Anti-Christian Persecutions: The Blood of Martyrs

“The Wanderer” – May 6, 2010 By Roberto de Mattei

The first few months of 2010 alone have added ever more and new pieces to the dramatic jigsaw of anti- Christian persecutions around the world.

In Iraq those Christians who are still in the country ( more than 500.000 have already been forced to abandon it ) live their lives in terror above all in the Mosul area where they victims of kidnappings and murders; in India in the cities of Batala and Jalandar, the Hindus have attacked Churches, as well as houses and shops of Christians; in Lahore, Pakistan, a 12 – year – old Christian girl has been tortured, raped and killed by her employer, a well- known Muslim lawyer; in Laos Christians have been arrested and their goods confiscated, on the charge of threatening the Communist Government of the countries with their faith; in Nigeria, Christian communities are militarily attacked by Muslim groups who ransack their goods and destroy their Churches.

Such persecutions are not isolated gestures, but rather the result of a actual campaign of defamation and “Christian – phobia” which is spreading at an alarming rate throughout the world amid the silence of the international community. In order to better grasp the extent of the phenomenon is useful to read two investigation books published respectively by Thomas Grimaux (The black book of new anti – Christian persecutions, Fede e Cultura, Verona 2009, p.170 and following) and by René Guitton ( Christian – phobia. The new persecution, Lindau, Turin 2010, p. 316 and following). Both authors are French writers and well –known journalists. Their books are based on first – hand knowledge, also thanks to their own travelling experiences in the countries where the persecutions are taking place, both in the West and in the East. They are not books for Catholics only, but for all “lay” men who take an interest in human rights and freedom of thought, of conscience and of religion.

Guitton’s book offers us a blood-curdling account of the current situation spacing from the Maghreb countries (Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania) to the Holy Land, and from there on to Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran until the Far East: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, North Korea, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. The same scenes are taking place in all these countries: profanation of Churches and cemeteries, rapes and violence of all kinds, crucifixion, burning of people alive, beheading by machete or hatchet, but also intimidations, abuse and legal discrimination. “Christians in Maghreb, Sub-Saharian Africa, Middle and Far East – Guitton writes – are persecuted, they die or disappear through a slow process, and are victims to the ever – increasing anti – Christian feelings”.

While Guitton’s book follows a kind of geographical fil rouge,  Grimaux analyses the origins of such phenomenon, and finds them in Islamic, Hindus, Buddhist and Communist Fundamentalism. Islam, which is spread all over the world, indeed constitutes the main source of all new persecutions in consideration of the enormous number and range of abuses perpetrated, the radical nature of its objectives and the wide reach of his weapons and means. But also Hinduism and Buddhism which are often seen as peaceful “postcard-type”  religions are prey of a strong and fierce aversion to Christianity. Reality of life for Christians in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mongolia and Myanmar ( former Burma) is the living proof that Hindus and Buddhist Fundamentalism alike set themselves the task of eradicating Christianity from those countries, through the means of political and social discrimination as well as of violence.

One should not, however, forget about Communism which is the ruling power in China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, is gaining strength in South America as well, and, from Zapatero’s Spain to Putin’s Russia, has not at all disappeared from Europe. The fight against religion has been, and still is nowadays, its very own essence. The genocide of Christians, that is the willingness to kill Christians as such simply because of their religious faith, is a reality which indeed belongs to the present. The 2009 edition of the Report published every year by the “Association Help to the Church which Suffers” confirms that 75% of religious persecutions in the world are in fact perpetrated against Christian communities.

A whole new book should indeed be written about the phobia and hatred of Christians in Europe; it finds its expression by means of the proclamation of the so-called “new rights”, starting from that to homosexuality, but also through the bans and restrictions imposed by European Institutions and the offensive and disparaging treatment of Christianity which is now wide-spread in books, films, songs, advertising and on the web. The sentence of the European Court of Human Rights of Strasburg pronounced on November 3, 2009, demanding that Italy ban all Crucifixes from schools, marks in fact the taking place of a “qualitative leap” in persecution of a judiciary and legal nature.

Mons. Louis Sako, Archbishop of the Chaldeans in Kirkuk, reminding the world of the difficult situation of all middle-eastern Christian communities, has however, underlined their determination not to surrender to pressures of any kind. “ We must stay and carry the Cross and bear witness, also with the blood of those who have been killed” ( from “L’Osservatore Romano”, Feb 24, 2010). The participation to the Sacrifice of Christ must indeed be a part of each and every Christian’s life; each knows that he/she must follow Christ along the path of the Cross. Jesus in the Gospels mentions the obstacles, intrigues and killings on the part of those who persecuted the Master, and will continue to persecute the disciples as well ( Matthew 10, 16-24) and advises that we must be true to ourselves and to God throughout tribulations, unfair trails and also in death (Luke, 21, 12-19). In fact, St Paul tells us, “ all those who want to live fully in Jesus Christ will  be victims of persecution” ( II, Tim 3, 12).

Abuse, slander, beatings and oppression of all kinds, even death itself, must not frighten the Apostle of Christ, but rather make his voice even stronger and louder. The fight between the witnesses of the True Faith and their persecutors has always brought to  the defeat of the latter; since they can indeed kill the mortal body, but cannot suffocate the voice of Truth which will echo into Centuries. “ God does not die!” did the President of Ecuador Garcia Moreno shout out as he was stabbed to death by a Freemason on the threshold of Quito Cathedral.
What is even more dramatic even than the persecution taking place, is in fact the indifference of the Western world to it, and even of the Catholic community itself. Persecuted Christians are asking for an international response in order to make the Governments of all countries intervene, but to no avail. Such shameful situation must change. Faced with the voice of blood crying from the earth to God, we cannot turn our heads to the other side and answer “ Am I the custodian of my brother?” ( Gen 4,9). Christianity is not an individual religion, but a whole Mystic Body, permeated with a spirit of social solidarity, within which each member participates to and shares the spiritual goods of others. Each member offers his/her actions for the development and perfection of the whole organism of the Mystic Body itself.

Just as a natural feeling of solidarity unites us to all human beings on the basis of the common origin of human nature itself, even more so a super – natural solidarity must unite us to all our brothers in faith. St Justin describes the martyrs as vine branches which have been cut so that the plant itself can bring more abundant fruit: “in fact as we are hit by swords, as we are crucified, as we are eaten by beasts, put into prison, given to the flames and exposed to all kinds of torments and tortures, we are not abandoning in any way our  profession of Faith. But, rather, on the contrary, the more such torments are inflicted upon us, the more other people become faithful and pious in the name of Jesus Christ. Just as a vine when someone cuts the branches which bring fruit,  gets the advantage of growing new and more numerous branches which bring even more fruit, the same happens to us” (Dialogue with Trifon, 110).

The blood of martyrs is seed of Christians, not only in number, but above all in the purity and integrity of the faith which is thus defended. It is also thanks to them that the Church continues its mission in history, overcoming all crises and difficulties on its path.