Radio Free Europe

WASHINGTON — Religious freedom is on the decline in many parts of the world, according to a new report from the U.S. State Department, which calls the trend “worrying.”

The 2012 International Religious Freedom Report alsodocuments what it calls “a continued global increase in anti-Semitism.”

Secretary of State John Kerry released the annual report, which surveys almost 200 countries and territories, at the State Department in Washington on May 20. He told reporters that the “freedom to profess and practice one’s faith, to believe, or not to believe, or to change one’s beliefs [is] a birthright of every human being.”

“When countries undermine or attack religious freedom, they not only unjustly threaten those whom they target; they also threaten their countries’ own stability, and we see that in so many places,” he said.  “Attacks on religious freedom are therefore both a moral and strategic national security concern for the United States.”

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