Pastor Rita Famos has served as president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland since 2021. eks
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) released today a new essay by Pastor Rita Famos, President of the Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), as part of its ongoing essay series, “Persecution and the Unity of Believers.”
The essay series, initiated by CSI’s President Dr. John Eibner, brings together reflections from Christian leaders across traditions on the urgent reality of anti-Christian persecution and the need for Christian unity in response.
Previous contributions include an introductory essay by Dr. Eibner; the series’ inaugural essay by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; a response by Dr. Rowan Williams, a former Archbishop of Canterbury; a reflection by Archbishop Angaelos, the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London; and an essay by Professor Yusuf Turaki, a renowned Nigerian theologian who has documented the systematic persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria.
In her essay, Famos asks how the Reformed tradition in Switzerland can answer the call for solidarity with persecuted Christians, and how an “ecumenism of the martyrs,” might be lived out in practice, even without full theological unity between confessions.
Famos notes that the PCS is deeply concerned about the critical state of religious freedom worldwide, including increasing repression against Christians. She emphasizes, however, that a differentiated approach to the concept of “Christian persecution” is needed from a Reformed perspective, to avoid oversimplification without minimizing the suffering of those affected. The causes of conflict are often complex and not exclusively religious, encompassing ethnic, political, social, and geostrategic dimensions.
The essay highlights a range of Reformed engagements on behalf of persecuted Christians: longstanding solidarity with Armenian Christians dating back more than a century; the Reformed Church of the Canton of Zurich’s fund for persecuted Christians, supporting the Christian Aid Program in Iraq; Mission 21’s peace-building projects in northeastern Nigeria, including interreligious dialogue with Muslim communities; and an ecumenical event on religious freedom held in Bern in November 2025, which recalled the 1975 silent marches organized by CSI’s founder, Rev. Hans Stückelberger, against the persecution of Christians behind the Iron Curtain.
Famos affirms that confessional and structural differences between churches pale in the face of the struggle for truth, human dignity, and justice that is often paid for with one’s life. She endorses Cardinal Koch’s call for active solidarity with persecuted Christians worldwide, grounding it in the Reformed understanding of the Church as the Body of Christ, citing the Apostle Paul: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it.”
At the same time, Famos offers a distinctly Reformed theological perspective on the concept of an “ecumenism of the martyrs.” She notes that while Cardinal Koch elevates the ecumenism of martyrdom above doctrinal convergence or common Christian witness through word and deed, this emphasis is understandable within a Roman Catholic framework that conceives of the Church from the Eucharist and its underlying theology of sacrifice. From a Reformed standpoint, Famos cautions against a framework in which the self-sacrifice and Christ-like status of martyrs risks overshadowing the primacy of God’s gracious action toward humanity. In the Reformed view, the strength of martyrs’ faith is revealed in their trust in God’s sheltering care and life-giving power beyond death.
Pastor Rita Famos has served as president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland since 2021. The PCS is the national federation of Reformed churches in Switzerland.
The full text of Rita Famos’ essay is available now on the CSI international website.
