The resolution “Tackling intolerance in Europe with a special focus on Christians”, which was promoted by Moldovan MP Valeriu Ghiletchi was approved with 67 votes in favour, 2 against and 15 abstentions.

Council of Europe will vote a resolution asking European governments to “tackle intolerance in Europe with a special focus on Christians”. Evangelicals hope this will protect faith communities in countries in which they are marginalized.

Even though I feel horror at the barbarity of Islamist terrorists, I could not recognize myself in the slogan 'Je Suis Charlie', but not because I feel offended by the blasphemous cartoons but because to me, true freedom is not saying or drawing whatever comes to our mind.

“Many Christians and pastors denounce the use of violence employed against freedom of expression but do not align themselves with the blasphemous stance of ‘Charlie Hebdo’”, the French evangelical representative Thierry Le Gall told Evangelical Focus.

We must engage in rigorous, complex and thoughtful processes as we contemplate our response both to the wickedness of violence in the name of religion and the publication of offensive cartoons; be they satirical or otherwise.

All the power of the Islamic fanaticism, or the blindness and deafness of the Western Christian world, cannot be compared with the power of Christ.

The problem is particularly felt in Lombardy, due to a regional planning law, of 2005, commissioned by the Lega Nord, which prevents the use for purposes of worship of buildings that are not born with the intended use. There are already over a dozen places of worship forced to close. 

And at a time when there are actually almost no taboos left in the media and intimate matters are reported on shamelessly, the commonly held understanding - that religion is a private matter - does seem rather out of kilter. Does personal religious faith have to be completely private, or would it be better if we talked about it much more?