Pennsylvania SR 208: 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.

Bill Text

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