Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu is alarmed about rising hostility toward Christians, both in parts of the Islamic world and in Europe’s increasingly post‑Christian culture.
Nwachukwu, who serves as secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, told EWTN News that any serious conversation about peace and coexistence must begin with clear condemnation of anti‑Christian violence, particularly from Muslim leaders in places where Christians lack full religious freedom.
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.
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 13–23.
A diplomat urges Muslims to confront anti‑Christian violence
Drawing on decades of diplomatic service in Ghana, Paraguay, Algeria, and Switzerland, Nwachukwu described the anti‑Christian discrimination he witnessed firsthand — experiences he believes continue to be overlooked.
“I do not criticize Islam; I criticize the way some people practice their Islam,” he said. “People 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.”
He recalled that during his service in Algeria, Christians were openly labeled “enemies of Islam.” In one incident, a shopkeeper refused to serve him because he was wearing a Roman collar.
“Christians still do not have full liberty to practice their religion,” he said.
A West increasingly uncomfortable with its Christian roots
But Nwachukwu also directed sharp criticism toward Europe, where he sees a growing reluctance to defend Christianity even as Western societies emphasize religious tolerance.
“Everybody denounces Islamophobia, but nobody denounces Christianophobia,” he said. “We are in a post‑Christian Europe and a post‑Christian West.”
He noted that Christian symbols face discrimination not applied to other religions: “You enter a hall and see a symbol of Buddhism — nobody touches it. You see a Muslim in a hijab — nobody says to remove it. But you see a cross, and they say, ‘Remove it.’ Why?”
This, he argued, reflects a cultural embarrassment about Europe’s Christian heritage:
“It 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 — they now feel uncomfortable with it.”
Reverse missionaries and a hopeful response to Europe’s secular drift
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’s Christian identity.
“The West often forgets that we are the result of sacrifices made by their own brothers and sisters who became missionaries,” he said. “But the sheaves — the children of those missionaries — are now returning.”
Nwachukwu described this movement as a gift that can strengthen Western Christianity in places where secularism has taken deep root.
“We want to see the mother Churches in Europe accept and be proud of their missionary children from the global south.”
Encouragement for persecuted Christians
To Christians facing persecution — whether under hostile regimes, extremist movements, or secular cultural pressures — Nwachukwu offered a message of strength: “If you are encountering persecution, it means that the message you have is important. If your message were not important, people wouldn’t even think of you. So, the message is: Do not feel you are alone. Know what you are worth.”
