Religious Freedom Law Turns 25 as Its Architect Sounds the Alarm Over Discrimination

The author of Portugal's Lei da Liberdade Religiosa (Religious Freedom Law) has issued a pointed warning as the legislation prepares to mark its 25th anniversary. Vera Jardim, president of the Comissão da Liberdade Religiosa (Commission for Religious Freedom), said in an interview reported on 21 June 2026 that he is increasingly concerned about a rise in cases of religious discrimination in Portuguese society. His remarks come days before a commemorative ceremony at the Palácio de Belém (Presidential Palace).

An architect's alarm

Jardim, who drafted the law that gave Portugal one of Europe's most comprehensive frameworks for protecting belief, stressed that the country is not experiencing religious persecution. What has changed, he argued, is that formal complaints of discrimination are now appearing where previously there were none. That shift, in his view, reflects a growing polarisation on religious matters that echoes a wider European trend in which Christianity is invoked to maintain national cohesion against immigration.

The incidents he cited

The concerns are not abstract. Jardim pointed to antisemitic graffiti daubed on a Lisbon synagogue, as well as discrimination, insults and attempts to exclude Islam and Muslim practices from public spaces in Portugal. He also cited discrimination against immigrants of other faiths, a question that has gained weight as the country's foreign-born population grows. Recent figures show that foreigners now make up 14 percent of Portugal's residents, a demographic change that has brought greater religious diversity to towns and cities across the country.

Religion as a political weapon

At the heart of Jardim's argument is what he describes as a "capture" of Christian discourse for non-religious ends: "há uma captura do discurso cristão por motivos que não são religiosos". Some politicians, he said, are deploying "a religião como uma arma política" (religion as a political weapon) against foreigners and immigrants. "A religião é uma arma na medida em que há políticos que defendem que a religião cristã é a base" of their ideal society, he said — religion becomes a weapon when politicians treat Christianity as the foundation of the nation they envisage.

He was careful to note that the Catholic Church hierarchy in Portugal, as in Spain, has publicly opposed using religion as a political weapon against immigrants, emphasising tolerance and respect. The answer, Jardim insisted, lies not in prohibition but in schooling attitudes: "É através da educação, não vejo outra maneira" (It is through education, I see no other way). The debate matters all the more as Portugal continues to recruit abroad, including a recent state-to-state arrangement under which Portugal is recruiting workers from Mozambique to fill labour shortages.

What This Means for Foreign and Minority-Faith Residents

• Strong legal protections: The Lei da Liberdade Religiosa guarantees freedom of belief and practice, and remains one of the more robust legal frameworks of its kind in Europe — a safeguard that has not been weakened.
• Where to turn: Residents who believe they have faced religious discrimination can look to the Comissão da Liberdade Religiosa (Commission for Religious Freedom), the body Jardim leads, as a formal point of reference.
• A rising political temperature: Faith and immigration are becoming increasingly entangled in public debate, and minority-faith residents may notice that tone reflected in political rhetoric.
• No persecution, but real complaints: Jardim is clear that Portugal is not a place of religious persecution, yet the appearance of formal discrimination complaints is a signal worth taking seriously.
• Education over prohibition: The remedy being championed is greater awareness and tolerance rather than new bans — an approach that depends on community engagement.

The 25th anniversary ceremony at the Palácio de Belém on 24 June 2026 will celebrate a quarter-century of one of Portugal's quieter constitutional achievements. But Jardim's warning ensures the occasion is also a moment of reckoning: a reminder that legal guarantees, however strong on paper, depend on a society willing to defend them. As the law enters its second quarter-century, the question he poses is whether Portugal can keep faith out of the service of politics.