Report on “religious extremism” focuses on Catholicism, ignores Islam

A recent document by a European think tank decries the “accelerating financial expansion of movements working to dismantle decades of hard-won sexual and reproductive rights across Europe.” The report, published by the Brussels-based European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF), highlights the “anti-rights and religious extremist actors in Europe,” but focuses mostly on just one religion: Christianity. Through this inherent bias, the organization admits the one institution that its members and their allies fear—the Catholic Church—as the organizing force behind the “religious ideologues [who] are executing meticulous, long-term strategies for power.”

EPF’s executive committee consists of one member of the European Parliament, along with members of parliament from several constituent states of the EU, with two additional politicians from outside the Union. All of the committee members come from socially left-wing political parties—from a party of the French “center,” Renaissance (founded by French President Emmanuel Macron) to the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party.

A large, wealthy, and pro-abortion coalition 

Neil Datta, the author of the 158-page study titled “The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Reclaiming Power”, has been the executive director of EPF since 2004. Before joining the Forum, Datta was the coordinator of the Parliamentary Programme of the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network, one of the funding partners of the EPF—an ironic background for someone who is spotlighting the “$1.18 billion in anti-gender funding between 2019 and 2023.”

The Federation generates nearly $121 million annually. If this level of funding held consistent between 2019 and 2023, this pro-abortion coalition, by itself, gathered half of the total worth of the “religious ideologues” condemned by EPF.

Besides the International Planned Parenthood Federation, EPF’s other funding partners are global gender-ideology powerhouses: the United Nations Population Fund; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and the Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros (among others). These organizations, along with their ideological allies, have significantly more resources than the $1.18 billion of their opponents.

Ideological bias against the Catholic Church

Datta’s report (which is not freely available for download, but requires a €25 donation) builds upon two previous studies from EPF about “European anti-gender actors.”

The 2021 study touted that “this [anti-gender] movement had mobilised over US$700 million between 2009 and 2018, channelling resources to establish five pan-European platforms: an anti-abortion coalition, an anti-LGBTQI network, a Christian political party, a social media mobilisation hub and a pseudo-Catholic far-right alliance.” The director-activist never defined the “pseudo-Catholic” term used throughout the study.

The term “Catholic” appears 277 times in the June 2025 document. “Russia”/”Russian” might be the only term that turns up more often (395 times), but this is often in a geopolitical context instead of a religious one (“Orthodox” appears 93 times, a third of the mentions of “Catholic”).

Islam is mentioned just once (outside of footnotes) in a study purportedly about religious extremism, and that single reference wasn’t even in the context of internal European politics. Datta noted that Family Watch International, an American “anti-gender” group,” has been active in engaging with the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) … having served as the catalyst for the 2023 homophobic legislation adopted in Uganda.”

At first, Datta mentions the Church or openly Catholic organizations mainly in passing. When he does mention them, he regularly emphasizes their supposedly extreme stances—such as ”ultra-Catholic media organisations;” and the Population Research Institute as a “far-right Catholic organisation established by priests.”

The EPF executive director then states that a “Catholic financial network is quietly gaining ground —not just bankrolling activism but reshaping Europe’s political playing field.” Two centers of this apparent network are specifically French organizations, along with a broader “aristo-clerical” coalition on the continent.

Datta maintains his earlier slanted labeling—highlighting that one of the four most-significant groups in France “operates at the nexus of traditional Catholicism and far-right politics, financing digital infrastructure for ultra-conservative Catholic media in France.”

A leftist fixation on aristo-clerical” networks

The author led into his focus on “aristo-clerical” networks by noting that “the German religious extremist funding landscape is dominated by aristocrat-led foundations.” He launches a full attack on the “European aristocrats [that] bring three essential components in addition to their wealth and perceived prestige value: a generalised disdain for democracy and liberal values; a worldview based on religious legitimation for inherited social, political and economic inequality; and being part of a vast, transnational and endogamous network.”

Datta singles out the extended Habsburg family for particular scrutiny. He claims that they “actively promote anti-gender ideologies, lending a charismatic face to illiberal authoritarianism.” He does not point a finger at the direct heir of Karl, the last Habsburg emperor (beatified by the Catholic Church in 2004). Instead, the EPF leader blames Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, who has “strategically incorporated Habsburg descendants into his political network”—especially, his government’s ambassador to the Holy See, Archduke Eduard.

The diplomat, in Datta’s view, “stands out as the most public-facing figure…[who] has also cultivated a social media presence, blending personal musings with advocacy for traditional values and subtle monarchist ideals.” Who knew that Archduke-Ambassador Eduard’s account on X/Twitter (with 109,000+ followers), along with his several books, is a noteworthy threat to “democracy and liberal values” in Europe?

The accusation is particularly exaggerated in light of recent moves to curb free speech in Germany and religious freedom in Spain, with the former arresting dozens in June over their online insults of politicians, and the latter fast-tracking legislation that would criminalize “conversion therapy.” Despite vocal opposition to the proposed law in Spain, mainly from evangelicals, it would also criminalize Catholic apostolates.

Earlier in 2025, authorities in Valencia opened an investigation over “potential hate crimes and criminal conspiracy charges against the San Vicente Mártir Diocesan Schools Foundation, following claims it attempted to ‘cure homosexuality’ in students.” Saúl Castro, a left-wing activist in Spain, also released a book in 2022 that accused multiple Catholic priests and bishops of supporting “conversion therapy”—and advocated that such clerics be sent to jail.

Ironically, the EPF executive director spotlights free speech as an issue towards the end of the study. Predictably, Datta attacks his ideological opponents, decrying how “right-wing libertarians increasingly advocate for absolute and unregulated freedom of speech. Such advocacy tends to be selective, defending hate speech while simultaneously suppressing democratic criticism of authoritarian leaders and anti-rights agendas.”

He also issues an eyebrow-raising claim—that “the media sphere is no longer a neutral marketplace of ideas where superior narratives naturally prevail. Instead, it is deeply skewed in favour of anti-rights actors, fragmented into algorithm-driven echo chambers that reinforce existing biases and amplify polarisation.”

The Catholic Church as ‘puppet master’ in ‘religious extremist activism’

Datta dedicates 17 pages to the Catholic Church’s “substantial influence across Europe”—along with that of traditionalist Protestant and Eastern Orthodox communions. The Church, in his opinion, is the main “engine room of anti-gender mobilisation in Europe”—in other words, the center of a continent-wide conspiracy.

Besides the Church’s overt participation/influence in Europe’s political structures (through diplomacy and its observer status at the EU), he hypes the “informal and often covert forms of influence….through two main channels: first, via individuals with personal ties to the Catholic hierarchy or lay groups; second, through Church-organised NGOs (ChONGOs), which act as proxies for Church positions.”

The author targets the members of Opus Dei, in particular, as “anti-rights puppet masters.” He goes into detail about multiple institutional and individual connections between the group and European political leaders, even with the thinnest of affiliations. For example, Datta zeroes in on “Ja zum Leben,” a philanthropic group in Germany, and its apparent “extended financial and ideological connections” to Opus Dei. The basis for his accusation: “The foundation, which supports numerous anti-gender Organisations … is part of an informal network centred around the Forum of German Catholics, which includes Opus Dei members.”

Datta connected Opus Dei to his new concept of a “ChONGO,” which is “an organisation created by a religious entity (Church), resembling an NGO, established to promote issues that the Church seeks to highlight. ChONGOs are, to varying degrees, funded, staffed and governed by representatives of the Church.”

His first example: the World Youth Alliance (WYA), which he labeled “Opus Dei for Kids.” WYA supposedly “aggressively pushes a covert…agenda rooted in ultra-conservative Catholic doctrine;” “operates as a Vatican front, backed by the Holy See’s UN Mission and extremist groups;” and has “deep ties…to Opus Dei-affiliated private donors.”

The left-wing writer extends similar accusations against the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE)—that its constituent groups are an “advocacy arm for the Catholic Church within European political and policy spaces, presenting itself as a grassroots network of Catholic family associations while being subordinated to diocesan structures and Vatican-affiliated entities.”

He also devotes some attention to other Catholic groups with apparent ties to Opus Dei: the International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN), the Fondation Jérôme Lejeune (FJL), Teen STAR, and the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM).

The ‘Regressive’ Catholic Church, promoter of ‘theology masquerading as science’

Datta spends much of the latter half of his study (not including annexes/appendices) on how the aforementioned organizations have extended their influence throughout the European political landscape. He mentioned WYA and Teen STAR over 100 additional times, respectively (including footnotes). Datta scrutinized the former over their “transnational web of youth anti-SRHR movements, abstinence education and natural family planning outlets by working alongside the infrastructure of the Catholic Church and particularly the Opus Dei-affiliated network of universities.”

The author spotlights Opus Dei a further 64 times in the latter part of his study. ICLN got 61 new mentions. FJL merited an additional fifty-two. The author also noted that “[d]espite advocating patriarchal norms, women occupy notable governance roles within anti-gender and religious extremist organisations….Female leadership is particularly prominent in some of the most influential entities, including Fundación Jérôme Lejeune (Spain)…and the WYA.”

The EPF executive director bewails how these organizations, along with their allies, “target young people, pregnant women and LGBTQI communities to subtly undermine access to contraception, abortion, comprehensive sexual education and same-sex relationships. Modern in appearance but regressive at their core, such services are typically promoted by…(ChONGOs), cloaked in credible branding and backed by distorted evidence. The result is a strategic effort to displace rights- and evidence-based health care with theology masquerading as science.”

Near the end of his study, Datta emphasizes how these organizations “have expanded their reach and influence across Africa,” and their participation in “efforts aim to shape African societies and influence policies, particularly in opposition to human rights in sexuality and reproductive health.” He blames the Catholic Church for inspiring these groups: “Pioneered by the Vatican, all anti-gender actors….have seemingly convinced themselves with their crocodile tears that upholding…colonial legal frameworks criminalising same-sex relations and/or abortion rights is the real path to African sovereignty.”

One can take away two overarching messages from Datta’s study and all of his activist sources: All of the roads traveled by “anti-gender actors” lead to Rome, and after 225 years of accruing vast power in Europe, secularists are still intimidated by the Catholic Church and see the Catholic Faith as the main obstacle to their ideological goals.