An Irish MEP says the EU is seen as a “cold place for Christianity”.

Gay Mitchell MEP, speaking in the European Parliament, said he had experienced a lack of respect from people about his religious belief.

Mr Mitchell said there are “people here who see themselves as fair minded and liberal but who are anything but that when it comes to trying to see things from the point of view of people who have religious belief”.

He added: “I respect those who do not have religious belief but I fully expect them to reciprocate that respect.”

In March a British MEP said she believed faith should be a “personal eccentricity” and kept out of public life.

The European Union is proposing a directive to outlaw discrimination on grounds including sexual orientation and religion in the provision of goods and services.

But Britain’s Roman Catholic leaders have branded the proposed EU Equal Treatment Directive an “instrument of oppression”.

They warned in August that if the Directive were implemented “the EU would effectively be dictating to religious bodies what their faith does or does not require: a wholly unacceptable position”.

• Full story at the Christian Institute.

• Filed under Europe, Roman Catholic Church, Scottish Christian News Monitor, Secularism.