Free Republic

A new document attests to the genocide that is being ignored by the world. Every year, more than 100,000 Christians are murdered just because of their faith. This means that 11 Christians are murdered every hour. The numbers are contained in a new document presented by John McAreavey, president of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bishops of Dublin. A genocide of Christians is under way. In many Middle Eastern cities, from Aleppo to Mosul, the Islamists have dealt with each and every Christian by displacing, killing or forcibly converting them, and just like the Nazis painted the Star...

Honor to the Martyrs! A Declaration of Gratitude to the Martyrs of Our Day By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn the Divine Office last week we read a remarkable passage on the persecution of the Church. It seems proper to consider a portion of it in times like these; more on that in a moment.Of course in writing of persecution and martyrdom, I write as an American who, though experiencing a lot more scorn these days, does not have to endure grave threat for being a Catholic. But as I consider Catholics and Christians in places like Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Nigeria, the...

Excerpt - BAGHDAD: An audiotape said to be of Saddam Hussein's deputy said his group will keep fighting until the last foreign soldier withdraws from Iraq, saying the Americans are being defeated. The audiotape purportedly from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was obtained by The Associated Press in Baghdad on Sunday. It was impossible to determine its authenticity, but several Iraqis familiar with al-Douri's voice said they believed it from his. It was also unclear when the audiotape was made but the comments referred to Saddam as a "martyr." He was hanged Dec. 30 for his role in the deaths of more...

Recent video of 21 orange-clad Egyptian Christians being simultaneously beheaded by ISIS thugs – along with a steady stream of other horrifying reports of their crucifying, decapitating and burying Christians alive, including children – have shocked the world. But while ISIS is unquestionably a nightmare-come-true, when it comes to the alarming increase in Christian persecution worldwide the “Islamic State” is just the tip of the iceberg. As WND’s acclaimed Whistleblower magazine reveals in its powerfully moving April issue, “PERSECUTION RISING,” today’s treatment of Christians in a great many nations is disturbingly reminiscent of the brutal persecution of the early followers...

From the Martyrology today we have: "At Damascus, [in the year 743,] holy Peter Mavimeno. Some Arabs came to see him while he was ill, and to them he said, " Whoever does not embrace the Catholic Christian religion will be damned, as your false prophet Mohammed is," whereupon they killed him."

"And it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark" (Rev. 13:16-17, ESV). A baker in Oregon is fined $150,000, told he needs "rehabilitation," and put out of business for declining to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding. A baker in Colorado is fined, ordered to bake a cake in violation of his own conscience, and sent to re-education camp for the same offense. A florist in Washington is pursued...

THE CARPENTER'S SHOP: Persecution of Christians affects millions worldwide By Dr. Barry K. Carpenter Published: Friday, September 19, 2014 at 11:03 AM. Christians around the world are experiencing unprecedented persecution. Reporter and news analyst Kirsten Powers, interviewed in the Daily Beast, said, “Christians in the Middle East and Africa are being slaughtered, tortured, raped, kidnapped, beheaded, and forced to flee the birthplace of Christianity. The silence has been nearly deafening.” It seems open season on Christians. It is more pronounced, more bold, more contagious, and in more numbers than at any other time in history. It may appear to...

Baghdad (AsiaNews) - Islamic State fighters spills more Christian blood in Iraq as they continue to persecute unarmed civilians, including children. Sources within the Chaldean Patriarchate told AsiaNews that yesterday Sunni fundamentalists tortured and killed a Christian man in Bartala, a small predominantly Syriac town in the Niniveh Plains that has been occupied by Jihadists for the past few weeks. He was part of a small group who did not flee when the place was overrun. According to reports from a witness, the martyr - as the Patriarchate calls him - was a man of 43, Salem Matti Kourki. He...

A crowd of family, friends, music stars, civil rights leaders and preachers gathered at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church on Monday for the memorial of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old robbery suspect who was fatally shot by local police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo.Brown’s uncle, Pastor Charles Ewing, gave a passionate eulogy and made parallels of his nephew’s life and that of the life of Jesus Christ. “Michael Brown was 18 years old. He was shot around noon. Our Lord and Savior hung on the cross — now compare our time frame 12 o’clock to the Jewish time frame...

In a brief, two-and-a-half minute YouTube video entitled “Mass”, the well-known Catholic public speaker paints a powerful picture of what a privilege it is to attend Mass in freedom and how this can be so easily taken for granted. On one hand, Stefanick recalls a recent text from a friend of his in Irag: “Please pray for our church, where all the people are held captive by terrorists.” A few hours later, another text followed: “Lord have mercy.” Shortly thereafter, everyone in that Catholic Church – men, women and children – were gunned down and killed. On the other hand,...

Members of the House of Commons were told that the persecution of Christians is increasing, that one Christian is killed around every 11 minutes around the world, and that Christianity is the “most persecuted religion globally”. A long list of countries in which life as a Christian is most difficult was discussed, including Syria, North Korea, Eritrea, Nigeria, Iraq and Egypt. MP Jim Shannon said the persecution of Christians is “the biggest story in the world that has never been told”. He said that although the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration...

A Catholic mother who was brutally murdered by a gay man because she challenged him about his homosexual lifestyle “died as a martyr for her faith,” according to Bishop Thomas Paprocki, head of the Catholic diocese in Springfield, Ill., who also said the woman’s “murder was widely ignored by the media,” apparently for political reasons. The woman, Mary Stachowicz, a 51-year-old mother of four children and devout Catholic, was beaten, stabbed, raped, and strangled to death by then-19-year-old Nicholas Gutierrez on Nov. 13, 2002. He then wrapped her body in plastic and stuffed it under the floorboards of his apartment....

A Syrian Catholic priest has been beheaded by jihadist fighters in Syria, it has been claimed. The death of Franciscan Father Francois Murad has been confirmed by the official Vatican news agency. The gruesome killing has raised further concerns about the West arming rebels in the fight against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Grainy footage purported to show the 49-year-old’s death has been posted on the internet. Father Francois, was killed on 23 June in Gassanieh, in northern Syria. He had been staying in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land.

Catholic Priest Beheaded in Syria by Al-Qaeda-Linked Rebels as Men and Children Take Pictures and Cheer Jun. 30, 2013 7:37am Sharona Schwartz Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was beheaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder. As TheBlaze reported last week, Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern Syria. Last Sunday, on the Christian leader’s Sabbath, extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad. While earlier reports suggested Murad may have been shot to death,...

June 9, 2013 Ours has become a neo-pagan culture, and that can be even worse than a simple pagan culture By Father George Rutler Last week the Church celebrated the feast of the Martyrs of Uganda. In the late nineteenth century, French and English missionaries were welcomed by King Mutesa I of Buganda in the southern part of modern Uganda. His successor, Mwanga II, however, was a youth who became a persecutor of Christians and all foreigners. He especially opposed Christian morality, as it contradicted his affinity for unnatural vice which was abhorred by the local Buganda culture, but...

In a debate on acceptance of same-sex marriage, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, remarked on the media bias in coverage of issues involving homosexuality. Speaking to an audience in Arizona, Bishop Paprocki said that a woman who worked at a parish where he had served in Illinois was killed because of her defense of Church teachings on homosexuality. Mary Stachowicz, a part-time parish secretary, was beaten, stabbed, and strangled by a man who resented her efforts to persuade him to avoid homosexual acts. “Mary’s murder was widely ignored by the media, despite the fact that she died as a...

Last week, TheBlaze reported that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan invited the father of one of the radical Islamist activists killed on the 2010 Gaza flotilla to join the official entourage on his visit to the U.S. last week. And while sources familiar with lat weekÂ’s visit told TheBlaze that the father did not enter the White House or meet President Obama to deliver a personal letter about his son, according to the Turkish foreign ministerÂ’s Twitter account Secretary of State John Kerry did meet with the father and even posed for a photo with him. The Turkish news...

AMMAN — Syrian opposition campaigners said at least 20 bodies of young men shot by security forces were found on Sunday in a small waterway running through the contested city of Aleppo. It was the largest number of bodies lifted in a single day from what became known as "the river of martyrs", after 65 bodies turned up in late January. An average of several bodies a day have been appearing in the river since, several activists in the northern city, which is near Turkey, told Reuters. Most bodies found so far floated down the River Queiq to the opposition-held...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Alabama Men Arrested on Terrorism Charges U.S. Attorney’s Office December 11, 2012 Southern District of Alabama MOBILE, AL—U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama and Stephen E. Richardson, Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile Division of the FBI, announced that Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair, 25, and Randy Wilson, also known as Rasheed Wilson, 25, both U.S. citizens living in Mobile, were arrested today on terrorism charges filed in the Southern District of Alabama. A criminal complaint signed on December 10, 2012, charges Abukhdair and Wilson with conspiring to...

Martyrs: St. Andrew Dung-Lac and his 116 companion martyrs of Vietnam  Icon: martyrs undergoing torture for Christ. VietnamVietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. The traditional religion of Vietnam is Buddhism, along with elements of Taoism, Confucianism and local ancestors’ cult.First martyrsPortuguese Dominican missionaries began to arrive in Vietnam in the early 16th century and there must have been conflict with local power groups from the very beginning. The mission had some success when the Jesuits joined the Dominicans. Among the earliest martyrs were Spanish Dominicans, Francisco Gil de Federich, who had a fruitful apostolate...