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Exiting a Dead End Road

A GPS for Christians in Public Discourse

© 2010 Kairos Publications

www.kairos-pr.com
ISBN: 978-3-9503055-0-0

With the kind support of the Novae Terrae Foundation

www.novaeterrae.org
“The Holy Spirit does not descend into the City
of Man in the form of a dove. He comes only in
the endlessly ­energetic spirit of justice and love
that dwells in the man of the City, the layman.”

John Courtney Murray

Table of contents
Introduction
Editor’s note How to Read This Book 1
Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeev Foreword  3
Mario Mauro Foreword  6

What’s Wrong With the West? 

Gudrun Kugler
No Successor for Don Camillo – On the Marginalization of ­Christians
in Europe 10
Michael Prüller
Understanding the Secular Crisis of Christianity 26
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
Christianity – Alien Presence or Foundation of the West? 54
Robert George, William Saunders
What’s Wrong With the West?  73
David Quinn
Building a Berlin Wall Around Christianity – The Attempt to ­
Quarantine ­Religion and How to Resist it 86
Piero Tozzi
From ’48 to ’68: The Decline of Universal Rights, and the Cultural Ascent
of the Latex Left 102
Luca Volonté
Torquemada’s Conspiracy –
The Lunar Eclipse Which Hit Rocco Buttiglione 121
Flavio Felice
Thinking Europe in a New Way  141

Understanding Rights Talk

Jakob Cornides
Rights Talk or Natural Law?  151
Fr. Jean-Pierre Schouppe
Freedom of Religion in the Jurisprudence of the Court of ­Strasbourg: ­
Collective and Institutional Profiles 160
Jane Adolphe
Marriage and the Family, Rights of Parents and Children: Reflections on
the International Bill of Human Rights and the Convention of the Rights
of the Child 174
Jakob Cornides
Fiat aequalitas et pereat mundus?
How Anti-Discrimination Policy Undermines the Law 185
F. J. Borrego Borrego
Problems of Frivolity in the European Court of Human Rights  203

Exiting a Dead End Road

Marguerite Peeters
Dealing with Political Correctness  219
Mats Tunehag
Towards a Better Understanding of Freedom of Speech  231
Rocco Buttiglione
Towards a Correct Understanding of Freedom and Tolerance 245
Ombretta Fumagalli-Carulli 
Holding Universal Truths in a Pluralistic Society  258
Francesc Grané
Looking at the Media from a Christian Perspective 272
Fr. Kizito Chinedu Nweke
Theism – Antitheism – Atheism in Europe:
Their Philosophical Analysis Towards Disagreeing to Agree  287
Archbishop Charles Chaput
Living Within the Truth: Christian Mission in the New Order of the World 305

Austin Ruse
More Talladega, Less Sorbonne: How an Evangelical Spirit Could
Save Europe 327
Joseph Weiler
Ways out of the Ghetto 334
Authors  341
Thanks and References 353

How to Read This Book
This is a GPS, a guide for Christians in public discourse. You do not need to
read a guide from cover to cover, even though that would be very useful! But to
use a guide well, you have to know where to find what you need when you need
it. For this purpose we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the table of
contents and begin to read the chapters, which could be helpful for you.
The readers of this book are busy people. We know how difficult it is to take a
break from accomplishing the never-ending and ever-growing items on our ‚to
do‘ lists. But sometimes it is exactly this break that is necessary for feeding our
brains, for inspiring us with that idea we were searching for, and for helping us
to focus with renewed energy. And here is the good news. To read one of our
chapters will take you, on the average, not more than half a concentrated hour.
Do take some of these half-hours. They will serve you well.
A great professor once said that there is nothing more valuable than a book
with markings and underlinings. Over the course of the years, when turning
back to books we had read long ago, we discovered the immense value of his
advice. In a world characterized by an immeasurable flow of information one is
not easily able to remember a thought or a passage that one once found useful.
Read this book with a marker – and contrary to what your parents have taught
you: scribble all over it!
We are proud that this publication was written by great thinkers of various
Christian communities addressing themselves to Christian leaders and intellec-
tuals of all denominations. Christians of different denominations need to coop-
erate and give answers in a unified way, instead of looking at their differences,
when facing such fierce opposition in public discourse in the West today.
In this book you find more than twenty distinguished authors from ten differ-
ent countries. Naturally, their perceptions of the situation as well as their pro-
posed solutions vary as do their backgrounds. Some ideas will excite you, oth-
ers will make you angry. Some thoughts might convince you at a second glance.

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This is good, because it will create fruitful thought and discussion. The opinions
expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors,
the contributing authors or of those who collaborated in the publication of this
book.
Have a good read, and a good reflection. If you wish, share your conclusions
with us. And who knows, the meaning of the term GPS, the Global Positioning
System, might turn for you into Go Preach the Savior.

Martin and Gudrun Kugler, Editors

Vienna, November 2010

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Foreword
by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeev of Volokolamsk

This book is a collection of publications on discrimination against Christians

in Europe. This problem is deliberately hushed up in the ‘free continent’. For
many this affirmation may seem strange, untrue, exaggerated and even artifi-
cial. However, the book cites numerous concrete facts pointing to discrimina-
tion against Christians, violations of their rights to freedom of expression and
conscience and ultimately to the free expression of their faith.
It is sad that these developments are taking place in today’s Europe to the big
words of some politicians about their absolute respect for human rights and
dignity. Paying lip service to the primacy of human rights, they actually trample
on them by invariably adopting essentially anti-Christian legislation.
A few years ago, France adopted a law forbidding people to wear religious at-
tributes in public places. At that time, it applied only to schools and public insti-
tutions. There is no guarantee that tomorrow this category of public places will
include hospitals, army barracks, railway stations and public transportation.
In November 2009, the European Court of Human Rights complied with the
claim made by Ms. S. Lautsi against the Italian State, insisting that the pres-
ence of Christian crucifixes in schoolrooms violated parents’ rights to give sec-
ular education to their children. In the European Parliament, there have been
repeated calls to declare illegal the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church to
allow only male priesthood. Readers will find in this book many more exam-
ples of this kind and find out details and consequences of the discrimination to
which Christians are subjected in their countries without having committed any
crimes.
Responsibility for persecuting Christians today is to be borne not only by
politicians. Many mass media today allow themselves to resort to inadmissible
rhetoric with regard to notions held sacred by Christians. Filmmakers produce

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sacrilegious films; some pop-singers openly mock at the Holy Cross in an at-
tempt to provoke believers into responses going beyond legal boundaries. Jour-
nalists seek to persuade their listeners, viewers and readers that Christians are
aggressive and wicked. At the same time, there is no voice of the discordant
choir of ‘human rights activists’ who make daily statements about the infringe-
ment on human rights in various parts of the world. Doesn’t it look like they
protect the rights of a certain category of persons in which Christians are not
included? Or is the insulting of believers’ religious feelings no longer a violation
of human rights? It is especially deplorable that international Christian organi-
zations keep silent, too, about the discrimination against Christians in Europe,
while they could indeed use the means at their disposal to rebuff these attacks.
It is impressed on people that religions are the causes of divisions and enmi-
ty between nations, that faith encourages the inferiority complex, that it sup-
presses personal freedom and will. It is noteworthy that the criticism of re-
ligion has failed to work out anything new since the time of Nietzsche, while
becoming apparently incapable of any dialogue, intolerant and more aggressive.
It is quite clear that we have found ourselves face to face with a powerful and
well-planned program of ousting Christianity and religion as such from the life
of not only European but also every society. As the most secularized continent,
Europe occupies the first place in this list. It would be quite logical to suppose
that attacks against Christianity will only increase.
Believers who lived in the Soviet Union know from their experience the tac-
tics and strategy of antireligious propaganda with all its stereotypes and clichés
used in the hope to have ordinary people to come over to its side. Therefore,
looking at the rhetoric and vocabulary of today’s ‘fighters against religious ob-
scurantism’, we do not find anything new. On the contrary, we see in them agi-
tators and propagandists of the Soviet time revived to life. Today’s aggressive
atheism is fully coupled with the propaganda of amorality and sexual laxity –
which can eventually lead the European civilization to crash.
European Christians, regardless of our confessional affiliation, must join their

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efforts to prevent the precedents of discrimination against the Christian faith
from becoming regular and natural. With the help of the mass media it is possi-
ble to impress on society that the Church and Christianity are not obsolete rel-
icts of the distant past, nor a regressive and aggressive force opposing all that is
new, creative and alive. We have at our disposal legal means for defending our
rights. We only need determination, cohesion and coordination of our actions.
I hope that this book will throw: light on little-known aspects of European
reality and give cause to a serious examination of the situation in this area, in
which, as we can see, the affairs are not as problem-free as statements made
from Brussels and Strasbourg suggest. I also hope that the book will contribute
to the longed-for establishment of justice towards Christians in Europe and the
world. In the meantime, the most important task is to consolidate our effort, to
overcome divisions and to seek a new understanding of our Christian identity
which unites us across confessional boundaries. Only we ourselves can defend
ourselves.

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Foreword
by Mario Mauro, Member of the European Parliament

The following book edited by my friends Martin and Gudrun Kugler sharply
underlines the dangerous ongoing developments that have been progressing in
Europe over the past years. The numerous examples from all over Europe re-
ported in the book remind us, above all, of the warning expressed some time
ago by Benedict XVI “The biggest risks for the contemporary society are caused
by fundamentalism and relativism.” The first indicator is the role played by the
family: in a report entitled “Report on the Evolution of the Family in Europe
2008”, the European Network Institute for Family Policies emphasized the risk
that the monogamous family could disappear from the landscape of the Conti-
nent due to divorces, abortions, decline of birth-rates, ageing of the population
and lack of politics that support the family. The picture that emerges is dra-
matic, as all of the indicators concerning population, birth rates, marriages, and
the breaking-up of families have pointed to substantial deterioration the past
25 years. The panorama of the family in Europe has worsened to a degree that
gives cause for worry.

We can see something similar happening today along the lines of an attempt
to make a kind of ‘new man.’ While, on the one hand, Marxist and the Nazi-fas-
cist’s ideologies in the past century told us that a revolution and the making of
a ‘new man’ would be necessary, today’s technologies, on the other hand, can
build a new man, they can create him from zero, they can be like God. This is at
the heart of our struggle.

Fortunately, within the European Institutions, it is now possible to find al-

lies on issues of subsidiarity. Even in the Commission and in the European Par-
liament there is a positive attitude towards subsidiarity in the relationship be-
tween institutions and citizens. Today however, besides the great confusion

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regarding the concepts of family and of the human person, there is a confusion
regarding the concept of rights which seems to change Europe from the home-
land of rights to the supermarket of rights.

Europe’s indifference to Christianity, or rather, as stressed in this book, the

marginalization of Christians, represents a threat to the stability of areas in cri-
sis. The fear of, or even worse, the secular contempt for the Christian presence
is an omen of an uncertain future for the West. However, the public recognition
of the Christian contribution to the society is a real guarantee of freedom and
progress for all.

The commonality which Christianity shares with democracy subsists in its

universal dimension, the common life (the expression of which is realized in
the ideal of brotherhood) and a secular understanding of politics, according to
which crime and sin do not correspond, given that there are areas which are
not under the power of Cesar.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 is viewed as the fulfil-

ment of modernity. In particular, it seemed to have marked the victory of en-
lightenment and liberalism. After a period in which the European peoples were
divided into Catholic and Protestant, even when this risked their very lives,
these two cultures endeavoured to define moral values independently from re-
ligious confessions, even if these moral values originated from religious confes-
sions. Today we do not have wars of religion, but rather the debris of totalitar-
ian ideologies. “Moral values are no longer clear. They become apparent only if
God exists” as once said by Pope Benedict XVI. The challenge, therefore, is ad-
dressed to the secularists: will the world be able to function in peaceful coexis-
tence or not, without that understanding?

The question of religious freedom concerns the European Union as a supra-

national entity and as a democratic organization, and cannot only regard each
Member State separately. We cannot require a kind of standardization of cul-

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tures if the European Union is based on the motto “United in diversity”. “All of
the European Countries are permeated by Christian civilization. It is this, the
soul of Europe, which must be restored to it.” This was stated by Robert Schu-
man in front of the European Parliament in March 19, 1958. Schuman, Konrad
Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi were three Christian Catholic believers. And
they were, to use an ambiguous and abused word, three secularists. Not one of
them had ever thought of imposing Christian faith as the European ‘State’ re-
ligion. But not one of them could have ever imagined that Europe could exist
without it.

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What’s Wrong With the West?

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No Successor for Don Camillo
On the Marginalization of Christians in Europe

By Gudrun Kugler, Director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimi-

nation Against Christians

Skimming through a newspaper on a day like any

other one
While I was waiting at the dentist’s office recently I had quite an eye-opener:
For once I had no time constraints and I read a newspaper1 from cover to cover.
On the front page I read of the police raiding the Belgian bishops’ confer-
ence on the suspicion of their having covered up abuse cases. The bishops’ cell
phones were confiscated, the archbishop interrogated for ten hours, and two
coffins of former bishops were dug out in an effort to find secret papers (re-
member Dan Brown?) – bishops treated like criminals with extreme measures
which is reminiscent of long-passed regimes.
Page four mentioned the plans of the Spanish government to remove all reli-
gious symbols from public places, including crosses in schools, as well as plans
to abolish the Catholic liturgy at state celebrations, where it has always been
traditionally present.
On page seven I was told that American lawyers are trying to prevent a coun-
ty court from summoning the pope to questioning under oath on charges of
criminal cover-up.
Page ten portrayed an attempt of the Green party of the parliament of the
German state Baden-Württemberg to introduce mandatory education present-
ing homosexuality as an equal alternative for school age students and to en-
force similar training for teachers – without an opt out for concerned (Chris-
tian) parents or teachers.
As I read through the culture section, I was surprised that I did not find an

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exhibition of art defacing the Bible or displaying Jesus in some indecent posi-
tion. At least not on that day.
I almost laughed at the irony of what I read in the religion section; the new
leader of the Catholic Church in Poland said in his inauguration remarks that he
had a feeling that Europe had separated itself from its Christian roots.
That day it was not the dentist who scared me.

Bad weather for Christians

On April 10th 2010 in the morning, Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski to-
gether with many of Poland’s officials died in a plane crash. In the evening I at-
tended a party of young trendy professionals. “He deserved nothing else…” I hear
being explained, “he was way too Catholic a president!” Satisfaction about the
terrible death of a nation’s president, no sense of pity or compassion – because
of his faith.

At another occasion I talk to an adjunct university professor waiting for his

promotion. “There are three applicants, I am objectively the most qualified one.
But I was told by a friendly colleague that they are trying to find a reason not
to appoint me. They don’t want a practicing Catholic in that position.” I have
been told many similar stories. Including women preventing the only woman
­applicant receiving a promotion because of her religious views. Naturally, those
­discriminated against do not want to be quoted or mentioned by name. But I
am quite convinced that most of my readers will know someone with a similar
story.
Harvard Researcher Edward Green, researcher on HIV/AIDS, wrote on March
27th, 2009, in the Washington Post about the professional risks for non-Chris-
tians taking Christian standpoints: “We liberals who work in the fields of global
HIV/AIDS and family planning take terrible professional risks if we side with the
pope on a divisive topic such as this. The condom has become a symbol of freedom
and – along with contraception – female emancipation, so those who question

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condom orthodoxy are accused of being against these causes.” In Green's case, his
contract was not renewed, and his project was terminated. His contract was not
renewed, and his project was terminated. “On other grounds”, says Administra-
tive Director at Harvard University’s AIDS Prevention Research Project. Right.

Describing the problem

International governmental institutions have on many occasions mentioned
the growing threat to religious freedom for Christians. In 2004 the United Na-
tions Economic and Social Council stated “Christianity is also under pressure
from a form of secularism, particularly in Europe. In part feelings of suspicion to-
wards Christianity and limitations on its expression stem from the difficulty en-
countered, in particular in Europe, in managing the increasing presence of Mus-
lims in the region. Thus the tendency to favour similar restrictions on all forms of
religion results in the denial of the visible expression of any religion. It also seems
that there is a fear of allowing religion to play a role in public life. This is appar-
ently explained by a “rationalist” aversion towards religion, which is seen as rep-
resenting the irrational, as well as by a tradition of secularism that denies reli-
gions the possibility, if not the right, to play a role in public life…”2 

On March 4th 2009 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
hosted a meeting in Vienna on Intolerance and Discrimination against Chris-
tians, which gathered about 100 experts and state representatives. “What came
out clearly from this meeting is that intolerance and discrimination against Chris-
tians is manifested in various forms across the OSCE area,” said Ambassador
Janez Lenarcic, Director of the host organization: the OSCE Office for Democrat-
ic Institutions and Human Rights. In his press release he summarized how the
phenomenon was portrayed: “Meeting participants discussed several aspects of
intolerance and discrimination against and among Christians, including violent
attacks against persons, property and places of worship, as well as restrictions to
the right to freedom of religion or belief. Participants also highlighted inaccurate

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portrayals of Christian identity and values in the media and political discourse,
leading to misunderstandings and prejudice.”

What Christians in Europe face today is a denial of equal rights and what we
might call social marginalization. The term intolerance refers to the social di-
mension, the term discrimination, to the legal.

Such intolerant and discriminatory behavior results from: opposition to in-

dividual traits of the Christian faith or to moral positions that are intrinsically
part of the Christian faith, or from a negative categorical bias against Christians
or against Christianity as a whole. It leads to attacks on the social level (such as
negative stereotyping and exclusion, or maltreatment in the private realm), on
the legal level (for example through a discriminatory law or a biased court ver-
dict) and on the political level (for example through exclusion from the public
sphere; a political resolution; etc.).

Black books of intolerance against Christians

Mario Mauro, Italian member of the European Parliament and OSCE repre-
sentative on freedom of religion recently published a book called War against
Christians in 2010.
In France Michel de Jaeghere wrote a book entitled Enquête Sur La Christiano-
phobie explaining his perception of the phenomenon in detail in 2006.
The topic is on the table in the United Kingdom: The Christian Institute pub-
lished a report called Marginalizing Christians, which catalogues numerous cas-
es of Christians being sidelined by public bodies, popular media, employers and
of being faced with barriers to public funding in 2009. The United Kingdom
House of Commons held an enquête on discrimination against Christians in the
beginning of 2009. House member Mr. Jackson of Peterborough called for a de-
bate on “systematic and institutional discrimination towards Christians” asking:
“Does fairness and equality only apply to people who are non-Christians in this

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country?” The BBC aired a one-hour documentary entitled Are Christians being
persecuted? on Easter Sunday 2010. In September 2010, the Spectator ran the
cover story Don’t even think it – Thought Crime Special.

In January 2009 a poll showed that more than four out of five UK churchgo-
ers (84 per cent) think that religious freedoms, of speech and action, are at risk
in the UK. A similar proportion (82 per cent) feels it is becoming more difficult
to live as a Christian in an increasingly secular country (Pollwatch January 09
(Cpanel Special), ComRes, January 2009).

No violent persecution – but marginalization

A senior United Nations Official, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary
forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, said
in June 2007: “Christianophobia has always existed, alongside anti-Semitism and
Islamophobia. But its current growth is, paradoxically, not being noted in inter-
national discussions. Spectacular cases of hostility to Christians are currently oc-
curring outside Europe in India, Nigeria and other countries, but has reached its
deepest ideological expression in the West. Here in Europe there is suspicion to-
wards religious practices, as well as a rise in intolerance expressed by the slow
marginalization of citizens who confess any faith. The challenge to the whole con-
tinent is to find a balance between defending secular principles and upholding re-
ligious freedom.”
Joseph Ratzinger wrote, before he became Benedict XVI: “Naturally, it is not
an anti-Christian persecution, it would be nonsense to call it this. But there are
probably some areas of life – and not a few of them – in which it takes cour-
age to admit to being a Christian. Above all, there is a growing danger of con-
formed forms of Christianity, which are received by society in a friendly manner
as more ‘humane’ and which are juxtaposed with the alleged fundamentalism of
those who are not willing to be streamlined in such a way. The danger of a dicta-
torship of opinion is growing and those who do not share the common view are

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cast aside. So, as a result, also good people dare not admit that they oppose. Any
­future anti-Christian dictatorship would probably be much more subtle than what
we previously knew. It will seemingly be religion-friendly, but only until its behav-
ior and thought patterns will not be questioned.”3 We do not use the word perse-
cution when speaking about Europe on purpose. Intolerance and discrimination
are not a kind of persecution the way it is commonly understood. But if we care
about Christianity in Europe, or if we care about a free society and democracy
as a whole, the phenomenon needs to be addressed.

An incident at EU Fundamental Rights Agency

In April 2010 I was elected a member of the Advisory Panel of the Funda-
mental Rights Platform of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European
Union. This advisory body consists of nine elected NGO representatives. “What
do you need an observatory on intolerance against Christians in Europe for?”
I was asked with incredulous looks when we first met.
In a meeting on May 7, 2010 we were told, “we have a problem with a homo
phobic NGO in the Advisory Panel.” Massimo Toschi, the FRA representative in
charge, spoke it out directly: “Ok, let’s say it, it’s about Gudrun.” Me? I almost fell
off my chair. Later, I learn that on the website of the Observatory on Intolerance
Against Christians there is a link to a website which had a couple of months
before published an article on reasons against adoption rights for homosexual
couples. Ten members of the European Parliament led by a Dutch radical had
written a complaint against my presence in the Advisory Panel. And so the Fun-
damental Rights Agency – in a meeting with the director, as I am told – consid-
ered whether I would have to be removed from the panel. I was lucky; ­Massimo
informed me that the leadership of FRA had concluded not to remove me –
as long as I did not use hate speech expressing this (to say the least, strange)
­opinion of mine.
So, I am still a member of the advisory panel. Evidently, the problem in this

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case was not my view but rather that of a small group of intolerant social en-
gineers. I asked a colleague at the Advisory Panel: Why is there so much fuss
about me and that gay adoption issue? He admits: this is “because you hold
Christian positions, and your presence disturbs everyone.” Now you see, dear col-
leagues: this is why an observatory on intolerance against Christians in Europe
is needed!

Five objections
At the OSCE meeting of March 4th 2009, a member of the secularist soci-
ety purported that the phenomenon was a merely intra-Christian problem, i.e.
Christians of one denomination discriminating against Christians of another.
He faced strong opposition, and rightly so. To a large extent, Christian denom-
inations have learned to co-exist. They even work together, and differences
are being discussed in mutual respect. And even if there are disputes amongst
Christians, what we face all together are radical secularism and political cor-
rectness gone overboard, both of which limit fundamental freedoms.

On other occasions I have been told that what Christians encounter today is
not intolerance or discrimination, but a process of losing historical privileges:
“equality therapy”, so to say.
Historical privileges – far from discriminating against other religious com-
munities – are not necessarily bad, considering that they are, after all, his-
torical and that no community exists void of a past with its own historically
evolved identity and traditions. Full neutrality is impossible since even an emp-
ty white wall is a statement, especially if it is a consequence of the removal of
the ­crucifix. One religious community holding privileges for historical reasons
does not mean that others are being discriminated against – as long as their
­enshrined rights are protected.
The withdrawal of privileges from Christianity constitutes an unnatural break
with history and identity, and it is an expression of hostility. This hostility does

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not stop at the removal of privileges. It causes marginalization and social exclu-
sion, and it leads to the denial of rights of Christians. Equal rights for Christians
are at stake.

Others have argued that Christianity could not be discriminated against in

Europe because Christians still constitute a majority. Some people conclude
from the premise that minorities deserve protection that it is not possible to
discriminate against a majority. Wrong! South African blacks were not a minori-
ty when they suffered from apartheid. Rocco Buttiglione was not accepted as an
EU commissioner due to his adherence to Christianity, the majority faith. Imag-
ine one person at a microphone insulting a silent crowd. Imagine a small group
of CEOs not hiring members of a majority religion because they do not like that
religion. This is possible! It is true that intolerance and discrimination more of-
ten affect minorities. But this is not necessary to the definition of the terms.
More essential than numbers is power: who sets the tone, who is listened to,
and who creates the agenda. Every day Europe’s majority faith is being treated
disrespectfully; its faithful are receiving strange looks; and its free exercise fac-
es unjust limitations. And yet another thought: As Christianity in Europe goes
through a transition today, one might speak of a majority only with regard to
baptism certificates. But those are not the people who experience intolerance
and discrimination.

Again, on other grounds, I have been told not to be so sensitive about these
“minor issues” in Europe when Christians in other regions are confronted with
blatant persecution even to the point of martyrdom. Reports suggest that 100
million Christians worldwide are being persecuted and that 75% of all religious
persecution is directed against Christians. Certainly the plight of Christians in
these regions is dreadful and I support every effort to relieve their ­suffering.
But it was John Paul II who asked back in 1983 not to overlook ­“besides
­common forms of persecution ... more sophisticated punishments, such as
­social discrimination or subtle restrictions of freedom, possibly leading to a

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kind of civil death.”

Assuredly, for Christians to “turn the other cheek” is an expression of per-

sonal spirituality. Yet with regard to public policy the Christian motto is to take
­action to help one’s neighbor, not to turn the cheek – or the head – when anoth-
er is being unjustly treated or persecuted. A Christian must not look away from
an injustice done to another Christian so that he may gain practice in turning
the other cheek. A Christian will always work towards a more free and just so-
ciety – including for Christians.

Thought Crime Special. Examples of discrimination

against ­Christians
Freedom of expression is essential for democracy. It is the sine qua non for
any debate. Hate speech legislation is a legal climax of political correctness
and stands in direct competition to freedom of expression. In several European
countries, a word of disapproval or criticism against a group protected by law
contains the risk of a fine or even a prison sentence.

We have seen plenty of Christians in legal trouble for Judeo-Christian moral-

ity and for discussing issues related to Islam. The most prominent example is
that of Ake Green, a pastor belonging to the Pentecostal movement, who was
charged with committing a hate crime for preaching a sermon on homosexuali-
ty in Borghold, Sweden, and who was sentenced to one month in prison. He was
acquitted after much international attention – but the law is still in force.
Christian Vanneste, a French member of parliament, was condemned on the
24th of January 2006 by the tribunal of Lille for incitement to hatred in reason
of the sexual orientation of the persons aimed at. He was sanctioned to pay more
than 10 000 Euro fine and damages for having said publicly, “Homosexuality is a
menace for the survival of humanity.”
In the United Kingdom in 2010, we learned about several evangelical street

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preachers, such as Dale McAlpine and Shawn Holes, who were arrested and
held for a couple of hours in a prison cell after having answered to a direct
question that homosexuality is a sin.
This is the gradual introduction of the penalization of speech – in other
words: thought control and dictatorship of opinion.
Voltaire is quoted for this beautiful sentence: “I disapprove of what you say,
but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Should speech be restricted?
Yes, when public incitement instigates violence. No, when an opinion offends,
when it insults, when it expresses disrespect. Do not get me wrong. I am not in
favor of offending, insulting and disrespecting people. I think everyone should
be a gentleman. But I am worried when penal law punishes those who don’t
want to be.

We must also look at equality – or anti-discrimination legislation, which

goes way beyond equality before the law irrespective of religion, race, gender,
etc. This legislation seeks to codify and regulate political correctness in the ac-
tions of individual citizens; for example, which clients an entrepreneur serves, to
whom a room in a bed & breakfast is given, which staff a religious community
hires; or maybe even which membership criteria an association may apply.
Catholic adoption agencies in the United Kingdom are some of the most
prominent victims of equality and anti-discrimination legislation. In 2007, an-
ti-discrimination legislation made it illegal for adoption agencies to turn down
same-sex couples as possible adoptive and foster parents, without the possi-
bility of opt-out for Catholic adoption agencies. After 120 years of outstanding
work, they were forced to cut their religious affiliation – or close down.
Along the same lines we find rights of parents violated when it comes to sex
education in schools.
In short, anti-discrimination creates a kind of side-effect discrimination or col-
lateral damage, namely Christians, who may not live or act according to their
faith.
Conscientious objection is also being objected to, as in this recent example:

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Ms. McCafferty of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was
the drafter of a resolution on Women’s access to lawful medical care [and] the
problem of unregulated use of conscientious objection. She was strongly sup-
ported by the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics. This
draft resolution aimed at forcing health care institutions to provide every medi-
cal treatment lawful in a given country: for example abortion, euthanasia, in-
vitro-fertilization and pre-implantation diagnostics. This would have forced
Christian hospitals to close down! Ms. McCafferty proposed to create a pub-
lic registry of individual objectors – a blacklist! – and to require him or her to
“provide ­information to patients about all treatment options available (regard-
less of whether such information may induce the patient to pursue treatment to
which the health care provider objects)”; to “refer patients to another health care
provider in that case” and to “ensure that patients receive appropriate treatment
from the health care provider to whom they have been referred”. In case of abor-
tion or assisted suicide, a faithful Christian could have met none of these re-
quirements. Luckily – but by a very small margin only – this discriminatory re-
port was voted down on October 7th, 2010.

No Successor for Don Camillo. Examples of intoler-

ance against and marginalization of Christians
I was recently quite surprised by a German friend starting a new business
selling Christmas cards. Christmas cards? “Yes – they are hard to find, those
with religious motifs!” It is true that in England, only 5% of all Christmas cards
would be qualified as such. I do not need to cite the countless examples of re-
moved crosses from the public square, removed inscriptions and plaques, pro-
hibited Christians symbols worn by students, nurses or flight attendants. The
reader will have heard about those cases himself.
Michel De Jaeghere observes in his Enquête sur la Christianophobie4 how
Christianity has slowly faded out of arts and media. In film and fiction, he

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writes, the people portrayed never go to Church. There are all kinds of charac-
ters representing minorities – the immigrant, the homosexual, and the black
person – but there is never a clever, faithful Christian! Don Camillo n’a pas eu de
successeur. To stay with De Jaeghere, Christianity has practically disappeared
from novels and contemporary theater. Just one strange place is left for it:
commercials. But it is never the Catholic intellectual, the devout pastor, or the
Christian artist who is presented – no, it is the well-living monk brewing beer or
producing cheese.
Christianity on TV today is not a fact or a characteristic – it is a target. Preju-
dices are reinforced; negative stereotyping is state of the art.
Speaking of art: Hurt feelings in exhibitions of modern art are nothing rare.
To hit at what is sacred to Christians is not considered inappropriate.
Walter Brandmüller5 analyses how the great persecutions of Christians in Eu-
ropean history all had begun: The persecution in post-revolution France was
set in place by numerous subtle anti-Christian academic presentations in the
encyclopedic best-sellers inspired by Voltaire written between 1751 and 1780.
The German Kulturkampf from 1871 to 1878 was preceded by literary-publicist
aggression carried out by Feuerbach, Büchner, Vogt and Moleschott, which then
culminated in a resolution of the German conference of journalists on July 31st
of 1869: “It is the duty of honor of every thinking person to use all legal means to
close monasteries, depatronize Jesuits and leave the concordat…” Just a few days
later, the first monastery was attacked and desolated; 1800 priests imprisoned
or banished thereafter.
In 1937 the German national socialists distributed a leaflet at the occasion of
the traditional Corpus Christi procession where states: “Whoever participates
in the procession is against the Reich and consciously with the abusers of chil-
dren, who defile innocent German boys and girls in the confessional, in the sacris-
ty … and next to the altar. Germans, if there is any feeling in you, turn away with
disgust…” and elsewhere: “What has the son of a German mother to do with the
pope and clerics?” I do not need to recount to the reader the severity and extent

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of persecution under the Nazi regime.
In December 2009, students disrupted a lecture of rotestant philosopher
Prof. Edith Düsing at Cologne University by making noise, kissing and show-
ing banners. The reason: Düsing had supported a manifesto in May 2009 that
protested the cancellation of an academic lecture at a psychology congress on
grounds of the speakers’ research on the possibilities of change for those with
unwanted same-sex attractions.
In January 2008 the Pope’s visit to University La Sapienzia was cancelled due to
protests on grounds of the allegation that the Pope was not supportive of scien-
tific discovery. That many more students met with the Pope afterwards to show
their support is beautiful – but it does not do away with the intolerance that
preceded it.
The current campaigns against religious symbols (including Christmas sym-
bols) are no secret. They culminate in court rulings to remove the crucifix from
public places - the most prominent of which was a case called Lautsi in 2009 in
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
What one is often less aware of is the high number of church and graveyard
desecrations taking place, especially in France and Germany. A church building
or a cemetery is being vandalized every other day in France, reports Le Figaro
on September 22, 2010. Such crimes are often attributed to mischievous spirits
of youths. We better hope that that is right.

Exiting a Dead End Road: endlessly energetic laymen

There is something in the air, some common hatred against Christianity,
clothed in wise words and polite smiles, difficult to detect, something raging
and invisible which those who observe notice but cannot yet name. What is it?
Some kind of allergy? Does the mere presence of Christianity make people un-
comfortable? Is it a constant reminder of something one does not want to hear
of? What makes expressions of Christianity so unbearable that they must be

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hunted down, as a last resort by the force of law?
And why is it that the largest grass-roots organization in Europe – if the read-
er is so generous as to grant me using this term for Christianity – is so little
heard in the public? Which association has an office and full time staff in every
one-horse town and yet receives little else but criticism?
But this book is about solutions. Alasdair MacIntyre said that Saint Benedict
did not want to save Europe but live Christianity in a radical form together with
his friends: and in doing so, he inadvertently saved Europe. John Courtney Mur-
ray wrote, “The Holy Spirit does not descend into the City of Man in the form of a
dove. He comes only in the endlessly energetic spirit of justice and love that dwells
in the man of the City, the layman.”

What are these “energetic laymen” now to do?

The first step is to be even better Christians. Remember Mother Theresa say-
ing, “The only things that have to change are you and I.” On a personal level this
means to be faithful in the many little things that come our way every day, to
yearn for spreading the gospel, yes, to go and tell it on the mountains.
Christians often speak on societal issues in public without mentioning the
faith, in order to offer an argument to everyone interested, not just to believers.
This is very considerate… however: in doing so, are we not withholding the real
thing which ordinary people in front of their TV sets would need to hear? Don’t
get me wrong: I am wholly intrigued by the Christian natural law tradition and
ability of explaining almost everything by reason alone. And I fervently disagree
with the Austrian pastor who expressed his similar dismay by saying: “I can’t
believe you are using right reason in public debate instead of the bible!” But may-
be Christians should talk more about their faith to the viewers and into their
searching hearts than trying to make the interviewing journalist agree. Just a
thought.
In my village of origin a large cross is attached to the outside of the local par-
ish church. On it are inscribed all of the years in which a major outreach of

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evangelization has been organized there, beginning in 1865. The list ends in
1961, with one outlier in 1987.

The second step is to be aware of the fact that intolerance and discrimination
against Christians is a problem. This is why we run an Observatory that moni-
tors the situation and collects reliable data, as well as interesting quotations
and documents. Our research is then offered to all interested people, to politi-
cians, to the media, human rights organizations, governments and international
governmental institutions.

The third step for Christians is to be more fully committed to their faith. A
German research institute recently concluded that the most noticeable thing
about Christians is that they are unnoticeable.6 It is the responsibility of every
single Christian to change that.

Christians need to shape the public debate. There is a lot to give! No impor-
tant issue should go uncommented. The main call for Christians is to be more
authentic and less afraid, to be well informed and to speak up with intelligible
and reasonable arguments. For a Christian to engage in the public debate is an
act of charity!

Politicians inspired by Christianity should not leave their faith like a hat in
the wardrobe in front of the halls of power. They have reason to be less tim-
id. They should be very keen to work for the protection of human dignity and
against legal restrictions that either directly or indirectly effect Christians, in
the awareness that in the context of broad reaching legislation that limits fun-
damental freedoms, spotty and provisional exemptions for Christians do not
suffice for the preservation of and shaping of a free and just society.

Those who work in the fields of media and arts must try to work towards a
more positive portrayal of Christians and to combat the prejudices created by
negative stereotyping.

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 Those who work academically and on the intellectual level should try to bring
Christian principles out of their current lonely ghetto and into the mainstream
debate.

Christian parents must make the passing on of the faith to their children a
priority. This includes a careful and considerate choice of schools. Those who
work in the field of education need to revisit their profound responsibility and
renew their commitment to their faith.

Church leaders should allow themselves to clearly articulate the Christian

point of view and to address the foundational concepts and frameworks needed
for all people to seek happiness.

The time of watching the developments of society from your living room sofa
is over.
So, is this the grand master plan? Probably not. But as Christians we know
this: We are only responsible for that which we are able to do. Yes, our goal
is to do our part in shaping the world so that it becomes a place in which all
can flourish. But if we are not able to make changes on the large scale, our
second goal is to be of assistance to those individuals, be they only a few, who
are listening and who are beginning to reconsider and ponder what Christi-
anity tells them. Yet even if it does not happen, and even if no one listens, it
still will have been worthwhile to have voiced the truth, to have spoken up
for the weakest, and to have proclaimed the Christian faith.

1 German-language newspaper Die Tagespost, June 29th, 2010.

2 UN-Economic and Social Council, Report submitted by Mr. Doudou Diène, Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and related intolerance, December 13, 2004
3 Joseph Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth, Stuttgart 1996, p. 164.
4 Enquête sur la Christianophobie, Michel De Jaeghere, Renaissance Catholique, 2006.
5 Nicht Idealzustand, aber Normalfall. Wie entstehen Christenverfolgungen, Die Tag-
espost, 6. Juli 2010.
6 Renate Köcher, Allensbacher Institut für Demoskopie: “Das Auffälligste an den
Christen ist ihre Unauffälligkeit.”

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Authors

ADOLPHE, Jane
Jane Adolphe holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Calgary, as well
as common-law and civil-law degrees from McGill University. She also earned
a Licentiate in Canon Law and a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontificia
Università della Santa Croce in Rome. She has served the United Nations by
participating in conferences on children’s rights and the International Crimi-
nal Court, and most recently participated as a delegate of the Holy See. Prof.
Adolphe currently teaches at Ave Maria School of Law, where her course of-
ferings include Family Law, Canon Law, International Law, and International
Human Rights.

BORREGO BORREGO, Javier

Javier Borrego Borrego was born in Spain in 1949. He earned his law de-
gree from Madrid Complutense University and has been a lawyer before so-
cial courts and registrar of the Social Tribunal. He became a lawyer of the
state in 1976 in the ministries of Treasure and Justice, among others. From
1990-1992 He served as the States Lawyer’s Chief of Human Right’s Legal
Service to the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the European Union.
He acted as a Government’s Agent before the European Court of Human
Rights, as a member of experts’ committees in Human Rights, and as a re-
porter in the European Committee for Prevention Torture and the Committee
against Torture at the Committee of Human Rights. He was elected judge on
behalf of Spain before the European Court of Human Rights (2003-2008). He
serves as a Lawyer of the State before the Audiencia Nacional and as a teach-
er and lecturer in several universities.

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BUTTIGLIONE, Rocco
Rocco Buttiglione is an Italian Christian Democrat politician and an academ-
ic. He is a professor of philosophy and political science at Saint Pius V Univer-
sity in Rome, and member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. From
2001 to 2005 he was minister of European affairs, from 2005 to 2006 minis-
ter of culture. Since 2008 he has been a vice president of the Camera dei dep-
utati, one of the two chambers of the Italian parliament.
In 2004 Mr. Buttiglione was nominated for a post as European Commissioner
but did not succeed due to a campaign of radical political groups opposed to
his Roman Catholic views.

CHAPUT, Archbishop Charles

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput was born in 1944 in Kansas, USA. He earned
his B.A. in Philosophy from St. Fidelis College Seminary and completed stud-
ies in Psychology at Catholic University in Washington D.C. After his ordi-
nation to the priesthood on August 29, 1970, Archbishop Chaput received a
Master of Arts in Theology from the University of San Francisco in 1971. He
served as an instructor in theology and spiritual director at St. Fidelis from
1971-1974 and as executive secretary and director of communications for the
Capuchin Province of St. Augustine in Pittsburgh from 1974-1977.
In 1977, Archbishop Chaput became pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton,
Colorado, and vicar provincial for the Capuchin Province of Mid-America. He
was named secretary and treasurer for the province in 1980, and he became
chief executive and provincial minister three years later. Archbishop Chaput
was ordained Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, on July 26, 1988. Pope John
Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Denver on February 18, 1997.

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FUMALLI CARULLI, Ombretta
Ombretta Fumagalli Carulli was born in Italy in 1944. Her studies special-
ized in canon and ecclesiastical law, especially concerning marriage and the
establishment of new categories of consent and mental incapacity, and her
work led to several modifications to the new Code of Canon Law in 1983. Dr.
Fumagalli Carulli’s recent research has been dedicated to an analysis of ca-
nonical discipline as the normative structure of the only contemporary global
governance.
She is a Professor of canon and ecclesiastical law at the University of Ferrara
and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan. In 1992 she became
a member of the Italian government and was appointed at first Vice Minister
of Posts and Telecommunications; then, in 1994, State Secretary to the Prime
Minister at Civil Defence; in 1999 Vice Minister of the Interior and in 2000
Vice Minister of Health. Dr. Fumagalli Carulli was appointed moderator of
the session devoted to intolerance and discrimination against Christians and
members of other religions at the 2005 OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism
and on Other Forms of Intolerance. She delivered the keynote address, “The
way towards religious freedom: a success of religions, a success of the OSCE,
for security and democracy” at the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension
Meeting on Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2009.

CORNIDES, Jakob
Jakob Cornides, Doctor of Law (University of Vienna), is an official for the
European Commission, where he has been working on consumer protection
and trade issues since 1997. He has published on a broad variety of legal is-
sues, including consumer law, intellectual property, international trade law,
and human rights.

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FELICE, Flavio
Flavio Felice is ordinary professor of Economic and Political Doctrines at the
Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He is a visiting professor at the Catho-
lic University of Argentina in Buenos Aires and at the Sedes Sapientia Univer-
sity in Lima, Peru. He is also the president of the Center Study Tocqueville-
Acton and director of “Novae Terrae Foundation. Author of several books,
such as “Persona, impresa e mercato” (LUP 2010), “Economia e persona (LUP
2009), “L’economia sociale di mercato” (Rubbettino 2008), “Appunti di dottri-
na sociale della Chiesa” (Rubbettino 2008), together with Paolo Asolan, “Wel-
fare society” (Rubbettino 2007); “Prospettiva neocon” (Rubbettino 2005);
“Capitalismo e cristianesimo” (Rubbettino 2002). Mr. Felice is a No-Resident
Research Fellow of the Faith & Reason Institute and an Adjunct Scholar of the
American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC.

GEORGE, Robert
Robert George, born in 1955 in West Virginia, USA, holds a Dr. Phil at Oxford
University and a JD from Harvard University. He has served on the President’s
Council on Bioethics and as a presidential appointee to the United States
Commission on Civil Rights. He is a former Judicial Fellow at the Supreme
Court of the United States, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award.
Currently he serves on UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientif-
ic Knowledge and Technology and is also a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations. Professor George was the 2007 John Dewey Lecturer in Philosophy
of Law at Harvard University and the 2008 Judge Guido Calabresi Lecturer at
Yale University. Currently he is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at
Princeton University, where he lectures on constitutional interpretation, civil
liberties and philosophy of law. George has been called America’s “most influ-
ential conservative Christian thinker.”

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GRANÈ I TERRADAS, Francesc
Francesc Granè i Terradas was born in Spain in 1964. He received his Bach-
elor’s degrees in Political Science, Sociology, and Economics from the Univer-
sity of Barcelona. His graduate studies include work in theology from the In-
stitut de Teologia de Barcelona and Communication Science from University
Ramon Llull, where he defended his doctorate in Social Communications in
2010. Dr. Granè has been a professor of Communication Science at University
Ramon Llull since 1997. He is the author of several articles on culture, media
and the religious experience.

HILARION, Archbishop Alfeyev

Archbishop Alfeyev Hilarion, born in Moscow in 1966, received his initial
education in music, studying violin, piano and composition. After his military
service from 1984-86, he entered, in January 1987, the Monastery of the Holy
Spirit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he was ordained a priest on 19 August the
same year. In 1995 he completed his doctoral thesis on ‘St Symeon the New
Theologian and Orthodox Tradition’ at Oxford University. From 1995 to 2001
he served as Secretary for Inter-Christian Affairs of the Department for Exter-
nal Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 2002 he became a bish-
op and was nominated Head of the Representation of the Russian Orthodox
Church to the European Institutions. In 2003 he was in addition appointed
Bishop of Vienna and Austria, as well as temporary administrator of the Di-
ocese of Budapest and Hungary. In 2009 he became Bishop of Volokolamsk,
Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Rela-
tions, and was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop. Metropolitan Hilarion is
the author of more than 300 publications, including numerous books in Rus-
sian, English, French, Italian, German and Finnish. Apart from his doctoral de-
gree in philosophy from Oxford, he also holds a doctorate in theology from St.
Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris.

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KUGLER, Gudrun
Gudrun V. Kugler (née Lang), was born in 1976 in Austria. She majored
in Law and Gender Studies, holds a PhD in International Law as well as a
Master’s Degree in Theological Studies on Marriage and the Family. From
2001 to 2004 she worked as a director of World Youth Alliance – Europe
based in Brussels. In 2005 she co-founded Kairos Consulting for Non Profit In-
itiatives in Vienna. Since 2008 she is an adjunct professor at the International
Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. She also directs
the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians. In this
function Dr. Kugler is a member of the FRP Advisory Panel of the EU Funda-
mental Rights Agency and actively involved at the OSCE and the EU. Gudrun
Kugler is married to Martin Kugler and mother of three children.

KUGLER, Martin
Martin G. Kugler studied history, political sciences and communication in Vi-
enna, Graz and Rome and holds a PhD in history. He worked for over 10 years
as spokesperson and press officer of large church organisations, and wrote a
book about Christian-inspired resistance to the Nazi regime. Since 2005 he is
head of Kairos Consulting (www.kairos-pr.com). Martin Kugler is married to
Gudrun Kugler and father of three children.

MAURO, Mario
Mario Mauro holds a degree in Philosophy (1985) from the University of
Sacro Cuore. He is a Professor under contract to the European University of
Rome, where he teaches Fundamental human rights in natural law and in
international conventions and History of the European institutions (since
2008). Since 1999 Mario Mauro is Member of the European Parliament. He
has been Vice-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Vice-
Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education (1999-2004); Vice-Presi-
dent of the European Parliament (2004-2009). He was appointed Personal

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 representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office on Combating Racism, Xenophobia
and Discrimination, with particular reference to discrimination against Chris-
tians in 2009. He currently holds the position of Chief whip of the Popolo del-
la Libertà (PDL) party in the European Parliament (since 2009). Mario Mauro
contributed to the debate on freedom of religion and the Christian roots of
Europe also by the publication War against Christians in 2010.

NWEKE, Fr. Kizito Chinedu

Fr. Kizito Chinedu Nweke is originally from Nigeria and was ordained a Ro-
man Catholic priest in October 2010. He is currently studying at the Pontifical
University Heiligenkreuz near Vienna.

PEETERS, Marguerite
Marguerite Peeters was born in 1963 in New-York, USA. She holds a Masters in
Art History from the University of the Sorbonne and a post-graduate degree in
Journalism from the Robert Schuman Institute. After a stay in Ukraine between
1991 and 1993, she specialized as a journalist in the analysis of the post-Cold
War “global consensus” built under the aegis of the United Nations and of its
postmodern paradigms, such as sustainable development, good governance,
gender equality and the freedom to choose. In 2003, she founded the Brussels-
based Institute Dialogue Dynamics, which monitors global cultural and politi-
cal change and produces educational materials about the challenges of the new
postmodern ethic as well as discernment tools in the light of perennial values.
She authored “The globalization of the western cultural revolution – Key-con-
cepts, operational mechanisms” (2008). She lectures internationally, especially
in Africa. She is a visiting professor of moral theology at the Pontifical Univer-
sity Urbaniana.

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PRÜLLER, Michael
Michael Prüller is the deputy editor-in-chief of the Austrian daily Die Presse.
He is married and the father of eight. Dr. Prüller studied law and was very ac-
tive in student politics at university. After earning his doctorate, he worked
for several years at a public relations agency.

QUINN, David
David Quinn is an Irish journalist and one of Ireland’s best-known commen-
tators on religious and social affairs. He was editor of The Irish Catholic, Ire-
land’s main Catholic weekly newspaper for over six years. Mr. Quinn has writ-
ten weekly opinion columns for The Sunday Times, The Sunday Business Post
and the Irish edition of the Daily Irish Mail. In 2006 he joined the Irish Inde-
pendent as a weekly columnist.
Mr. Quinn has contributed to publications such as First Things, the Human
Life Review and the Wall Street Journal (Europe edition). Currently he free-
lances, contributing weekly columns to The Irish Independent, Ireland’s big-
gest selling daily paper, and The Irish Catholic. In addition, Mr. Quinn appears
regularly on Irish radio and television current affairs programmes. In January
2007, he founded the Iona Institute, a think-tank promoting the practice of
religion and the family based on marriage.

SCHÖNBORN, Cardinal Christoph

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn OP has been Archbishop of Vienna since
1995. After studies of philosophy, psychology and theology in Walberberg
near Bonn, Regensburg, Vienna and Paris he was chaplain for students in
Graz (1973-1975) and professor for Catholic Dogmatic Theology in Fribourg
(Switzerland, 1975-1991). Cardinal Schönborn has gained international
prominence for his work as editing secretary of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church (1987-1992), the greatest single reference work on Catholic doctrine
today. In 1991 he was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna. He is known

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 for his dedication to the “re-evangelization” of Europe, and his commitment
to the renewal of higher education in Europe and the United States. Publi-
cations involve: Chance or Purpose. Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith
2007; God Sent His Son. A Contemporary Christology 2010.

RUSE, Austin
Austin Ruse holds undergraduate degrees in Journalism and Political Science
from the University of Missouri, and an Honorary Doctorate from Franciscan
University of Steubenville. He is the president of the New York and Washing-
ton DC-based Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), a research
institute focusing exclusively on international law and policy. His weekly UN
report – the Friday Fax – has a global readership of 250,000. He is a biweek-
ly columnist for TheCatholicThing.org and founder of the foreign affairs blog,
TheNewSovereigntists.org. He is a former foreign affairs commentator for
EWTN’s weekly news broadcast The World Over hosted by Raymond Arroyo
and lectures widely on U.N. matters, appearing throughout the U.S., also in
Canada, Latin America, the Far East and Europe.

SAUNDERS, William
William L. Saunders, Jr. received his B.A. from University of North Caroli-
na at Chapel Hill and his law degree from Harvard Law School. Mr. Saunders
taught law at the Catholic University of America and served on Harvard’s Ad-
visory Committee for its 2008 celebration of public interest law. A member of
the Supreme Court bar, he has authored numerous legal briefs in state, feder-
al, foreign, and international courts.
In addition to speaking and writing frequently on bioethics topics, Mr. Saun-
ders has submitted testimony to the President’s Council on Bioethics, as well
as to UNESCO’s Committee on Bioethics, and has briefed Congressional staff,
and testified in state legislatures. He is a regular columnist for the National
Catholic Bioethics Quarterly.

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 Mr. Saunders is currently Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs at Americans
United for Life (AUL). He oversees all of AUL’s legal work and is directly re-
sponsible for its international project.

SCHOUPPE, Fr. Jean-Pierre

Fr. Jean-Pierre Schouppe, born in Brussels in 1955, is a jurist and a canon
lawyer. Since 1989 he has been head professor of the department of Canon
Law at the University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He currently lectures on the
relationship between the church and the community as well as on human
rights. He has also taught philosophy of law and property law. Fr. Schouppe
has authored numerous publications on canon law and human rights.

TOZZI, Piero
Piero A. Tozzi earned his B.A. at Columbia University and J.D. from Fordham
University School of Law.  He is Senior Legal Counsel, Global, with the Alli-
ance Defense Fund (ADF), and also holds the position of Senior Fellow at the
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). Prior to joining ADF, Mr.
Tozzi ran C-FAM’s New York office while serving as Executive Vice President
and General Counsel. He also established the International Organizations Law
Group as C-FAM’s public interest law arm, submitting amicus briefs and shad-
ow reports on a proper understanding of international law in fora such as
the Mexican Supreme Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights.
Mr. Tozzi has been recognized by the New York State Bar Association for his
commitment to pro bono legal representation; he has defended the free exer-
cise rights of Christian organizations and individual conscience rights; and he
has won asylum at trial for victims of religious persecution abroad. Mr. Tozzi
serves on the working board of the Guild of Catholic Lawyers of the Archdio-
cese of New York and is past chairman of the Guild’s Young Lawyers’ Com-
mittee.  He sits on the Board of Visitors of Ave Maria School of Law and is a

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 member of the International Law and Practice Section of the New York State
Bar Association.

TUNEHAG, Mats
Mats Tunehag is a Swedish journalist, lecturer and consultant who writes
editorials on international affairs for a national newspaper in Sweden. Mr.
Tunehag is also a global spokesperson on Religious Liberty & Freedom of
Speech for the World Evangelical Alliance. He serves on the Global Council
of Advocates International, a global network of 30,000 lawyers in over 120
countries. Mr. Tunehag is a senior Associate on Business as Mission for both
the Lausanne Movement and World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission,
and has lectured widely on Business as Mission as well as published numer-
ous articles and papers on the topic. He initiated and led the Lausanne global
think tank on the issue of Business as Mission.

VOLONTÈ, Luca
Luca Volontè was born in Italy in 1966. He graduated from the University
of Milan with a degree in Political Science and was elected to the House of
­Representatives in 1996. He was a founding member of the Union of Chris-
tian and Centre Democrats, and since 2010 he has been chairman of that
­party at the Assembly of the Council of Europe and a member of the Presi-
dential Committee Monitoring Social and Family Affairs. The promotion of
Catholic social teaching and the training of the next generation are very im-
portant to him.

WEILER, Joseph
J. H. H. Weiler is University Professor and European Union Jean Monnet
Chair at NYU Law School. He serves as Director of The Straus Institute for
the Advanced Study of Law & Justice and The Tikvah Center for Law & Jew-
ish Civilization. He was previously Professor of Law at Michigan Law School

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and then Manley Hudson Professor of Law and Jean Monnet Chair at Harvard
Law School. Dr. Weiler is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sci-
ences and recipient of a doctorate Honoris causa from several universities.
He is of Jewish faith. His publications include Un’Europa Cristiana (translated
into nine languages), The Constitution of Europe – “Do the New Clothes Have
an Emperor?” (translated into seven languages), and a novella, Der Fall Stein-
mann.

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Thanks and References
We thank Luca Volonté, Flavio Felice, Msgr. Ettore Balestrero, Fr. Duarte
da Cunha, Alan Fimister, Muireann Simpson, Julia Gmeiner, Bernadette
Joyeaux, Jakob Cornides, Alex Pöll, Katharina Hölzl, Barbara Vittucci,
Alžbeta Forgáčová, Alessandro Calcagno, Piero Tozzi, Karin Hoitsch, and
Erik Rasbach for their support and input making this publication possible.

We thank the Novae Terrae Foundation for their kind support.

www.novaeterrae.org

We thank Aid to the Church in Need for their kind support.

www.kirche-in-not.org

Please visit the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination

Against Christians in Europe at www.IntoleranceAgainstChristians.eu

Please visit www.Europe4Christ.net for basic tools for Christians in pub-

lic life and monthly updates.

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In this book:
What’s Wrong With the West? – Understanding Rights Talk –
­Dealing with ­Political Correctness – Comprehending Freedom
and Tolerance – Responding to Anti-Discrimination Policy –
­Confronting Radical Secularism – Holding Universal Truths in a
Pluralistic Society – Working with Media – Protecting Freedom
of Speech – Ways Out of the Ghetto – and more...

Contributing Authors
Jane Adolphe Marguerite Peeters
Hilarion Alfeev Michael Prüller
F. J. Borrego Borrego David Quinn
Rocco Buttiglione Austin Ruse
Charles Chaput William Saunders
Kizito Chinedu Nweke Christoph Schönborn
Jakob Cornides Jean-Pierre Schouppe
Flavio Felice Piero Tozzi
Ombretta Fumagalli-Carulli Mats Tunehag
Robert George Luca Volonté
Francesc Grané Joseph Weiler
Gudrun Kugler

© 2010 Kairos Publications

www.kairos-pr.com
ISBN: 978-3-9503055-0-0