Free Republic

In my homilies to you over the years, I’ve often spoke of our Catholic Faith, and sometimes of our Byzantine Tradition; but I have rarely spoken of the particular Church to which we belong, and of it’s history in Eastern Europe. Our Metropolitan Church is located entirely in the United States; and, the further you travel outside of Pennsylvania, the less you see of any ethnic identity among the members of our parishes; but, as you know, the ancestors of our Church’s original members came from an Orthodox Church which came into union with Rome in 1646 at the Union...

Somalia: Christian Leader Killed On Sept. 28 an Islamic extremist shot and killed Mariam Muhina Hussein, an underground church leader, after discovering six Bibles in her possession, according to Compass Direct News. The day before the shooting, a leader of the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab reportedly sent his wife to visit Hussein's home in Marerey villange. She pretended she was interested in learning about Christianity. During the visit, Hussein read passages of the Bible and told the woman that she could visit regularly to discuss God's Word, according to Compass. The following day, the al Shabaab leader, identified as...

Colombia: Pastor Martyred On Sept. 21, Pastor Manuel was shot and killed by The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. FARC guerrillas made an appointment with Pastor Manuel and his family. “He thought they were going to authorize him to have a church officially, which he had discuss[ed] and asked [for] before,” said VOM contacts. “One of them came in [the house] with the pastor’s wife, Gloria, and his daughter while the pastor was outside. He was shot five times.” A FARC guerrilla who was...

Let us suppose that Manuel Zelaya, the ousted former president of Honduras, is a intelligent man with a good understanding of how politics works. Then the question is: what is his game? Because he started all this. He was removed from office three months ago in circumstances of doubtful legality. Both the Supreme Court and the Congress had demanded his removal for "repeated violations of the constitution and the law," but the way it was done - woken up by soldiers and hustled out of the country by plane - smelled more like an old-fashioned military coup. A member of...

Mourners Protest Islamic Attacks on Copts in Egypt Muslim assailant gruesomely slays Christian, attacks two others with knife. ISTANBUL, September 23 (CDN) — A funeral for a Coptic Christian gruesomely killed on a village street north of Cairo by a Muslim assailant last week turned into a protest by hundreds of demonstrators in Egypt. Galal Nasr el-Dardiri, 35, attacked 63-year-old Abdu Georgy in front of the victim’s shop in Behnay village the afternoon of Sept. 16, according to research by a local journalist. Other Copts watched in horror as El-Dardiri stabbed Georgy five times in the back, according to interviews...

Motive Sought for Slaying of Church Worker in Bangladesh Police, wife doubt student attackers’ story of cell phone theft. DHAKA, Bangladesh, September 24 (CDN) — Authorities are investigating possible motives for the vicious killing of a church worker by students at Dhaka University. A management student at the university and his friends are accused of torturing and killing Swapan Mondol, 35, on Sept. 12 in Suhrawardy Park, adjacent to the university. Mondol, a convert from Hinduism, was supervisor of youth mission for Free Christian Church of Bangladesh (FCCB). The primary suspect’s friends claim they came to his aid after Mondol...

St. Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea's first priest and martyr Seoul, South Korea, Sep 15, 2009 / 12:10 am (CNA).- After two years of remodeling which included the addition of multimedia exhibits, the Korean Martyrs Museum-Shrine has reopened in Seoul.The Museum-Shrine, which contains rooms for liturgical celebration and prayer, was built in 1967 on the site in Jeoldusan where many of the Korean martyrs died from 1866 to 1873. Thousands of Catholics were killed in the fierce persecutions.The Shrine-Museum presents numerous historical documents, visual reconstructions, photographs and documentaries, Fides news agency reports.Archbishop of Seoul Cardinal Nicholas Choeng inaugurated the reopening...

A Michigan police chief says a 63-year-old anti-abortion activist who was protesting outside a high school was shot and killed in front of horrified students and parents. Owosso police chief Michael Compeau said the activist, Jim Pouillon, was outside the school this morning with a sign when a man drove by and shot him. No one else was injured. Compeau says a 33-year-old Owosso man was later arrested in the school shooting and he then told police he was involved in the gravel-pit shooting.(continued)

VOM: Pray for Muslims On Sept. 1, The Voice of the Martyrs received a letter from the wife of one of many Christians being held in prison in an Islamic country. In her letter, she shared how her 3-year-old daughter struggles with her husband’s imprisonment and asked for continued prayers. Her letter reads: “Thanks for your e-mail and love and prayers. I am doing OK. Worry tries to take over me and my mind keeps thinking worries I shouldn't. But the Lord continues to calm me down and give me peace and patience to wait. This week [my husband] is...

The Huffington Post explains that "Melissa Lafsky is the deputy web editor at Discover magazine, where she writes the Reality Base blog. She was previously the editor of the New York Times's Freakonomics blog, and is a former associate editor at HuffPo's Eat The Press." So she's a major-media-certified pundit when she wrote about Chappaquiddick drowning victim Mary Jo Kopechne on Arianna's pages today:

Pakistan: Eight Believers Killed On Aug. 1, a mob of angry Muslim extremists attacked Christians in Gojra district, Punjab province, killing at least eight believers, including a seven-year-old child, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. Dozens of homes and a church building were looted and burned. Reports indicate the violence resulted from rumors Christians had desecrated pages from the Quran several days earlier at a wedding in a nearby village. This was the second attack because of such a rumor. On July 30, Muslim extremists attacked Christians, burning more than 50 homes and animals in Korian village, Faisalabad....

Bangladesh: Pastor Tortured by Police On June 7, police raided an evangelism meeting, arrested and tortured a pastor and two others in Boalia, Bangladesh, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. Pastor Habibur Rahman, of Boalia Spiritual Church was leading the meeting when suddenly the police came in and took them to the police station. That night the police blindfolded them with cloths for few hours and beat them up. During the beatings police asked who was supporting them financially, and how long they had been evangelizing and how many people they had converted. At some point during the...

Nigeria: Pastors Beheaded On July 26, 12 Christians were killed, including three pastors, in northern Nigeria after members of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram launched attacks on police and government bases, according to contacts at VOM Canada. The violence, which began in Bauchi state, spread to Borno, Kano and Yobe states. Churches were set ablaze and several people were abducted, including Christians. Many believers were threatened with death if they refused to convert to Islam. According to media reports, assailants behead three pastors: Pastors Sabo Yukubu, Sylvester Akpan and Pastor George Orji. The assailants were reportedly acting on the...

Pakistan: Day of Prayer Christians in Pakistan are inviting believers around the world to join them in prayer for their nation and for the blasphemy laws to be repealed, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. More than 575 pastors from different churches in Pakistan have agreed to observe July 26, 2009 as a day of prayer for persecuted believers. Christians are also running a petition aimed at repealing the blasphemy laws that have led to the arrest of many believers. The Voice of the Martyrs joins believers in Pakistan in prayer and encourages believers around the world to...

July 28 Spiritual Bouquet: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. St. John 14:27 SAINTS NAZARIUS and CELSUS - Martyrs (First century) Saint Nazarius, born in Rome, was the son of a pagan military man who held an important post in the Roman army. His mother, honored by the Church as Saint Perpetua, was a zealous Christian, instructed by Saint Peter or his disciples in the most perfect maxims of Christianity. Nazarius at the age of nine embraced the Faith with so much ardor...

July 27 Spiritual Bouquet: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. St. John 14:23 SAINT PANTALEON of NICOMEDIAPhysician and Martyr(†303) Saint Pantaleon was born in Nicomedia of a pagan father and a Christian mother, who died while her son was still a child. He was among the court physicians of the Emperor Galerius Maximianus. Deceived by hearing the false maxims of the world applauded, he was without religion when God decided to rescue his soul from its unhappy darkness....

A Christian woman accused of distributing the Bible, a book banned in communist North Korea, was publicly executed last month for the crime, South Korean activists said Friday. The 33-year-old mother of three, Ri Hyon Ok, also was accused of spying for South Korea and the United States, and of organizing dissidents, a rights group said in Seoul, citing documents obtained from the North. The Investigative Commission on Crime Against Humanity report included a copy of Ri's government-issued photo ID and said her husband, children and parents were sent to a political prison the day after her June 16 execution......

While watching Sarah Palin's resignation speech, I thought, "Who is this amazing woman? What planet did she come from? Will there ever be anyone like her?" Once again, I was blown away by her power, grace, character and courage. The world is mourning the loss of a one of a kind pop icon. I mourn the loss of a one of a kind conservative leader martyred for the cause of conservatism. Though impossible for the pop icon, I pray Palin will be resurrected for 2012. The martyr of Palin has angered, energized, and elevated my commitment to fight for the...

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said he was "ready for martyrdom," according to an ally, in leading protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic and brought warnings of bloodshed from Iran's Supreme Leader. Mousavi also called on Saturday for a national strike if he is arrested, a witness said. As darkness fell, rooftop cries of Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) sounded out across northern Tehran for nearly an hour, an echo of tactics used in the 1979 Islamic revolution against the Shah. EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to...

Near the end of the President's big speech in Cairo he said: All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort - a sustained effort - to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings. Does the President actually understand what that "future we seek for our children" really means in many places in the Muslim world. For example there...