Every day, Anja Tang and her colleagues search newspapers from all corners of Europe to look for incidents of intolerance against Christians. And sometimes, the breaches of religious freedom come even from the governments. 

Anja Tang tells all about that in the CNE podcast.  

At the office of OIDAC (Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians), they search in all languages. But director (and CNE columnist) Anja Tang-Hoffmann knows that many incidents of hatred against Christians do not make it into the news. 

When OIDAC presented its 2025 report in Brussels last week, one story caught everyone’s attention. A visitor reported that a church liturgy in Brussels was disrupted by a man shouting “Allahu Akbar.” “We have a few of these cases”, Anja says. 

Most often, those disturbances come from France, Spain and England. These countries are at the top in the annual report, together with Germany. In the podcast, she shares examples of vandalism. It even happens that churches are set on fire. 

To CNE’s podcast host Evert van Vlastuin, Anja Tang shares that she finds it “surprising” that many times the intolerance comes from the governments themselves in the form of restrictions. In contrast, governments are expected to protect religious freedom. 

Concrete examples are the buffer zones around abortion clinics. In a radius of 150 or 200 metres, you are not allowed to give any sign of disapproval to abortion. “Adam Smith Connor was punished for just having his head slightly bowed while he was silently praying. He did not speak a word and did not interact with anyone. But even that was a violation of this buffer zone rule.” 

Tang is convinced that this is a breach of religious freedom on the part of the government. She rejects the “narrative” that people remain free to pray outside this zone. “Religious freedom has a public dimension. Individuals are free to pray wherever they want. The burden is on the government that restrictions are as narrow as possible, and that restrictions are only allowed if they are necessary to protect public order.” In the podcast, she clarifies that in most cases, there is no harassment of public order. 

Behind all this, there is a “post-Christian ethics”, as Tang calls it. “Christianity emphasises the role of the individual and individual freedom and dignity. But the post-Christian ethics only looks at self-determination without any ties to human nature.” 

Tang’s conclusion as OIDAC director is that the European Commission needs to appoint a coordinator for combating anti-Christian hate crime. Such an office already exists for Jews and Muslims. In the podcast, she explains why such a person is needed for Christians as well. 

Hear Anja Tang explain why she believes Europe needs to act –and how faith freedom affects everyone– in this week’s CNE podcast. 

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That is the concern from the Norwegian lawyer Anders Ryssdal. He represents the Jehovah’s Witnesses in a court case regarding state grants for this religious group and certain Christian schools. 

In the talk with CNE’s podcast host Evert van Vlastuin, Anders Ryssdal explains the tensions between faith, state and society in one of Europe’s most secular countries. Anders has dealt with more cases regarding religious freedom, and he thinks there is an “indirect threat” to this liberty. A very secular state and society can give you a “stigma”, he says. 

This stigma is there already for Jews, Ryssdal says. “They need police protection for the synagogue. There could be a personal risk to be a Jew.” This direct risk is not there for Christians. “If the government refuses funds to particular Christian societies, these societies are undermined and could suffer”, the lawyer says. This could be a path to marginalisation. 

Ryssdal stresses that religious freedom is not only a liberty to believe, but also a liberty to assemble with others. 

In this week’s CNE podcast, Ryssdal explains the Norwegian system of state money for all (recognised) religious groups. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses lost all grants because of their exclusion policy if members live a sinful life. This is especially sensitive if it concerns young members between 15 and 18 years, who are still minors legally. 

Although Ryssdal won the first round, the case will reach Norway’s Supreme Court in February 2026 — and could redefine religious freedom in the country.  

The conversation doesn’t end with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Christian schools in Norway tied to the conservative church community Menigheten Samfundet face scrutiny from the Ministry of Education. Their “crime”? Not teaching about homosexuality according to state expectations. 

Ryssdal sees government interference as overreach: “It’s possible to teach both science and religious belief. The question is, are we allowed to stress the religious dimension?” 

State money was originally only there for the state church. However, since the Church of Norway is no longer an official state church, the free churches also receive government funding to create legal equality. This means that pastors in independent churches and among Jehovah’s Witnesses also receive funding from Oslo. 

Ryssdal admits that the government money makes the issue of religious freedom more complicated. “As soon as you get money from the state, the state gets a grip on you,” Ryssdal observes.

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But is this truly about abortion — or is it a calculated distraction from corruption scandals shaking his party? With Sánchez’s party facing corruption scandals, the timing of the proposal has raised eyebrows. “It feels like a strategy to shift public attention”, Godden explains to CNE podcast host Evert van Vlastuin. “He wants to appear progressive and pro-women, but the reality is more complex.”

And even though the proposal does not specifically stigmatise doctors, it does contain a list with medical experts who conscientiously object to performing abortions. While intended to ensure sufficient medical staff, critics fear it could stigmatise professionals and infringe on privacy. “The intention of the law is to know which ones are objectors to abortion, so people who want an abortion can be referred to the right one”, Paula explains in the podcast. However, it remains the question how this legislation would work out in practice.

In the podcast, Paula offers a sharp legal and cultural analysis, tracing the evolution of abortion laws in Spain from Franco-era criminalisation to today’s liberal framework. During the time of the Franco dictatorship, she says in the podcast, abortion was severely criminalised. The ban was also associated with Roman Catholic and Christian beliefs, Paula adds. The influence of that is still seen today. “Being against abortion is understood as something Christian, not as something that could be bad for women, without needing to be involved into religious thoughts”.

Furthermore, Paula explains how recent reforms have already made abortion widely accessible, raising the question: Why push for constitutional change now?

Paula challenges popular narratives, arguing that abortion, while politically charged, does not meet the criteria of a human right. She also warns against the emotional and ideological framing that often clouds public debate.

She criticises the ideological framing of abortion as a feminist issue. “It’s become emotionally charged and politically weaponised,” she says. “We need to step back and ask: What is this practice really about? Do women really need abortion? What's the problem that women are facing that makes them consider abortion? How can we really empower and help women?”

The conversation also delves into a deeper philosophical question: *Is abortion a human right?* Paula argues that it is not. “Human rights are inherent to all human beings—like the right to life. Abortion doesn’t fit that definition,” she explains. She warns against the emotional and ideological framing that often dominates public discourse, urging a return to legal clarity and ethical nuance.

Tune in to hear Paula’s thoughtful perspective on law, ethics, and the future of abortion in Spain. 

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Most countries stay silent when babies are traded as goods, says a UN expert in the CNE podcast. Children are sold around the world as if they were commodities. 

The UN Human Rights Commission appointed Reem Alsalem as special rapporteur on violence against women and girls. She has already written reports about the degrading character of prostitution and the danger in which female sports are at the moment.  

This month, she presented a [report](https://docs.un.org/en/A/80/158) on surrogacy in the UN General Assembly, requesting a worldwide ban on this practice. 

For Reem Alsalem, the matter is simple: Surrogacy is turning the most intimate parts of a woman into a marketplace for money. She says in the CNE podcast that this should be forbidden. 

Surrogacy is the practice in which other women can carry and deliver a child for you when you cannot do that yourself. Officially, this helps poor women earn money by carrying someone else’s child. But the UN expert shows another side: this makes it easy for child abusers. 

As soon as the child is born, they are immediately separated from the biological mother, says Alsalem. All people in the world are quickly breastfed, but those kids are not. Why not? They should not bond with the woman they have lived with for nine months, although this is the child’s right. In the podcast, the UN expert speaks about the “immense harmful consequences” of this. 

Some justify surrogacy by pointing to the Bible and the history of Abraham and Hagar. This interpretation is wrong, says Alsalem, and in the podcast, she explains why. 

In the Western world, the legislation differs from country to country. Italy and Slovakia have banned the practice, and Ukraine and Georgia are the European hotspots. 

Reem Alsalem –herself a citizen of Jordan– is very outspoken. Surrogacy is exploiting female bodies. Does it make any difference that the women give consent? No, since legally, “you cannot consent to situations of exploitation or abuse”, she explains in the CNE podcast. 

The circumstances in which those women carry such a child are degrading. “They can be forced to an abortion”, she tells CNE podcast host Evert van Vlastuin.  

She is not impressed by the argument that surrogacy is a means to give offspring to childless people. “There is no right to have your own children as part of your reproductive rights.” 

She rejects the comparison with adoption. In those cases, the intended parents are checked thoroughly. There are examples of children who ended up in the hands of criminals and people who (sexually) abused the child. “We have also seen that they often struggle with long-term questions of identity and origin.” 

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Just one more week, and then attorney Matti Sankamo will plead before the highest court ever in his career: Finland’s Supreme Court. Christians from all over the world will follow the case, but this does not give him stress. “I sleep well”, he says in the CNE podcast.

Sankamo is the lawyer for the Finnish Member of Parliament, Päivi Räsanen. On October 30th, she will appear in an oral hearing at the Supreme Court in Helsinki. And the decision of this court is final, at least in Finland.

The persecution started in 2019 after Räsänen posted a tweet with questions about the Lutheran Church’s support for the Gay Pride in Helsinki together with a photo of Romans 1, in which the apostle calls sex between men dishonourable.

Two earlier courts acquitted her unanimously of all the charges. But the prosecutor wants this case to be heard at the highest level: the Supreme Court.

No doubt, this case could shape the future of freedom of both speech and religion in Finland and perhaps the rest of Europe.

In the podcast, the advocate states that it is “very rare” that the Supreme Court in Finland holds an oral hearing. Most attorneys never have cases at this court, making it a unique event in Sankamo’s professional life.

He assumes the judges did this because this is a “high-profile case” with broad media attention. In such cases, it could be important for the court to show that justice exists for all parties.

Another reason could be that the judges are interested in “Räsänen’s intention behind the tweet”.

To podcast host Evert van Vlastuin, Matti explains that it is not the duty of the Supreme Court to find new evidence but rather to find out whether the evidence was interpreted correctly at lower levels.  

So far, he says the prosecutor’s legal argumentation was “very abstract.” She quoted more international conventions than national law.

Matti agrees that this case can have international consequences. He himself borrowed some of the argumentation from the case of the Swedish pastor Ake Green []. “So, if we win, it can influence other lawyers in other countries. Obviously, it is not going to be binding for foreign courts.”

If Räsänen loses, she can appeal to the European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. “But that’s a very different kind of process, and the consequences are different. So, it’s important for us to win in Finland.”

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The very existence of Israel is an “annoying reminder” that there is a God. That is what Tomas Sandell has learned from the rise of antisemitism in recent years. 

Tomas is the director of the European Coalition for Israel (EC4I). He usually travels between Brussels, New York, and Geneva. But he joins CNE from his home country, Finland, to discuss faith, politics, and the spiritual meaning behind today’s headlines. 

He has witnessed antisemitism surge during the war in Gaza. For him, hatred against the Jews is “very irrational” and is nothing less than “anti-God”. Speaking with host Evert van Vlastuin, he observes: “People who struggle with godly Judeo-Christian values often also have a big problem with Israel.” 

The relationship between the European Union and Israel has always been good. Sandell stresses that this even improved under the leadership of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Parliament President Roberta Metsola. 

Tensions between Europe and Israel were more with the member states. After the Hamas terrorist attacks in October 2023, nine member states recognised Palestinian statehood. Sandell is not impressed. “All because of domestic problems,” he explains in the interview. 

He recalls attending the UN General Assembly in late September, where President Macron announced France’s recognition. “That was really a flop. There were few delegates, and most at a low level.” In the podcast, he answers whether recognition is a European trend. 

For him personally, Israel was always there. This is rooted in his Christian upbringing in the Swedish-speaking community of Finland. “David was always my king, Daniel was always my prophet, and Abraham was a patriarch of my faith. It was never difficult to make that connection.” 

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Branislav Skripek in CNE podcast: How a ‘miracle’ vote changed the Slovak constitution  

When Slovakia’s parliament passed six constitutional amendments in late September, Branislav Skripek called it a “miracle.” The Christian Democratic politician explains why in the latest CNE podcast. 

The changes, passed with exactly 90 of the 150 required votes, strengthen legal protections for children and families. For Skripek, that outcome was far from guaranteed. He did not think this would be possible. 

So what do these amendments actually mean? According to Skripek, they affirm that sex is biological, defend Slovak sovereignty in family and cultural matters, and require parental consent for sexual education. They also ban surrogacy, restrict adoption to heterosexual married couples, and emphasise the child’s right to grow up with their own parents. 

But the story is not just about law and politics. In the podcast, Skripek also shares his personal experience of the adoption of a severely handicapped child when Branislav was still single.  

In the podcast, he also reflects on “corruption” in the Slovak government and responds to accusations that Slovakia is following a “Russian agenda.” “These changes are not Russian,” he insists. They are the mind of Christian Democratic people.” 

To hear Branislav Skripek unpack Slovakia’s bold constitutional changes — and why he believes it’s a turning point for Europe — listen to the full CNE podcast with CNE’s host Evert van Vlastuin. 

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Does demonising turn me into an enemy of my neighbour? Olof Edsinger warns it can. In this week’s CNE podcast, he offers a Christian response.

When people stop listening to others in a society, they will become strangers to each other. This can get dangerous, as Edsinger says in the podcast.  

Olof is not only a Christian Swedish opinion maker but also the general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance in Sweden.  

In the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk killing in the USA, polarisation is a current issue for Christians. But the topic was there earlier already, with the splitting debate about Israel and Hamas. In the podcast, Olof shares why his Evangelical Alliance takes no official stance on this. 

Christians who participate in politics have a difficult job, he says. As Christians, they might strive for a “peaceful and quiet life”, as Paul says in his letter to Timothy. But in a political debate, you sometimes have to “create differences”, Edsinger says. “Christians in politics can’t play by the same rules as in church.” 

Of course, people want to be together with others who agree with them, Olof says. But this also has another side. “In our world of social media, this has created echo chambers”, he says to podcast host Evert van Vlastuin. “You don’t have to be curious about the other person any more.” 

However, Christians must remain truth seekers who do not misrepresent others. In the podcast, he explains how this works concerning Israel and Gaza. He says that both sides have legitimate opinions. “Truth seeking is not covering up.” Still, Edsinger explains in the podcast that Christians should work for de-escalation. 

Olof is quite active in the debate about Christian marriage and the Biblical sexual ethics in his country. Sometimes, this can lead to a polarised situation too. Edsinger says he always tries to argue from common ground as much as possible, not specifically from the Bible. “Marriage, sexuality and family belong to the creation sphere that is valid for all humans and not just for Christians. Beliefs that you can only argue from the Bible, you should leave them outside of politics”, Olof Edsinger says. 

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Addicts can be loyal friends, says Andy Constable in the CNE podcast

In Niddrie, you find a drug dealer every 100 feet. Yet pastor Andy Constable believes that addicts have something to teach to the church.

In the CNE podcast, he says that drunkards and junkies are much more open about their lives than ordinary churchgoers. “The key is to come to them with humility”, says Andy Constable after 17 years of daily experience with addicts.

Andy works in the country with the highest death rates because of drugs in Europe: Scotland. In the CNE podcast, he shares more about this with the host Evert van Vlastuin.  

He works as a pastor of Niddrie Community Church and the addict’s program 20schemes that belongs to the church. Niddrie is an area in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.  

Together with the former addict, Mez McConnell, he wrote the book *Addiction and the Local Church* that will come out soon.  

Co-author Mez was a drug addict who was saved by the Gospel. Grace not only washed away his sins, but also caused him to stay away from taking drugs again.

For Andy, this illustrates the power of the Gospel. When addicts come to the door, he first says that they are welcome and then continues that there is “hope and healing” in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is not against rehabilitation centres, but they only deal with the “outside”. The church and the Gospel are focused on the “inside”.  

Only the power of the Holy Spirit can bring a solution, he says. “I teach the hope of Ezekiel and Jeremiah that God promises that when we trust in Jesus Christ, He gives us a new heart, which changes our actions.”

He has seen radical change through grace. “I have met people who, as soon as they became a Christian, didn’t ever touch drugs again. We praise the Lord for that.”

But he has also seen other things. “Many men and women I’ve worked with have had a more up-and-down walk with the Lord. They’ve had seasons of victory over addiction and fallen back again into sinful habits. Sanctification is a slow process.”

In the interview, he shares more about the ‘success’ rates.

Constable sees addiction as sin. He defines addictions as: “Sinful or idolatrous habits that enslave and destroy a person.”  

An addiction is a power that keeps you away from putting the Lord first. In the podcast, Andy challenges the way we usually think about addiction — even suggesting that your phone might be your idol.

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When Klementina Shahini was a child, nobody would have guessed that she would start the only Protestant Christian school in Albania. She was raised in a Muslim family. Together with her husband, she came to faith in Jesus shortly after the fall of Communism.

Lezha Academic Center is now the best-performing school in the region around Lezha. Klementina has worked on this for 14 years.

The Albanian state does not have money for Klementina's school. Only Muslim, Orthodox, or Roman Catholic schools receive funding. Therefore, finance has always been a central challenge for the school. But so far, the school has survived.

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