The Persecution of Christians throughout the world
The following reflection was published on March 22, 2020, for my Parishioners, in the weekend bulletin at Our Mother of Good Counsel, Los Angeles, CA
On Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, over 200 people were killed by suicide bombers at 3 Churches and Two Hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
On Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017, two churches were bombed in Alexandria & Tanta in Egypt killing 47 and injuring
On Easter Sunday of 2016, March 21, suicide bombers targeted Christians celebrating Easter in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore, Pakistan, killing over 75 people, and injuring over 300.
Another suicide bombing in 2015, a week before Palm Sunday, in Lahore Pakistan saw the killing of 17 and the wounding of 70.
On Holy Thursday of 2015, masked gunmen opened fire in a Church killing over 150.
On Easter Sunday, April 8 of 2012, a car bomb targeted Christians attending services, killing nearly 40 people in Kaduna, Nigeria.
Over the past two decades, another 35 attacks, including suicide bombings, have targeted Christians and Churches all over the world. These often occur at random moments throughout the year. However, while Christians gather for worship on, or around Easter Sunday, Radical Islamic Militants find an opportunity for some of the deadliest coordinated massacres.
I wanted to take a moment during this season of Lent to highlight the reality of the persecution of Christians that occurs worldwide. Martyrdom was an accepted fact among Christians for the first few centuries after Christ himself was crucified. We may often think these stories of heroic martyrs are from a bygone era, or embellished hagiographies with little connection to our own life today. There is often a degree of shock, as the widespread targeting of Christians is often underreported, and they are typically without allies among American Christians or Secular Humanitarians. According to statistics, Christians around the world are most at risk harassment, assault, arrest, imprisonment and death. Pope Francis has said that there are more Martyrs in our Modern Day than in the first centuries of the Church. We might do well to offer prayers for Christians around the world under threat of persecution, but also to learn some of their stories, and do some of the research.
