23 Catholic missionaries killed in 2017

Mourners at the funeral of the popular activist Filipino priest Fr. Marcelito Paez
At least 23 people working for the Catholic Church were killed in 2017, a Vatican agency has said. For the eighth consecutive year the place where most violent deaths occurred was America, where 11 people lost their lives. Ten pastoral workers were killed in Africa, five in Nigeria, and two . . . Read More

‘We must distinguish between Islam and terrorism’

‘We must distinguish between Islam and terrorism’
Keeping the distinction between Islam and terrorism clear could prevent an ultimate ‘Clash of Civilisations’, an EU diplomat says. “All this hatred and bloodshed is a misuse of religion,” said Ján Figeľ, the European Commission’s first Special Envoy for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU. . . . Read More

Christian convert in French refugee camp told: ‘We will kill you’

Christian convert in French refugee camp told: ‘We will kill you’
A Kurdish church leader smuggled to Britain says he received death threats – for having left Islam for Christianity – while living in makeshift camps in northern France. The church leader, who did not wish to be identified, spent nine months living in camps outside the French cities of Calais . . . Read More

Existence of Eastern Churches ‘at risk’

Christians are now an “endangered species” in lands where their faith was first rooted, a prominent ancient church leader warned on 3 August. “The very existence of Eastern Churches, those Churches that come from the apostles’ time, is at stake,” said Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of the Syriac Catholic . . . Read More

The murder of a French priest has horrified the world. The same thing happens to Christians in lesser-reported places

The murder of a French priest has horrified the world. The same thing happens to Christians in lesser-reported places
Rev. Jacques HamelEglise Catholique de Rouen The 26 July killing of a Catholic priest in his church in St. Etienne du Rouvray, France, once again has pushed jihadist violence into the headlines. The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murder, committed by two knife-wielding attackers who were shot and . . . Read More