Moscow, Dec. 18, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A Russian human-rights activist has warned about a rise in the number of attacks on the Catholic Church, the Interfax news agency reports.
Roman Silantyev, who handles human-rights issues for the head of the World Russian People's Council, reported that attacks on the Catholic faith have "dramatically increased during the past two years." Silantyev pointed to political attacks by secular liberals and Muslim fundamentalists. He also cited hostility toward Catholicism in the media and the world of entertainment, pointing to popular works like The Golden Compass and The Da Vinci Code.
Silantyev said that he saw the rise in anti-Catholicism as a reaction against the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, whose policies he sees as "more dangerous for the anti-Christian forces." The Russian activist-- who himself is Orthodox-- said that the Orthodox churches should recognize the motivation for these attacks, and join Catholics in resisting them.