The climate of religious freedom is not really getting better, says Dr. John Graz, director of public affairs and religious liberty for the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide. In fact, Graz admits the situation has worsened.

Graz made his comments in connection with the release Feb. 3 of the latest edition of the Religious Freedom World Report. The report offers insights into the progress, or lack thereof, that religious freedom is making around the world.

“There are many threats and plenty of question marks about the state of religious freedom,” said Graz. “There are several countries really involved in defending religious freedom. The war against terrorism, even if it’s a war for freedom and religious tolerance, can be used as an alibi to restrict religious freedom. This is our main concern for the moment.”

“Religious extremists are still very strong and continue to burn churches and attack Christians,” Graz says. The report singles out Turkmenistan and Vietnam, two the countries where freedom of religion is severely abused.

According to Graz, in several parts of the world “main[line] religions are trying to get new legislation against conversion—atempting to marginalize some churches, mainly evangelical [ones].”

A second area of concern, Graz says, is the movement against western values, which are a target for religious extremism.

The World Report, now in its fourth annual edition, is chiefly based on information gathered from Adventist Church sources in 201 countries. It categorizes countries on a scale of one to five, with category five indicating the worst religious freedom situation—which sometimes is none at all. This year’s report identifies nine countries in category five and 24 countries in category four.

As in previous years, the 2002 report will be submitted to the United Nations and other relevant authorities. “The U.N. Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Abdelfattah Amor, has expressed his appreciation for past reports and used such documentation in his work to reduce religious freedom violations,” says Jonathan Gallagher, U.N. liaison director for the Adventist Church worldwide.

“We encourage our own believers to become more involved in promulgating religious freedom as well as being vigilant and proactive toward anyone whose religious rights are being denied, abused and ridiculed,” says Ray Dabrowski, communication director for the world church. “And one of the best weapons against religious intolerance is information. The World Report is an invaluable resource.”

The 2002 World Report will soon be available for downloading, free of charge, at