The Media and Religious Freedom
To support Human Rights Day 2025, UPF Slovakia held a panel discussion on December 10, 2025, in its Bratislava Peace Embassy. The event, entitled: Media and Religious Freedom. Do they protect, ignore, or endanger religious minorities and new religions? attracted considerable interest.
After welcoming the audience, UPF Slovakia president Miloš Klas quoted the Italian journalist Mario Respinti: “Words, images, and headlines shape public opinion. Such framing can either uphold dignity or legitimize prejudice. When it comes to religious freedom, the media has become part of the problem. Instead of acting as guardians of democracy, they often behave as its prosecutors and judges, or even as priests of orthodoxy.”
Klas was followed by Jan Figel, a renowned politician and current president of the Forum of Religious Freedom Europe (FOREF). Figel explained the Human Rights Article 18 (which affirms freedom of thought, conscience and religion) in great detail, explaining that although the existence of the Human Rights Charter is known, few are aware of its contents and obligations. People need to understand that where there are rights, there are also responsibilities; the two cannot be separated. It is scandalous that the fact that currently, 250 million Christians are under persecution worldwide barely receives any attention in the media.
“A single negative press or television report can destroy a reputation, faith, career, or project. Lawsuits for defamation rarely restore the reputation of the defamed,” said the next speaker, Barbara Grabner. She drew on her experiences as a journalist and presented a power point about media impact, highlighting the enormous shaming power of the media.
“People understand events and circumstances based on images created by the media. Journalists often use stereotypes to make them understand complex issues. However, stereotypes produce prejudice and stigmatization.”
Patrik Daniška, chairman of the Institute for Human Rights and Family Policy is the organizer of many large rallies promoting family values, but his work has been hampered by biased reporting. Presenting the marches as Christian events of no interest to for the general public; attempting to link his issues with those of political extremists; biased headlines and fabricated contents; unfair accounts about the number of participants – these are but a few of the popular tricks employed by the media.
Renáta Ocilková, Chairwoman of the Slovak Society for the Family, is a well-known lecturer of family and relationship education. Currently her focus is on human rights and transgender issues seen from a Christian perspective. She too experiences how images, and headlines influence the public´s perception of her work. Media reports are biased because her work contradicts the dominant LGBT narrative.
Next, Pavel Mudra explained how the Church of Scientology tries to improve knowledge and understanding of the individual articles of the Human Rights Charter. The Church of Scientology produces attractive booklets, audiovisuals and lessons for youth, to remedy a lack of awareness of basic rights. Because general media does not help these efforts, they focus on the use of social media.
The concluding highlight was the awarding of the title of Ambassador of Peace to Dr. Stefan Detvai, former President of the Lawyers Association in Slovakia. Fifty years ago, Dr. Detvai demonstrated impressive courage in defending members of the Unification Church against the communist authorities and gave an inspiring testimony about his involvement at that time.
After a brief question and answer session, the 48 participants chatted as they enjoyed refreshments.