Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu is alarmed about rising hostility toward Christians, both in parts of the Islamic world and in Europe\u2019s increasingly post\u2011Christian culture.<\/p>\n
Nwachukwu, who serves as secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for Evangelization, told EWTN News that any serious conversation about peace and coexistence must begin with clear condemnation of anti\u2011Christian violence, particularly from Muslim leaders in places where Christians lack full religious freedom.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian prelate also warned of a growing cultural aversion to Christianity in the West, where Christian expression is often treated with suspicion even as societies insist on defending the religious symbols of others.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit four countries in Africa, including the Muslim-majority Algeria, on his first apostolic journey to the continent April 13\u201323.<\/p>\n
A diplomat urges Muslims to confront anti\u2011Christian violence<\/p>\n
Drawing on decades of diplomatic service in Ghana, Paraguay, Algeria, and Switzerland, Nwachukwu described the anti\u2011Christian discrimination he witnessed firsthand \u2014 experiences he believes continue to be overlooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not criticize Islam; I criticize the way some people practice their Islam,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople just shout about Islamophobia, but its main cause is not to be sought in the West. It is to be sought in the way some Muslims practice their religion. We are calling our Muslim friends to condemn the wrong use of their religion as a religion of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
He recalled that during his service in Algeria, Christians were openly labeled \u201cenemies of Islam.\u201d In one incident, a shopkeeper refused to serve him because he was wearing a Roman collar.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristians still do not have full liberty to practice their religion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A West increasingly uncomfortable with its Christian roots<\/p>\n
But Nwachukwu also directed sharp criticism toward Europe, where he sees a growing reluctance to defend Christianity even as Western societies emphasize religious tolerance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody denounces Islamophobia, but nobody denounces Christianophobia,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are in a post\u2011Christian Europe and a post\u2011Christian West.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that Christian symbols face discrimination not applied to other religions: \u201cYou enter a hall and see a symbol of Buddhism \u2014 nobody touches it. You see a Muslim in a hijab \u2014 nobody says to remove it. But you see a cross, and they say, \u2018Remove it.\u2019 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n
This, he argued, reflects a cultural embarrassment about Europe\u2019s Christian heritage:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is like feeling guilty for having a mother who is ugly and then forgetting that she also has rights. The Christianity that gave them their education, culture, and society \u2014 they now feel uncomfortable with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reverse missionaries and a hopeful response to Europe\u2019s secular drift<\/p>\n
Nwachukwu said this situation makes the growing presence of African and Asian missionaries in Europe all the more significant, as a hopeful sign that the global Church can help rekindle the continent\u2019s Christian identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe West often forgets that we are the result of sacrifices made by their own brothers and sisters who became missionaries,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the sheaves \u2014 the children of those missionaries \u2014 are now returning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nwachukwu described this movement as a gift that can strengthen Western Christianity in places where secularism has taken deep root.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see the mother Churches in Europe accept and be proud of their missionary children from the global south.\u201d<\/p>\n
Encouragement for persecuted Christians<\/p>\n
To Christians facing persecution \u2014 whether under hostile regimes, extremist movements, or secular cultural pressures \u2014 Nwachukwu offered a message of strength: \u201cIf you are encountering persecution, it means that the message you have is important. If your message were not important, people wouldn\u2019t even think of you. So, the message is: Do not feel you are alone. Know what you are worth.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article was originally published by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n