Meeting on the discrimination of Christians in Europe, held at the European Parliament, Brussels, on 18 Nov 2025. (Photo: ECR Group)
The Commission of the Bishopsâ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) intervened at a meeting of the European Parliamentâs Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief on Tuesday, 18 November 2025. The event was organised in cooperation with the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) and the European Christian Political Party (ECPP). Adviser Calcagno reiterated COMECEâs encouragement to the EU institutions ânot to be afraid to take bold steps to protect Christian faithful in Europe from intolerance, discrimination, hatred and ignoranceâ. Download the Speech
The event, held at the European Parliament in Brussels, brought together several MEPs from various political groups to discuss the current topic of âDiscrimination of Christians in Europeâ. COMECE was represented by Alessandro Calcagno, Assistant General Secretary and Adviser for Fundamental Rights.
In his address to the audience, Calcagno praised the work carried out by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe, whose 2025 report has just been published. The report records more than 2,000 anti-Christian hate crimes in in Europe in 2024, including a significant rise in personal attacks â which increased to 274 incidents â and a sharp spike in arson attacks targeting churches and other Christian sites.
Alessandro Calcagno reiterated COMECEâs call for the appointment of an EU Coordinator on combating anti-Christian hatred. âWe would like to see the European Union embracing the fight against this phenomenon with more conviction and the appointment of such Coordinator would be a very concrete step that the Union could take to tackle the issueâ, he said.
âWhile acknowledging and not questioning the specificity of Jewish and Muslim communities – which can already rely on an EU Coordinator – more and more reports are clearly showing the presence of crimes against Christians and of hatred, intolerance and discrimination towards them within the European Union. For COMECE, it is essential that means of protection are provided for the faithful and the sacred places of different religious denominations, regardless of whether they belong to a âmajorityâ or âminorityââ, Calcagno explained.
The COMECE representative also encouraged MEPs to include an explicit mention of Christian communities in the AgoraEU Programme, so as to allow funding of initiatives aimed at combating hatred, intolerance and discrimination.
Calcagno also called on the EU institutions to promote religious literacy as a way to tackle religious intolerance and discrimination and to decrease polarisation of EU societies. He also addressed the issue of the protection of places of worship in the EU. âProtecting places of worship is important not just for security reasons – or for their symbolic value – but especially in view of safeguarding freedom of religionâ, he stated.
Earlier this week, COMECE Vice-President Mgr. Czeslaw Kozon participated in the annual high-level meeting of EU and religious leaders hosted by EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner. On that occasion, Mgr. Kozon also called on the EU to tackle religious illiteracy and to appoint an EU Coordinator on combating anti-Christian hatred.
