The Church is Under Strict Surveillance by the Iranian Government
Christmas Mass at St. Joseph's Church, Tehran
In Iran, the Catholic religion is strictly supervised with cameras outside of the churches to make sure that no Muslims enter, and for good reason: conversion to Christianity is a crime punishable with up to ten years of prison.
The population of this Muslim republic is 99% Muslim, and the religious minorities tolerated in the country are strictly controlled by the government.
“In Iran, Catholics have their own churches, but they can't evangelize, and they can't have Bibles in any languages but their own,” explains Sohrab Ahmari, an Iranian convert to Catholicism and a senior editor for Commentary magazine.
Those who break the law and convert to Christianity are considered apostates and subjected to penalties that have become more and more severe over the years, according to the 2018 report from the United State Commission on International Religious Freedom: the current penalty is ten years in prison.
America’s recent withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal (May 8, 2018), that reestablished heavy economic sanctions on Iran, will do nothing to help the situation of the Christians in the country, which is likely to become even more precarious.
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Sources: Catholic News Agency – FSSPX.News – 5/31/2018
