Introduction — Christianity, persecution and exodus
“Our people
are very afraid. We were expecting trouble but nothing to this degree
of brutality.” With emotion evident in his voice, Bishop Kyrillos
William of Assiut, Egypt talks to staff at Aid to the Church in
Need the morning after a spate of violence against Christians concentrated
within less than 48 hours. He said that nearly 80 churches and other
Coptic centres including convents, Church-run schools and clinics
had been attacked all across the country. He explained that fear
of attack meant that “thousands of Christians were too afraid to
leave their homes.”
“Christians have fallen victim to widespread and intense acts of
violence motivated in part at least by religious hatred. Furthermore,
in the period under review, 2011 and 2013, evidence both first and
second-hand suggests that the violence and intimidation in question
is now more serious than in preceding years. “Taken as a whole,
the oppression raises grave questions about the long-term survival
of Christianity in regions where until recently the Church has been
both numerous in terms of faithful, and active in terms of the part
it has played in public life.”
“A close comparison of the impact of the violence on the various
religious communities concerned points to two key forces of change:
firstly that as large and well-established communities, often with
a long history, Christians are disproportionately vulnerable to
attack, and secondly that their reaction has been to flee regions
of conflict with little prospect of returning, at least in the short-term.
Nor indeed are these twin problems — vulnerability and exodus —
passing phenomena.”
“Christianity may yet remain the largest world religion, but its
claims to universality — a truly global presence on all five
continents — may soon be lost as it becomes the prime victim in
the emergence of theocratic states where minority faith groups “most
especially Christians have no place, except perhaps as third-class
citizens.”
Global perspectives: 75 percent of
persecution is against Christians
“If this
prognosis sounds ominous, the start of the reporting period “spring
2011” began on a distinctly unpromising note. Even before the Arab
Spring began, an event which was to have devastating consequences
for Christianity, leading human rights researchers and commentators
declared something long suspected but not yet proven — that is until
now: that Christianity is the world’s most persecuted religion.
In October 2010, a report issued by the Commission of the Bishops
Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) concluded that at
least 75 per cent of all religious persecution was directed against
Christians. It released findings showing that about 100 million
Christians experienced some sort of discrimination, oppression or
persecution.” 2
“In November 2012 German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared before
a synod of the country’s Lutheran Church that: “Christianity is
the most persecuted religion in the world.” 3
“Foremost among the issues considered was the preponderance of anti-Christian
violence, notably attacks on churches and Christians’ homes and
businesses, as well as kidnapping of faithful for reasons connected
to their faith or religious identity. Linked to this are court cases
involving Christians suffering persecution — the number of cases,
the nature of the (alleged) offences, and the outcome of the court’s
deliberations. This is particularly relevant concerning Blasphemy
accusations.”
“A fourth but by no means lesser concern has been efforts to track
social changes affecting Christians. Examples under this category
include access to employment, education and healthcare, where social
stigmatisation has had a habit of making it impossible for Christians
to claim their rights in spite of entitlement under the law.”
“By far the most significant conclusion of the 2013 edition of Persecuted
and Forgotten” Is that in 20 of the 30 countries under review the
situation for Christians had worsened.”
“In the majority, Christians had suffered such a severe decline
in their fortunes that many now lived in fear of their safety, were
under pressure to leave or change their religion, or at least were
at a distinct economic and social disadvantage on account of their
beliefs.?
Middle East — Arab Spring, Christian
Winter
“Of greatest
concern is the Middle East. Here, the Arab Spring has placed unparalleled
pressures on ancient Christian communities whose capacity to weather
storms of violence and institutionalised discrimination has been
tested to a degree not seen in modern times ... This included bombing
of churches, physical attacks on Christians’ homes and shops, kidnapping
(especially of women and in some cases, clergy), as well as public
statements in the media and by militant groups, specifically aimed
against Christians. An upsurge in anti- Christian violence and intimidation
was one factor, perhaps even the dominant one, in a mass movement
of Christians.”
“This is the impact of the Arab Spring. Syria, so recently the country
of choice for Iraqi Christians seeking sanctuary, has now become
the nightmare that the refugees thought they had left behind ...
Entire populations of predominantly Christian towns and villages
around Homs suddenly fled for their lives in early 2012.”
“Syrian Christian refugees in Jordan who reported being told: “Don’t
celebrate Easter or you will be killed like your Christ.” 6
By the summer of 2013, Syrian refugees were thought to have topped
two million.” 7
“Already disenfranchised by the Islamist agenda of President Mohammed
Morsi, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Christians’ hopes
of a fresh start after his July 2013 fall from power were soon dashed.
Violence against the country’s Coptic Christians in August 2013
saw nearly 80 churches and other Church establishments attacked
in the single-biggest blow to the Middle East’slargest Christian
community, standing at about 10 million. Already, 200,000 Christians
had left the country since the fall of President Mubarak in February
2011.”
“An end to the presence of the Church in its ancient heartlands
is no longer a remote possibility but a very real and pressing threat.”
Militant Islamism — an inter-continental
threat
“Many of the problems faced by
Christians in the Middle East are similar in nature and extent
elsewhere in the world: the common link in many cases is
militant Islamism. The period in question has seen an
unprecedented upsurge in fundamentalist Islam, which
specifically seeks to eradicate the presence of Christianity
wherever the faith is to be found. Attacks from Islamists which
were few and far between are now commonplace and Christians are
paying with their lives. Community after community has suffered,
attracting comparatively minimal international media coverage.”
“While militant Islamism has had huge impact in the Middle East,
the problems it has created for Christians are to be seen in the
context of broader issues, notably an upsurge of general
instability, a breakdown of law and order and poverty caused at
least in part by forced displacement. In broad terms the same
applies to many parts of Africa. Here the specific threat to
Christians posed by Islamism is brought into sharp relief as a
result of it emerging as part of a mix of problems ? political,
economic and social.
The most obvious case of this is Nigeria. In April 2011, the
Christian Association of Nigeria reported that 430 churches were
attacked in violence associated with the Presidential elections
that brought Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, to
power. 65,000 people were forced from their homes and 800 people
lay dead. The violence continued thereafter, targeting not only
Christians but also security structures, government buildings,
markets and even Muslim communities. Christians, especially in
the north, were terrorised by attacks on churches packed with
faithful that took place almost every Sunday.
The perpetrators of the violence, militant group Boko Haram
(which means “Western Education is Forbidden”), declared what
they described as “a war on Christians”. A Boko Haram spokesman
said: “We will create so much effort to end the Christian
presence in our push to have a proper Islamic state that the
Christians won’t be able to stay.” In Boko Haram’s home region
of northeast Nigeria, the Church was crushed. By the summer of
2013 it was reported that half of the churches in the 37-parish
Diocese of Maiduguri had been damaged or destroyed within one
year. Research for the year to October 2012 showed that, of the
1,201 Christians killed for their faith worldwide, 791 were from
Nigeria. But Nigeria was by no means alone.”
“Then there is Tanzania, where armed Islamists have fired on
churches and priests in the island of Zanzibar in a cycle of
violence that only made the headlines when suspected Islamists
threw acid on two British 18-year-old girls caught singing
during Ramadan.”
“Islamist fighters in Mali, who in 2012 mounted one of the most
ferocious attacks by fundamentalist Muslims in modern times. By
August of that year, leading Church sources reported that
200,000 Christians from northern Mali had fled the
Islamist-controlled region for neighbouring Algeria. Few parts
of Africa were now free from the threat of militant Islamist
movements, whose objective was pan-continental domination and
whose primary targets of religious hatred were Christians.”
“In spite of vigorous efforts to radicalise many communities
where Islam is predominant or in the ascendant, many — if
not most — local people remain resistant to extremism and want
to live in peace and prosperity with their neighbours. This is
evidenced by the Muslims who in the summer of 2013 stood
shoulder-to-shoulder with Egypt’sChristians and repulsed
advancing extremist mobs bent on destroying churches as well as
Christians’ homes and businesses.”
“It is the Arab Spring that has been the most important
development. A movement that started out with much promise for
the advance of democracy has proved disastrous for Christians,
whose very presence in some parts of the Middle East now hangs
by a thread. A domino effect of anti-Christian persecution and
turbulence is now clearly visible, starting in Iraq, moving to
Syria and now spreading to Egypt — three Middle East countries
which have had sizeable and influential Christian communities.
Now, the Christian population has suffered a rapid decline as a
sea-change in political attitudes takes place, favouring a
theocratic system. Taken as a whole, with the possible exception
of Jordan, no Middle East country has over the past three years
seen anything other than a decline in the fortunes of
Christians. But the problems have spread far beyond the Arab
Spring, with militant Islamism representing a major threat,
especially in Africa but also in key regions of the Asian
subcontinent. There Christianity is persecuted as never before.”
“Describing how police saved him by intervening just as
Islamists were breaking through his front door, Coptic Catholic
Bishop Joannes Zakaria of Luxor urged ACN to keep in touch, at
least so that others might know the witness of faith shown by
those willing to give their lives for their beliefs.”
AFGHANISTAN
Population: 29.1 million
Religions: Muslim 99%
Christian Population: Less than 5,000
“Afghanistan’s one remaining public church was destroyed in
March 2010. The church’sdisappearance gives an indication of the
extent of the problems experienced by the country’ssmall
Christian community whose religious faith and practice is a
closely guarded secret, all the more so if any one of them is a
convert. Apostasy is deemed a “crime” punishable by death ...”
“By 2011, President Karzai was implementing the council’s
request that Sharia be enforced nationwide. The previous year he
mounted what was termed a “convert hunt” after an Afghan
television channel broadcast images of people being baptised.”
NIGERIA
Population: 158 million
Religions: Muslim 40%
Christian Population: 63 million (40%)
“In a statement to ACN staff visiting conflict-ridden north-east
Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, President of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, said: “In north-east
Nigeria, they can burn our churches, they can attack our homes
but they cannot destroy our spirit. We have suffered
persecution, discrimination and harassment but they can never
take away our faith and our hope in the risen Lord.” The May
2013 ACN trip, taking in visits to a dozen or more churches
damaged or destroyed by persecution, came soon after a religious
freedom watchdog produced research showing that in the year to
October 2012, 791 of the 1,201 killings of Christians worldwide
took place in Nigeria. 326 Nigeria was the most
dangerous place in the world for Christians. The reports
coincided with statements made by a priest from Borno state,
north-east Nigeria, claiming that 50 of the 52 Catholic churches
in the region had been forcibly abandoned, damaged or destroyed.
At the same time, the Nigerian Catholic Bishops Conference
stated that since 2007 more than 700 churches had been attacked.
In spite of heightened security — notably armed guards outside
each church — suicide bomb attacks on churches packed with
Sunday worshippers continued through 2013. The violence followed
two years of vicious attacks against Christians, with attacks on
Catholic cathedrals such as Zaria and Bauchi. The violence
peaked after the disputed presidential elections of April 2011
when, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria, 430
churches were destroyed or damaged.”
“In many if not most cases, attacks against Christians have been
carried out by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, which is
not satisfied by the imposition of Sharia law in 12 of the
country’s 36 states, where Muslims are very numerous. The group
demands “pure? Islamic rule and wants to overthrow secular rule
and stamp out Christian influence. Angered by reports of
Christians carrying out reprisal attacks against Muslims and
mosques in June 2012, a Boko Haram spokesman said: “The Nigerian
state and Christians are our enemies and we will be launching
attacks on the Nigerian state and its security apparatus as well
as churches until we achieve our goal of establishing an Islamic
state.” 327 It followed a March 2012 Boko Haram
declaration of a “war on Christians” aimed at eliminating them
from parts of the country: “We will create so much effort to
have an Islamic state that Christians will not be able to stay.”
January 2011: “Six villages near Jos in Plateau State
were attacked between midnight and 3am by militants. Five people
were killed. Following the attacks on Nding Jok, Lo Hala, Wereh
Fan and Ratatis in the Barkin Ladi local government area, police
took up to two hours to arrive. State security arrested 29 men
thought to be involved in the attacks, who were heavily armed
with automatic weapons, axes and machetes. Security forces also
allegedly found 25 automatic weapons in a nearby mosque.”
332
January 2011: “A police officer from Abuja led militants
on a killing spree in the predominantly Christian Barkin Ladi
Government Area just outside Jos. 14 people in four villages
were killed.”
333
March 2011: “Two young Muslim men were killed when the
bomb they were taking to the Church of Christ in Nigeria in
Nasarawa Gwom exploded prematurely. One member of the
congregation, Moses Samuel, was injured by the explosion and
admitted to Jos University Hospital. Nine Christians were
attacked with knives the same morning at Duala Junction, a man
and two women were killed while the others were treated at the
same hospital as Mr Samuel.” 335
April 2011: “Up to 600 people were killed and 288
churches were burned down in the country’snorthern states in the
week following the election of Christian Goodluck Jonathan as
the president of Nigeria. Some Muslim groups claimed the
election was rigged.”
336
May 2011: “A pastor’s wife and three of his children were
among 17 people killed when extremists attacked Kurum village,
Bauchi State. Hearing the cries of his daughter Sum, Pastor
James Musa Rike ran to her, only to find that a serious machete
wound to her stomach had splayed out her intestines. She told
her father the militants cried “See how your Jesus will save
you” as they attacked, but the girl replied that Jesus had
already saved her.” 337
June 2011: “Five people died when churches and police
stations in Maiduguri were targeted by Islamist militants: two
bystanders were caught up in an explosion when a bomb thrown at
St Patrick’s Church fell short of its target; and three
militants were killed in a gun battle with police.” 338
August/September 2011: “More than 100 Christians were
killed in a series of attacks in Plateau State in which the
military were implicated. Survivors of the attack on Vwang Kogot
village which saw 14 deaths including a pregnant woman” said
attackers were assisted by men in Nigerian Army uniforms. State
Governor Jonah Jang said: “I am convinced that the armed forces
are being polluted with the religious crisis in this country and
requested their immediate withdrawal.”
341
December 2011/January 2012: “President Goodluck Jonathan
declared a state of emergency in parts of the country following
attacks by Boko Haram. The measure was enforced in four states
in the north-east, the centre and the west of the country, with
the president vowing to “crush” Boko Haram and closing
international borders in the process. It followed a spate of
violence climaxing in a number of attacks on Christmas Day,
including churches in the cities of Madalla, Jos, Kano, Damaturu
and Gadaka. In one attack that day, 44 people were killed and
more than 80 others were injured when extremists targeted
Mass-goers at St Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, near the
Nigerian capital, Abuja. Most of the dead were very young and
included four year-old Emmanuel Dike, who was killed alongside
his father, his brother and his sister. Also dead were Chiemerie
Nwachukwu, an eight-month-old baby who was killed alongside his
mother. Their bishop, Martin Igwe Uzoukwu of Minna, told ACN:
“Our people have suffered so much but our response should not be
one of anger but one seeking peace and justice.” 343
January 2012: “A fresh wave of violence against
churchgoers left 27 people dead. The religiously-motivated
massacres, three in as many days, targeted Christians in Mubi
and Gombe, both towns in the north-east where President Goodluck
Jonathan declared a state of emergency the week before. Some 17
other deaths have been reported in other regions. At least nine
people died and 19 were injured in a shooting at an Evangelical
church in Gombe city in the north-east. Pastor Johnson Jauro
told reporters that gunmen burst into his church killing people
including his wife. He said: “The attackers started shooting
sporadically. They shot through the window of the church. Many
members who attended the church service were also injured.” Boko
Haram claimed responsibility for the attack, carried out by
extremists who rushed over from a nearby mosque. Up to 20 people
died in Mubi, Adamawa state as gunmen opened fire in a town hall
where Christian traders were meeting, holding prayers.” 344
February 2012: “Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a
suicide bomb attack during Sunday service at a Protestant church
in Jos. At least three people died, including a young girl, and
50 others were wounded. The media quoted witnesses saying a car
“packed with explosives” rammed the gate of a perimeter fence at
the church and exploded a few yards from a wall of the 800-seat
church. Boko Haram spokesman Abdul Qaqa told reporters: “We
attacked simply because it’sa church and we can decide to attack
any other church. We have just started.” 347
March 2012: “Islamist group Boko Haram declared a “war on
Christians” saying that it would launch a series of
“coordinated” attacks in order to “eradicate Christians from
certain parts of the country”. A Nigerian news website quoted an
unnamed spokesman for Boko Haram as saying: “We will create so
much effort to end the Christian presence in our push to have a
proper Islamic state that Christians won’t be able to stay.
“Human rights group International Christian Concern’sJonathan
Racho described the reports as “alarming”. He added: “Since
Christmas, Boko Haram has martyred about 100 Christians in
northern Nigeria. They think they have not met their goal for
eradicating Christians. They are prepared for more bloodshed “I
urge Christians around the world to contact their governments
and ask them to get Nigeria to protect its citizens.”
October 2012: “Suicide bomb attack during morning Mass
at St Rita’s Catholic Church, Kaduna, in the north of the city,
left four people dead and 160 injured. Among the dead were three
members of the choir who were closest to the centre of the
blast, which as well as badly damaging the church, completely
demolished the Shrine to Our Lady of Fatima outside.” 352
July 2013: “Christians in northern Nigeria expressed
alarm at the growing “phenomenon” of Christian girls under the
age of 18 being abducted and forced to convert to Islam ... A
Boko Haram statement read: “Kidnapping Christian women is part
of the new efforts to attack Christians and force them to leave
the north.” 355
August 2013: “Islamist extremists were accused of cutting
the throats of 44 villagers during a raid on Dumba village in
Borno State, north-east Nigeria. According to an official from
the National Emergency Management Agency, the attackers gouged
out eyes of several survivors.”
356
PAKISTAN
Population: 175 million
Religions: Muslim 95%
Hindu: 1.5%
Christian Population: 2.5 million (1.5%)
“Under 295 B&C of the Penal Code, known as the Blasphemy Laws,
dishonouring the Prophet is punishable by death and disrespect
to the Qur’an can incur life imprisonment.?
“45-year-old Asia Bibi, who in November 2010 became the first
woman in Pakistan to be sentenced to death for blasphemy. The
Christian mother of five was arrested because of verbal insults
she is alleged to have made against the prophet Mohammed. While
Asia Bibi still remains in jail with the death sentence hanging
over her head.”
“Since 2001 at least 50 Christians have been killed by mob
violence after the blasphemy laws were invoked as a pretext.”
“Christian schools in several areas of Pakistan were closed on
Monday 9th March 2013 in a protest for better protection
following a 3,000 strong mob torching more than 100 Christian
homes in Lahore’s Joseph Colony.”
“According to Fr Jill John the rape of Christian women in Punjab
has become “common practice”. 383 “It is estimated that at least
300 Christian women including minors are kidnapped, often
sexually abused, and forced to convert to Islam every year. 384
This number includes 18-year-old Mariah Manisha, a Catholic girl
from Khushpur, who was killed in November 2011 by her Muslim
kidnapper. Fr. Zafal Iqbal told Fides: “[T]he girl resisted. She
did not want to convert to Islam, and she did not marry the man,
who killed her for this. She is a martyr.” 385 Peter
Jacob, of the Catholic Church’s National Commission for Justice
and Peace, said “[T]he number of attacks against women in
Pakistan is four times higher than the cases that [are] reported
and many crimes “based on sex pass in silence”.
386
June 2011: “At least 10 Christian families in a village
in the Punjab Province fled their homes after an attempt to
force an eight-year-old boy to convert to Islam turned ugly.
Little Ihtesham (known as Sunny) Masih, who lived with his
family in Khanewal district s Mian Channu area, met Muslim boys
from a nearby religious school while on an errand to fetch ice.
The boy’sgreat uncle Yousaf Masih said the boys asked Sunny to
recite the Kalma, Islam’s proclamation of Mohammed as Prophet,
but Sunny refused. The boys began hitting Sunny and only stopped
when his uncle, Dildar Masih, passed by and intervened. The
uncle rebuked the boys for trying to force his nephew to
convert. A little while later, Dildar Masih was accused of
blasphemy, and 500 people besieged his home. Dildar was taken to
a police station but within 30 minutes 2,000 Muslims were
outside demanding he be handed over to them. Under pressure,
police filed a blasphemy case against Dildar. Unsatisfied,
Muslim clerics urged people to “take revenge” via their mosque’s
loudspeakers the following day.”
393
August 2011: “Christian men Ishfaq Munawar and Naeem
Masih were returning home after an early morning prayer service
at a church in Sohrab Goth on Pakistan Independence Day (14th,
when ethnic Pashtun youths stopped them and attacked them.
Ishfaq Munawar’s brother Liaqat Munawar said: “The Pashtun
youths tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic
profession of faith] and become Muslims, telling them that this
was the only way they could live peacefully in the city. They
also offered monetary incentives and “protection” to Ishfaq and
Naeem, but the two refused to renounce Christianity. After this
the youths went to a car parked nearby. Munawar and Masih got
back onto their motorcycle, when suddenly the car returned,
reversing into the Christians. The Muslims got out of the car
armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting
that they should either recite the Kalma or be prepared to die,”
said Liaqat Munawar. “The two Christians were severely beaten
and left unconscious. Ishfaq Munawar’s jaw was fractured and
five teeth were broken.”
395
September 2011: “A 13-year-old Christian girl Faryal
Tauseef, a student at Sir Syed High School, in the northern town
of Havelian, was beaten, expelled and her family driven out of
their home after she mispelt a word in a test. Writing in the
Pakistan language of Urdu, Faryal put ?laanat? (meaning ?curse?)
instead of ?Naat? (meaning a poem in praise of Mohammed). After
looking at the papers, Faryal’s teacher, Fareeda Bibi, summoned
the girl and scolded and beat her. Next day, male students held
a rally demanding that a criminal case be registered against
Faryal and that she be expelled. Local Muslim clerics also
called on district authorities to take action against the girl
and her family. The area?s Managing Director, Asif Siddiki,
summoned Faryal and her mother, who both immediately apologised
and said the mistake was not intentional. But, district
authorities expelled her from the school and transferred her
mother, a nurse, from a hospital in Abbotabad to another
elsewhere.? 398
September 2011: “A 32-year-old Christian woman was raped
while returning home on Thursday 15th to Mustafabad, in Punjab
Province’s Kasur district, from the factory where she works. “As
soon as I entered our street, [my neighbour] Bhallu appeared
from the shadows and put his hand on my mouth. A second person,
who I later recognized as Bhallu’s friend Shera, came from
behind and put a pistol on my temple. A third person also
appeared on the scene, and together they first gagged me and
then forcibly took me to an abandoned house. I tried my best to
get free from their hold and save myself, but they were too
powerful for me. I tried screaming, but they hit me. Not for a
minute did they acknowledge that I was a mother to five
children. Then they raped me, one after the other. Their third
accomplice stood guard as they tore in on me like animals.”
After she pressed charges, local Islamists reportedly threatened
to harm her family unless the charges were dropped.” 400
“Though it was our house of worship which was attacked and our
children who were beaten up, we apologised to the other party
for the sake of our lives we said that it was our fault.”
402
March-April 2012: ?A Christian woman Shamin Bibi, a
mother of five, was beaten and stripped of her clothes. Her
attackers lambasted her family for dressing smartly and said
they should only wear outfits befitting their status as manual
workers from a religious minority.”
February 2013: “A Christian man, Younas Masih, 55, died
after being shot five times as he returned home from work — his
co-workers had been pressuring him to convert to Islam. The
killing followed a heated discussion with his co-workers after
he again refused to change his religion. Police refused to open
an investigation into the murder despite requests from his
family.” 417
March 2013: “178 Christian homes and two churches were
torched when a 3,000-strong mob attacked Joseph Colony, near
Badami Bah, Lahore, following an accusation that 26-year-old
Christian sanitary worker Sawan Masih had defamed the Prophet
Mohammed. The accusation followed an altercation with Muslim
barber, Imran Shahid, who refused to serve him. Police arrested
the Christian after Shahid recorded a charge of blasphemy
against Masih, stating the young man had insulted the Prophet
Mohammed whilst drunk. The following morning a mob attacked the
Christian colony. Resident Salamat Masih told AsiaNews,
“We were working like every day, when we started to hear a
noise, and suddenly a wall of people fell upon the colony. They
threw acid and stoned our houses, then set them on fire. The
authorities intervened only when everything was destroyed.
Residents fled attackers and at least 35 people were injured.”
422
June 2013: “Christian lawyer, Mushtaq Gill, was
threatened with death if he continued to provide legal
assistance to three Christian women who were stripped naked and
paraded through the streets of Sereser village. Among those
allegedly responsible was Rana Ishaq, a member of the country’s
ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party.”
September 2013: “Two suicide bombers attacked All Saints
Anglican Church, Peshawar just after the Communion service on
Sunday 22nd had finished. Bishop Sebastian Shaw, Apostolic
Administrator of Lahore Archdiocese, told ACN that 81 people
died in the blast and were buried on the same day. More than 140
people were wounded by the explosion.”
SAUDI ARABIA
Population: 25 million
Religions: Muslim 95%
Other: 1%
Christian Population: 1 Million (4%)
“Saudi Arabia continues to have
one of the world’sworst records regarding religious freedom, an
assessment confirmed by many leading human rights observers.”
“Christians and other religious minorities continue to be
systematically persecuted. Public display of crosses and other
symbols is strictly forbidden, as is public worship by
Christians and adherents of other non- Islamic religions.
Despite an apparent increase in official Saudi statements
permitting non-Islamic worship in private, religious police have
reportedly continued to raid people’s homes. Bishops, priests
and other Christian leaders often have to travel in secret.
Non-Muslims are not allowed to be buried in the country. Saudi
Arabia is now the only country in the Middle East without a
recognised church since one opened in Qatar in 2008. Official
school textbooks were criticised for inciting hatred towards
Christians and other non-Muslim faiths.”
“Many Christians are domestics and other menial workers from
countries such as Philippines and several other predominantly
Catholic nations. Fears persist about evangelisation in a
country where conversion from Islam to another faith is
punishable by death. The country’s religious police, which
enforce strict observance of Islamic practices, follow a
zero-tolerance policy towards any form of Christian proselytism.
Hence, there are repeated reports of Christians receiving harsh
penalties including incarceration, whipping and other abuse for
activities described as evangelisation and blasphemy.”
January 2012: “A group of 35 Christians from Ethiopia
were arrested and beaten after they were caught at a prayer
meeting in Jeddah. The incident, reported by Human Rights Watch,
stated that the 29 women and six men were arrested in
mid-December 2011 while praying during Advent. They were taken
to a police station and then on to a prison. The women were
forced to strip and undergo “body cavity” searches while the men
were insulted, called “unbelievers” and beaten. They were later
charged with “unlawful mingling” of unmarried people from the
opposite sex, which is banned.” 431
March 2012: “Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah,
the highest religious authority in Saudi Arabia, declared that
all churches in the Arabian Peninsula should be destroyed. He
made the ruling after a proposal by a member of the
Parliamentary Assembly of Kuwait called for a ban on the
construction of new churches in the country.... The Grand Mufti,
who is also head of the Saudi Supreme Council of Islamic
Scholars, quoted the prophet Mohammed, saying that Islam is the
only religion that should exist on the Arabian Peninsula. He
said that as part of the Arabian Peninsula, Kuwait should
destroy all its churches.”
432
SUDAN and SOUTH SUDAN
Population: 45 million
Religions: Muslim 70%
Local Religions: 12%
Other: 3%
Christian Population: 6.75 million (15%)
“In line with Islamic Sharia law
under Article 126 of the 1991 Criminal Act, apostasy from Islam
is punishable by death.”
“Of particular concern was the government’s violence towards the
Nuba people. Human rights observers highlighted the intensive
bombing campaign of the Nuba mountains, mainly populated by
Christians, saying that it “reportedly amounted to ethnic
cleansing”. 441
June 2011: “Christians were killed by military
intelligence agents and Islamic militants after attacks on
churches in South Kordofan state. Nimeri Philip Kalo, a student
at St. Paul Major Seminary, was seized by a Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)
intelligence unit and detained near the UN Mission in Kadugli’s
al Shaeer area. He was shot in front of witnesses. Mr Kalo was
fleeing the town with other Christians after Muslim militias,
said to be working with the SAF, attacked and looted at least
three church buildings in Kadugli.”
June 2011: “The governor of North Kordofan, Mutasim
Mirghani Zaki Eldeen, declared jihad against the predominantly
Christian Nuba people.? 444
July-August 2011: “Muslim extremists sent text messages
to at least 10 church leaders in Khartoum warning that they
would target Christian leaders and buildings. One message read:
“We want this country to be purely an Islamic state, so we must
kill the infidels and destroy their churches all over Sudan.”
447
December 2011: “Christian teenager Hilba Abdelfadil Anglo
said she had forgiven the gang of extremists who had kidnapped
her and carried out physical and sexual attacks against her. In
June 2010 the then 15-year-old was abducted before being beaten
unconscious. Constantly moving her to different places around
Khartoum, the gang threatened to kill her if she tried to escape
and called her family “infidels” for their Christian faith. She
was raped by the gang leader. After a year in captivity, she had
convinced her captors to think she had converted to Islam, which
meant they relaxed controls on her. She escaped and found her
way back to her family. When she went to the police to report
the gang, they refused to act unless she converted to Islam. In
her latest report, Hilba stated that she was praying for her
attackers.”
June 2012: “Government officials in Khartoum gave the
go-ahead for the demolition of two church buildings in the area,
the first St John’s Episcopal Church in Haj Yousif and the
second, a Catholic church building. A local source said: “The
government wants to remove all churches from Khartoum.”
July 2013: “Reports detailed how converting from Islam to
Christianity in Sudan has become more dangerous since the
secession of South Sudan. About 170 people were imprisoned or
indicted for apostasy between 2011 and 2012.?
SYRIA
Population: 22 million
Religions: Muslim 92.5%
Other: 2%
Christian Population: 1.16 million (5.25%)
“Early on in the conflict, events
in Homs “ home to Syria’s second largest Christian community ”
showed the extent of the crisis being faced by the faithful.
Thousands upon thousands of Christians fled the city. In Homs
Christian quarter, eight or more ancient churches and other
religious buildings were desecrated and ruined.”
“The killing and abduction of clergy, the desecration of
churches, and ongoing violence and intimidation, left Christians
with no option but to leave. As recently as the 1920s,
Christians made up 30 percent of Syria’s population, and their
numbers were recently boosted by the arrival of refugees from
Iraq. However, they were suddenly in massive decline. 491
Reliable figures regarding the extent of the Christian exodus
were in short supply. In mid-2013 reports from Aleppo, for
example, showed that within two years 30,000 Christians had fled
the city...?
January 2012: “A secret report stated that Christians
were being murdered and kidnapped as part of the violence
spreading to key regions of Syria. The source, who could not be
named for safety reasons, said the spate of attacks had taken
place over three weeks after Christmas, and were motivated by
factors including religious intolerance. According to the
report, two Christian men, one aged 28, and the other a
37-year-old father with a pregnant wife, were kidnapped by
rebels in separate incidents and were later found dead. The
first was found hanged and the other was reportedly cut to
pieces and thrown in a river. Four others were kidnapped and
abducted — their captors threatening to kill them too.” 497
March 2012: “At least 50,000 people, almost the entire
Christian population of Homs, fled violence and persecution and
sought sanctuary in neighbouring villages and towns outside the
city. According to several reports, extremist members of the
“Faruq Brigade” which is part of the “Free Syrian Army”
went door to door in the Homs neighbourhoods of Hamidya and
Bustan al-Diwan, targeting Christian homes. Fr. Elias Aghia, the
Superior General of the Missionaries of St. Paul based in the
Lebanese village of Harissa, told ACN that he had heard
first-hand accounts from refugees of families being threatened:
” Once the Islamist fanatics went in there was nothing the
Christians could do. Where could they hide? Where could they go?
The army could not protect them or send in tanks the ancient
streets are too small. Do not think this was an accident. There
is a deliberate plan to isolate, cut off and destroy the
Christian communities. Many mainstream Muslims were also told to
leave by the soldiers.”
September 2012: “Islamist extremists attacked the mostly
Christian village of al-Hasaniya near the city of Homs, Syria.
According to local TV, they killed five civilians and took 17
people hostage.?
500
October 2012: “Greek Orthodox priest Fr. Fadi Jamil
Haddad, aged 44, was kidnapped and later found dead in Damascus.
The married priest, who was parish priest of St Elias’ Church,
Qatana, was seized after setting off to negotiate the release of
a parishioner, a doctor, who had been abducted a few days
earlier. Fr Fadi was kidnapped with the doctor’sfather-in-law,
whose fate is unknown. Fr Fadi’s abductors demanded a huge
ransom (equivalent to 550,000 (475,000)) but killed him anyway.
Six days after his abduction, his body was found on a road in
the Drousha area of Damascus with what the Orthodox Patriarchate
in Damascus described as “indescribable” signs of torture and
mutilation on his body, with his eyes gouged out. Thousands
attended his funeral at St Elias Church the following day.
During the service a bomb exploded. Two civilians and some
soldiers were killed.”
April 2013: “Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios
III of Antioch detailed atrocities against Christians since the
conflict began in early 2011. He said 1,000 Christians had been
killed, that “entire villages have been cleared of their
Christian inhabitants” and that more than 40 churches and other
religious buildings had been damaged or destroyed.”
April 2013: “Greek Orthodox Archbishop Boulos Yazigi and
Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim were seized near the
city of Aleppo, becoming the most senior Church figures to be
targeted in Syria’scivil war. The archbishops, who hold diocesan
sees in Aleppo, were seized on their return from a humanitarian
mission to a village close to Syria’sborder with Turkey. The
driver of their vehicle was killed when they were ambushed by an
armed group who forced them out of the car. Nobody has taken
responsibility for kidnapping the archbishops but some sources
claimed those responsible were “Chechen jihadists” Two months
later, with still little or no information about the kidnapped
archbishops ...”
June 2013: “Father Francis Mourad, 49, was killed when
Islamist fighters attacked the Monastery of St. Anthony in al-Ghasssinyah,
a predominantly Christian village in Idlib province, Syria. Fr.
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land, said Fr. Murad
was a guest at the monastery and was shot dead while trying to
defend people living in the convent, who included four nuns and
10 lay Christians.”
July 2013: “Two priests have given a report of the tragic
suffering and death of Mariam, a 15-year-old girl, who was
repeatedly raped by jihadists who overran her home city of
Qusair, in the Homs governorate. Unlike her family, Mariam was
unable to escape when Jabhat al-Nusra seized Qusair and she was
captured and forced into an Islamic marriage. The commander of
Jabhat al-Nusra in Qusair married Mariam and raped her before
repudiating her. The next day the young woman was forced to
marry another Islamic militant. He too raped and repudiated her.
The same thing happened for 15 days on each of which Mariam was
raped by 15 different men. Mariam was killed after she displayed
signs of mental illness. The atrocities took place after social
networks spread a fatwa across the country produced by Salafist
sheikh Yasir al-Ajlawni, who declared that it was lawful to rape
any “non-Sunni Syrian woman”
YEMEN
Population: 124 million
Religions: Muslim 99%
Christian Population: 8,000 (< 1%)
“Islamist groups took full
advantage and captured key areas, notably in the south. Here Al
Qaeda imposed its strict interpretation of Islamic law. The US
State Department reported “harassment, floggings, amputations
and murder, including crucifixions”, during the relatively brief
occupation of the cities of Abyan. Al Qaeda forced all residents
to pray at mosques five times a day, harassed women on the
streets for not wearing suitably modest dress and destroyed
tombs perceived to be idolatrous.”
January 2013: “According to unconfirmed reports, there
could be as many as 25,000 non-native Christians in Yemen, many
of them refugees from countries including Somalia, Eritrea and
Ethiopia, where the persecution of Christians is often even
worse. In Somalia, Al-Shabaab (?the Youth?) are reported to
?behead Muslim apostates to Christianity on a regular basis.”
590
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For footnote references, see original PDF document:
https://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/persecuted-and-forgotten-the-church-militant-in-partibus-infidelium/persecuted-and-forgotten-the-plight-of-the-church-militant-in-partibus-infidelium-2013.pdf
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the Aid to the
Church in Need
www.aidtochurch.org
, “a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church”,
supporting the Catholic faithful and other Christians where
they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.“
Especial thanks to
https://www.acnuk.org/
in the UK for their kind permission to reprint the article,
Persecuted and Forgotten” A Report on Christians oppressed
for their Faith 2011- 2013
Editor
Boston Catholic Journal
Totally Faithful to the Sacred Deposit
of Faith entrusted to the Holy See in Rome
“Scio
opera tua ... quia modicum habes virtutem, et servasti verbum Meum,
nec non negasti Nomen Meum”
“I
know your works ... that you have but little power, and yet you
have kept My word, and have not denied My Name.”
(Apocalypse
3.8)
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