Free Republic

How many of us grew up believing that the Holocaust would never happen again? After listening to our parents or grandparents recount war stories, empathizing with stories such as that of Anne Frank’s, and learning of the horrific ways Jews and other minorities were degraded, tortured and killed, we thought we could safely say that we had learned our lesson. Of course, that is not the case. There have been a number of genocides since the 1940s; in fact, one is happening right now. I’m speaking of the elimination of Christians in the Middle East. Consider that in 2003, Christians...

** The number of Christian community in Iraq is a tenth of what it was, falling to 150,000Moscow, October 7, Interfax - The fate of Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East is a source of concern for Moscow. "Historically, Russia has helped and supported fraternal Christians that were harassed and discriminated against and defended their rights and interests, with arms in hand, if need be. Therefore, we are naturally worried about the future of the 2,000-year Christian presence in the Middle East. According to some human rights organisations, in the past seven years the number...

The State Department admissions for all of September of non-Muslim Syrian refugees represented only 1.1 percent of the total, with 1,825 Muslim refugees admitted, and only 22 from Yazidi and various Christian sects who are being targeted for genocide by the Islamic State in Syria. Admissions for the month of August were 3,159 Muslim and 30 non-Muslim refugees—fewer than one percent. Year-to-date, non-Muslim Syrian refugee admissions account for less than one percent (0.8) overall, with 11,818 Muslims and only 95 non-Muslims of all groups. Those were the numbers as of today from the State Department's Refugee Processing Center. These numbers...

Syrian Christians hold up a sign begging for others to save Christians in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Editor's Note: The following was adapted from an address delivered by the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church of Antioch to the 134th Convention of the Knights of Columbus. __________ On the night of August 6-7, 2014, one hundred fifty thousand people—some 40 percent of all Christians still living in Iraq—were driven from their ancestral communities. They had nowhere to flee except nearby Kurdistan. Two years have passed since that catastrophic eradication, and still there is no real solution. In Mosul...

In Defense of Christians Convention Aims to Preserve Christianity in the Middle EastWASHINGTON — “Time is running out for Assyrian Christians,” declared Michigan-resident Nahren Anweya, 34, speaking to the Register at the third annual convention of In Defense of Christians (IDC) held in Washington Sept. 7-9. Born in Iraq, Anweya vividly remembers being slapped in the face by her first-grade teacher in Baghdad, for describing herself as a Christian — signifying the second-class citizenship suffered by the faithful there long before the current crisis. “We are disappearing literally by the week,” she said, estimating the total number of Christians in...

Muslim migrant boat captain who 'threw six Christians to their deaths from his vessel because of their religion' goes on trial for murder The man and his second-in-command feared storms were getting worse each time Christians prayed, it is claimed The captain, identified as Alain N.B, is accused of beating a Nigerian pastor and throwing him overboard Five more passengers were also forced off the boat, prosecutors believe 29 people were rescued after the perilous crossing in December 2014 A boat captain from Cameroon murdered six passengers crossing from Morocco to Spain because they were Christian, prosecutors claim. The Muslim...

Original title too long: Major Islamic Leader In Mecca Declares This Command To All Muslims: ‘Slaughter The Christians, I Pray That Allah Will Give You Strength To Kill And Crush The Christians.’ A major Islamic leader recently did a speech in Mecca in which he commanded Muslims to slaughter Christians, even praying to Allah to give victory to the Muslims over the followers of Christ. Here is the report: A top imam in Saudi Arabia has called for the killing of Christians, Shia Muslims, and Jews in a prayer broadcast at the Masjid al-Haram mosque. In a video showing a...

Truncated title. Full title: ISIS Takes Christian Girls And Puts Them In Secret Prisons, Makes Them Eat Out Of Dog Bowls, Rapes Them For Fun, Chops Up Their Bodies And Put The Parts In A Bag, Film Everything And Send The Video To Their Parents- The Few Survivors Ask “Where Are You World?” Being true to the example of their founder Muhammad, ISIS has been making videos of themselves taking Christian girls and raping and torturing them in bizarre sexual ways and then chopping up their bodies in secret prisons throughout ISIS-controlled territory and then sending the video to the...

More reports of the brutal treatment that Christians and other minorities experienced at the hands of the Islamic State (SIS) emerged during May. One account told of a couple who, after their children were abducted by ISIS militants, answered their door one day to find a plastic bag on their doorstep. It contained the body parts of their daughters and a video of them being brutally tortured and raped.

Pope Francis and the UN have called for action after at least 36 Christians are hacked to deathThe persecution of Christians has escalated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), prompting fears that a jihadist group is gaining strength in the region. At least 36 people were killed in the North Kivu region on Saturday. It is the deadliest attack there since November 2014, with some saying that casualties might be nearer to 50. The victims were reportedly tied up and hacked to death. The Islamist Allied Democratic Forces-National Association for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) have targeted Christians in...

The Islamic State is trying to change up the leadership of Nigerian-based Boko Haram and has appointed a new leader who is vowing to bomb churches and kill all Christians. IS (also known as ISIS or ISIL) announced Wednesday in its al-Nabaa newspaper that Abu Musab al-Barnawi is the new leader of its Nigerian-affiliated outfit, calling him the "Wali" (governor) of its West African Province. In an interview published by the IS news source that was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, al-Barnawi vowed to kill less Muslims and more Christians. Under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram has...

In its latest issue of Dabiq magazine, “Break the cross,” the Islamic State is encouraging attacks against Christians, urging its “hidden soldiers” in the West to unleash attacks “without delay.” In opening, Dabiq 15 references recent attacks by jihadis in the United States (Orlando), France, Germany and Bangladesh, before suggesting the “cross-worshipers and democratic pagans of the West” should contemplate the “reasons behind the animosity and enmity held by Muslims for Westerners,” and should therefore repent by abandoning Christianity and “accepting Islam. Attacking Christians: A general anti-Christian theme continues throughout the publication, with interviews from American, Canadian, Finnish, Trinidadian and...

The world leader of Syria's besieged Christians has issued a heartfelt plea to the West to "stop arming and supporting terrorist groups that are destroying our countries and massacring our people." The Patriarch of Antioch, Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, said he was not asking the West for military intervention to defend Christians. If the West wants to do something about the present crisis, the most effective thing would be to support local governments, which need sufficient armies and forces to maintain security ...

Only a handful of mostly sick or elderly Christians remain in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, and Syrian Christians fear the forces that have brought that city’s population of Gospel followers to the brink of extinction could do the same for the entire nation. An estimated dozen Christian families are still in the northern city, forced under threat of execution to convert, pay an “infidel” tax or go into hiding. Forbidden from leaving, they also face death from attacks directed at ISIS by Damascus, Russia and the U.S.-led Western coalition. “We are trying to help them escape or stay safe,...

Can you believe anyone even organizes a "white privilege" conference these days — seven years into Barack Obama's presidency? Well, you'd better believe it, and you should also know that at least one of the speakers at this conference is militantly Christophobic. The 17th annual White Privilege Conference was held in Philadelphia from April 15 to 17. Blake Neff of The Daily Caller attended the conference and reported that "activist and author Paul Kivel" actually claimed that "almost every dysfunction in society, from racism and sexism to global warming and a weak economy, is united by the ideology of 'Christian...

f you gave me a plane ticket and a visa to Germany, I’d go to the airport now.” Sitting in a dimly lit room crowded with fellow Christian refugees, Stephanos Giorgis could be forgiven for wanting a future outside the Middle East. This young man had escaped from his home town of Rableh in western Syria after a ransom was paid following his abduction by an Islamist group. The extremists had threatened to kill him and a number of others after they refused to abandon their faith. Almost all who made up Rableh’s large Christian community had fled for their...

The Knights of Columbus, along with In Defense of Christians, released a comprehensive report Thursday documenting eyewitness accounts of Christians who have been killed, kidnapped, raped, or sold into slavery at the hands of ISIS. The report was presented to the State Department Wednesday. Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson said at a National Press Club briefing that the evidence contained in the report as well as other evidence “fully support and, I suggest to you, compel the conclusion that a reasonable grounds exist to believe the crime of genocide has been committed against Christians in the region.”

The four nuns running a nursing home in Aden, Yemen, killed by the Islamic State earlier this month, belonged to the Missionaries of Charity, established by Blessed Mother Teresa.

On Easter Sunday in Lahore, Pakistan, Christian women, children and their families went to a park to congregate and celebrate their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The day turned to horror when they were targeted for their faith by an Islamic suicide bomber, who detonated his vest and killed 72 people while injuring hundreds more. The Pakistani Taliban, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS, quickly took responsibility for the attack and specifically stated the crowd was targeted because it wasn't just any crowd, but a Christian crowd worshiping on one of their holiest, most joyous days.  "We claim responsibility for the...