This is both a hopeful time and a grim one for those concerned about the persecution of Christians and freedom of conscience, according to an Iranian convert to Catholicism.
Speaking in Dublin’s Newman University Church, Wall Street Journal editorial writer Sohrab Ahmari said there are grounds for hope, “because the question of the persecution of Christians is on the media and cultural radar in a way it hasn’t been in a very long time”.
Awareness
This awareness, however, has arisen because things are so grave, he said, noting that while the actions of non-state actors like ISIS are the most obvious modern expression of religious persecution, this distracts from persecution by authoritarian regimes in countries such as Turkey, Iran and Russia.
Mr Ahmari, who had been invited to speak by the Notre Dame – Newman Centre for Faith and Reason, said the church was “a very apt setting for a talk on Christian persecution, since Blessed Cardinal Newman was probably the 19th Century’s greatest champion of freedom of conscience”.