious freedom as a goal of US foreign policy.

The statute created the US Department of State's Office of International Religious Freedom and the post of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, a bipartisan, independent organization keeps an eye on people’s right to practice any religion they want.

“The Catholic Church has long recognized the essential and inviolable nature of religious freedom,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop David Malloy said in their October. 25 statement. The bishops cited the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom, or "Dignitatis Humanae," which was issued in 1965 and declared that everyone has the right to practice their religion since it is based "'in the very dignity of the human person.'" The declaration continued by saying that all individuals' rights to religious freedom must be upheld by governments to ensure that "no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, within due limits."

Regretfully, 80 percent of the world's population lives in nations with significant degrees of social or political restrictions on religion, and these limits have been rising for several years.