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PRINTER'S NO. 1390
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No. 208
Session of
2026
INTRODUCED BY MASTRIANO, MARTIN, ARGALL, VOGEL, PHILLIPS-HILL,
HUTCHINSON, LAUGHLIN, DUSH, BROOKS, GEBHARD AND CULVER,
JANUARY 20, 2026
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, JANUARY 20, 2026
A RESOLUTION
Condemning the worldwide persecution of Christians, recognizing
the persecution as a grave human rights crisis, reaffirming
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's historic commitment to
religious liberty and urging Federal action.
WHEREAS, Religious liberty is a foundational principle of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States, enshrined in
the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and
rooted in the vision of William Penn, who believed that freedom
of conscience is essential to human dignity; and
WHEREAS, William Penn wrote that "True godliness doesn't turn
men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and
excites their endeavors to mend it," a principle that has guided
Pennsylvania's enduring commitment to freedom of faith and
peaceful coexistence; and
WHEREAS, According to Open Doors International, today,
Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world,
with more than 380 million Christians living under conditions of
high or extreme persecution because of their faith; and
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WHEREAS, This persecution is not limited to social
discrimination or isolated unrest, and constitutes a global
human rights catastrophe that in many nations reflects
systematic, coordinated and deliberate campaigns to silence
Christian belief, suppress worship and eradicate Christian
communities; and
WHEREAS, According to Open Doors International's 2025 World
Watch List, Christians worldwide face imprisonment, torture,
forced conversion, mob violence, destruction of homes and
churches, sexual violence, abduction and murder solely because
of their faith; and
WHEREAS, Open Doors International is a watchdog organization
to end the persecution of Christians worldwide by bringing the
atrocities committed against Christians to global awareness; and
WHEREAS, In Pakistan, blasphemy laws are routinely abused as
instruments of terror; and
WHEREAS, A single accusation, which are often false and
motivated by personal, political or economic animus, can result
in mob violence, extrajudicial killings and the destruction of
entire Christian communities; and
WHEREAS, Open Doors International has reported on Christians
in Pakistan who have been publicly lynched, their homes burned
and their neighborhoods razed, including the destruction of
Christian communities in Joseph Colony in Lahore and Gojra City,
while authorities failed to intervene or hold perpetrators
accountable; and
WHEREAS, In April 2018, during Easter celebrations in Quetta,
Pakistan, gunmen murdered Imran Masih, Tariq Masih, Pervaiz
Masih and Firdus Bibi, and injured a minor child, Sehar Pervaiz,
followed the next day by a separate attack outside a church in
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Essa Nagri, killing Rashid Khalid and Azhar Iqbal and wounding
others; and
WHEREAS, In 2023, mobs in Jaranwala, Pakistan, burned more
than 20 churches and hundreds of Christian homes, desecrated
crosses, trampled Bibles and forced families to flee in terror
with little more than the clothes they were wearing; and
WHEREAS, These actions illustrate the persistent and lethal
targeting of Christians in Pakistan; and
WHEREAS, Young Christian girls in Pakistan are routinely
kidnapped, raped, forcibly married and coerced to convert to
another religion, with these crimes frequently ignored or
legitimized by courts and families who seek justice subjected to
threats, violence or death; and
WHEREAS, Open Doors International also publicized that in the
People's Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party has
waged an open campaign against Christianity, demolishing
churches, removing crosses, imprisoning pastors, banning
children from worship, censoring Bible access and shutting down
underground "house church" networks; and
WHEREAS, Christians in China have been ordered to replace
images of Christ with portraits of Communist Party leaders,
while pastors who refuse face detention, disappearance and long-
term imprisonment; and
WHEREAS, The Chinese government has deployed artificial
intelligence surveillance systems to monitor church attendance
and religious activity, creating an unprecedented digital
apparatus of religious persecution that tracks, grades and
punishes faith itself; and
WHEREAS, In Haiti, the collapse of civil order has enabled
heavily armed gangs to target Christian institutions that
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provide education, medical care and humanitarian relief,
resulting in churches being burned, looted and occupied; and
WHEREAS, Priests, nuns, pastors and Christian aid workers in
Haiti have been kidnapped at gunpoint, held for ransom,
assaulted or killed, often during worship services or funerals;
and
WHEREAS, Open Doors International reported that, in 2023, a
gang attack on a Christian orphanage in Port-au-Prince resulted
in the abduction of children and staff, the burning of vehicles
and threats of execution, demonstrating the deliberate targeting
of Christian ministries serving the poor; and
WHEREAS, Despite this terror, the Church in Haiti continues
to feed the hungry, care for the sick and shelter the displaced,
bearing witness to faith, resilience and service in the face of
violence; and
WHEREAS, The most severe persecution of Christians today,
according to Open Doors International, is occurring in Nigeria,
Africa's most populous nation and home to one of the world's
largest Christian populations; and
WHEREAS, Over the past decade, tens of thousands of
Christians in Nigeria have been murdered by Boko Haram
terrorists and Fulani extremist militias, with churches bombed
during worship, villages destroyed, clergy executed and entire
Christian communities wiped out; and
WHEREAS, In 2023 alone, more than 5,000 Christians were
killed for their faith in Nigeria, while women and children were
abducted, forcibly converted or murdered for refusing to
renounce Christianity; and
WHEREAS, The atrocities in Nigeria account for more
abductions, forcible conversions and murders than in all other
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countries combined; and
WHEREAS, In Nigeria's Plateau and Benue States, mass graves
mark villages annihilated in single-night attacks, and the
failure of governmental authorities to provide protection or
accountability has allowed religious cleansing to continue with
impunity; and
WHEREAS, If left unchecked, the persecution of Christians in
Nigeria risks becoming the largest genocide of Christians in the
21st century; and
WHEREAS, Christians in India comprise approximately 2.3% of
the population, yet face rising intolerance, extreme violence
and legal harassment, particularly in Manipur, Uttar Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh and Odisha, according to Open Doors International;
and
WHEREAS, Reported attacks against Christians surged from 147
incidents in 2014 to more than 831 in 2024, with nearly 300
occurring in the first months of 2024 and more than 1,000
Christians arrested under anti-conversion laws; and
WHEREAS, Organizations, including the United Christian Forum,
the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations and
Ecclesia United International report that more than 117,000
Christians have suffered violence, displacement, intimidation or
legal persecution, including forced reconversions, mob attacks,
vandalism of churches and schools and threats to pastors and
worshipers; and
WHEREAS, Article 25 of the Constitution of India guarantees
freedom of religion, yet Christians often live in fear, unable
to openly practice their faith; and
WHEREAS, Behind every statistic is a human life, a mother
shielding her children from a mob, a pastor preaching
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forgiveness as the pastor's church burns or a child fleeing
violence clutching a Bible; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a moral and
historic obligation to speak against religious persecution, to
affirm the equal dignity of all people and to stand with those
who suffer for their faith; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
condemn the worldwide persecution of Christians, recognizing the
persecution as a grave human rights crisis, reaffirm the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's historic commitment to religious
liberty and urge Federal action; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, in the strongest and most unequivocal terms,
condemn the worldwide persecution of Christians as a grave human
rights crisis and, in many cases, as genocide under
international law; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
call upon the President of the United States, the United States
Secretary of State and the Congress of the United States to:
(1) Formally recognize the persecution of Christians
worldwide as a grave human rights crisis and, where
applicable, genocide under international law.
(2) Fulfill the obligations of the United States under
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide.
(3) Impose appropriate diplomatic, economic and targeted
sanctions against governments and organizations that enable
or perpetrate religious persecution.
(4) Provide humanitarian aid and security assistance to
displaced and endangered Christian populations.
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(5) Lead international efforts to hold perpetrators of
religious violence accountable;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
reaffirm its enduring commitment to religious liberty as the
foundation of human dignity and declare that Pennsylvania's
voice stand firmly on the side of freedom, faith and human
rights for all; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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