Welby speaks up for those persecuted for their beliefs

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said freedom of religion is a fundamental human right and that Christians should speak up when Muslims are attacked, writes Abigail Frymann Rouch.

Archbishop Justin Welby was speaking at the launch of the Religious Liberty Commission, which is aiming to highlight the plight of persecuted Christians across the world.

He stressed that Christians should not just stand up for persecuted members of their own faith. “We have a responsibility before God to protect those rights,” he said.

Speaking in the undercroft chapel at the Houses of Parliament, he added that it was important to differentiate between anti-Christian bias in the United Kingdom and the far more serious predicament of Christians in countries where practising the Christian faith is forbidden.

Freedom of religion lies at the very depths of what it means to be human, he said, and should not be seen simply  a “leisure interest”. The archbishop recounted how he and his wife had smuggled Bibles through the Iron Curtain.