American Pastor imprisoned in Turkey returns to America, predicts Open Persecution of Christians will happen in USA

"I was isolated for a few years, and coming back to the states was almost like coming back to a different country in many ways...

"We in the West have not experienced [persecution] very much... but I think we're going to. I think it's coming to this country."

- Pastor Andrew Brunson

_______

Pastor Brunson was imprisoned for his Christian Faith in rapidly re-Islamizing Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has designs on restoring the former supposed glory of the Ottoman Caliphate. 

Having returned from his ordeal in an authoritarian Islamic state, Pastor Brunson sees America with fresh eyes and a clear mind. 

Let us heed his warnings and prepare ourselves for the trials ahead.

Pastor Andrew Brunson 'astounded at the speed with which the US is imploding' and predicts persecution

by Jon Brown, Washington Examiner, July 15, 2019 (h/t Russian Faith):


The evangelical Presbyterian pastor whose two-year imprisonment in Turkey sparked a geopolitical firestorm issued sobering words for Americans during a religious liberty conference last week.

Pastor Andrew Brunson lived as a missionary pastor in Turkey for decades until being detained in October 2016, following an alleged failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. His arrest sparked a diplomatic spat between Turkey and the U.S. in which President Trump involved himself personally.

During an interview at the Western Conservative Summit, held annually by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, Brunson claimed that the Judeo-Christian basis for American values is eroding.

"First of all, I think it's coming to the U.S., that there will be persecution," he said. "I was isolated for a few years, and coming back to the states was almost like coming back to a different country in many ways. And I'm really astounded at the speed with which, I think, the U.S. is imploding."

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Why Professing Christ Is Becoming a ‘Hate Crime’ in the West'

"The Western elements that are forever protecting and empowering Islam, and which operate under various names—'Liberals', 'Leftists', 'Marxists', 'Progressives', 'Social Justice Warriors', etc.—ultimately care little about Islam; rather, Islam is for them a tool to combat their real and much closer enemy: Christianity, and the mores and civilization borne of it and culminating in the West."

Raymond Ibrahim analyzes how and why Leftists join with Islam to persecute Christians in the West in this new "must read" article by one of the foremost scholars on the threat from Islam.

Why Professing Christ Is Becoming a ‘Hate Crime’ in the West

by Raymond Ibrahim, January 12, 2018:

What is the source of dhimmitude—which in many ways paralyzes responses to Islam—in the West?

First a definition: “dhimmitude,” which was coined by the late Christian president of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel, and popularized by writer Bat Ye’or, is a neologism based on the Arabic word, dhimmi—that is, a non-Muslim (generally a Christian or Jew) who falls under Islamic rule and, as a price for maintaining his religion, accepts an inferior social standing. Simply put, the dhimmi must know his or her place and never rock the boat, including by seeking equal rights with Muslims.

While this is the classic and original manifestation of dhimmitude, a new and unprecedented form has arisen in the West: in the Muslim world, where might naturally makes right, Muslim majorities impose an inferior status onto non-Muslim minorities; but in the West, it is the West itself—or at least homegrown elements—that in certain fields impose an inferior status on a non-Muslim majority.

The question becomes, Why? Why would a stronger civilization impose the unjust and supremacist stipulations of a weaker, hostile civilization, onto itself, and thereby paralyze itself against that same hostile civilization?

The answer is evident in the words of an ancient strategy: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The Western elements that are forever protecting and empowering Islam, and which operate under various names—“Liberals,” “Leftists,” “Marxists,” “Progressives,” “Social Justice Warriors,” etc.—ultimately care little about Islam; rather, Islam is for them a tool to combat their real and much closer enemy: Christianity, and the mores and civilization borne of it and culminating in the West.

Cardinal Robert Sarah: United States Faces ‘Insidious War’ Against Christians

While other countries face “merciless beheadings,” “bombings of churches” and “torching of orphanages,” in the United States Christians face an “equally damaging, yet more hidden” form of religious persecution, warned Cardinal Robert Sarah...

by Thomas D. Williams, PhD, Breitbart News, May 19, 2016:

In a scathing address at a prayer breakfast in Washington D.C. this week, a high-ranking Vatican cardinal has denounced an “insidious war” against Christians taking place in the United States under the guise of tolerance.

While other countries face “merciless beheadings,” “bombings of churches” and “torching of orphanages,” in the United States Christians face an “equally damaging, yet more hidden” form of religious persecution, warned Cardinal Robert Sarah, the African prelate serving as the prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship.

Sarah (whose name is pronounced Sar-AH and not like the English girl’s name) said that in America, “political leaders, lobby groups and mass media seek to neutralize and depersonalize the conscience of Christians so as to dissolve them in a fluid society without religion and without God.”

By doing this, he said, they are carrying out “the will of the Evil One.”

Russian New Martyr's Prophecies offer Warnings, Consolations, for our Darkening Times

The saints always call us to repentance, call us to a deeper, more authentic life in Christ, without guile. They may rebuke us for our sins, our laziness, our erratic and inconsistent following of the Lord, but at the same time, they offer great consolations and comfort for those who do struggle, who do labor in repentance, who do persevere to the end.

The persecutions facing us today are subtle (for the most part), cultural pressures, but with increased legalized marginalization of traditional Christian life and morality. Now Christians are being prosecuted for saying no to sin, and for not saying yes to the demands of the lost, who want the entire world to affirm their sins and lifestyle. This will likely metastasize into open persecution in the months and years ahead.

Our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia, and around the world are suffering horrific open persecution from Muslims energized by their excitement over Islam's global resurgence. A new, "great cloud of witnesses" for Christ, New Martyrs of the 21st Century under the Sword of Islam, is being raised up. You can learn about some of them through the links on the left-hand column of this blog.

Truly, we live in a new age of martyrdom, in which we must be prepared to be faithful to Jesus Christ and confess Him to the end. The martyrs who lived through earlier persecutions can help us, by their examples, by their words, and by their intercessions.

Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) of Petrograd warned of the trials to come upon the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian people as early as 1910, and before he was killed by the Soviets in 1937, sought to encourage his scattered flock with these words:

“The Orthodox Church is undergoing serious trials. Whoever remains faithful will be saved. Because of the persecutions many are leaving the Church, others are even betraying it. There have been other periods of persecution in history, but they all ended in the triumph of Christianity. That is how it will be with these persecutions. They will end, and Orthodoxy will triumph once again. Now many are suffering for the faith, but they are the gold that is purified in the furnace of persecution. There will be more new martyrs suffering for the Christian Faith than there ever has been throughout the history of Christianity.”

Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov has presented us here with a powerful icon of a prophetic witness for Christ, and urges us to seek the intercessions of Hieromartyr Seraphim and all the new martyrs:

"We need to pray [to the holy new martyrs, and] especially to Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) that he would enlighten our minds; that we would see life as it really is before God and not before people; that we would understand the signs of the times, and be able to make sense of the complicated, contradictory world in which we live, in which God has judged that we must live."

A Prophetic New Martyr: St. Seraphim (Chichagov)

by Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Egorievsk, Pravoslavie, December 11, 2015

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Today we commemorate a nearly unknown yet great saint, Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) of Petrograd. This was a man born in the second half of the nineteenth century, to an aristocratic family. He received a brilliant education, graduated from the Page Corps, became a well-known scholar, received a humanitarian as well as a natural sciences education, and was part of the upper echelons of society. He had a brilliant military career, having fought in several wars, but he left all this and became a priest. He did more than anyone else for the canonization of St. Seraphim of Sarov. (1)  This was his particular service.

Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim was not only a priest (later a bishop)—he was a true prophet. 

If we turn to the new martyrs with prayers for help—prayers to those who live in the kingdom of heaven for those who live here on earth—they can provide that help, because they once lived as we do, here on earth. Thus, Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim possessed a remarkable gift—the ability to recognize the signs of the times.

OCF Winter Conferences, 'Modern Martyrs: Witnesses of the Word', to address Persecution of Christians

Simultaneous East and West Coast conferences for Orthodox college students will focus on the numerous opportunities to witness to Christ in the campus setting and the persecution of Christians today. December 28-31; links for registration and scholarship applications below.

I have very high hopes for this year's conferences, and will be watching Ancient Faith Radio to post the keynote addresses. 

Registration now open for OCF’s annual college conferences

OCA, September 28, 2015

Each year during Christmas Break, the Orthodox Christian Fellowship [OCF], the official campus ministry of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, hosts college conferences for hundreds of college students from across North America.

Simultaneous conferences will be held on the east coast at Antiochian Village, Ligonier, PA and on the west coast at Saint Nicholas Ranch, Dunlap, CA December 28-31, 2015.  The theme for both conferences, “Modern Martyrs: Witnesses of the Word,” will focus on the numerous opportunities to witness to Christ in the campus setting and the persecution of Christians today.

Nun Vassa [Larin] will deliver the keynote address at the east coast conference.  Among those from the OCA slated to lead worships are Archpriest Timothy Hojnicki, Rector of Holy Apostles Mission, Mechanicsburg, PA and Mother Melania of Holy Assumption Monastery, Calistoga, CA.  Priest Apostolos Hill will offer the keynote address at the west coast conference.

“These annual conferences provide an unparalleled opportunity to build up our youth and young adults in our faith and traditions so that they, in turn, can be empowered towards stronger witness in their respective campuses,” said Andrew Boyd, OCA Youth Director.  “It is my hope that, as in previous years, we will be able to offer scholarships to all OCA registrants.  Scholarships are also available through OCF.”

Early registration is recommended due to space limitations.

• For information and to register for the east coast conference visit http://www.ocf.net/college-conference/cc-east.
• For information and to register for the west coast conference visit http://www.ocf.net/college-conference/cc-west/.
• To apply for an OCF-sponsored scholarship visit https://docs.google.com/forms.

The New Dark Age: U.S. and West Victimize Christians Fleeing ISIS

The "Christian" West reveals its hatred of Christianity by openly persecuting Eastern Christian refugees and aiding those who murder and terrorize them. We have entered a new Dark Age in all but name. We are living in the Age of Tribulation.


U.S. and West Victimize Christians Fleeing ISIS

by Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute, September 6, 2015

Iraqi Christians demonstrate by the Otay Detention Facility, San Diego, California

Not only does the West facilitate the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, but in the West as well.

According to a recent NPR report, the U.S. supported “moderate” coalition fighting both Bashar Assad and the Islamic State in Syria “has extremists in its own ranks who have mistreated Christians and forced them out of their homes”—just as IS has done.

Christian minorities forced out of their homes who manage to reach Western nations—including the United States—sometimes encounter more trouble.

Despite having family members to sponsor them, a group of 20 Christians who fled the Islamic State in Iraq have been imprisoned indefinitely at the Otay Detention Facility in San Diego, even though they have local family members and Christian leaders who vouch for them (the primary way that the majority of detained foreign nationals are released is to the supervision of American citizens vouching for them).

Activists say that the men and women in detention have been held indefinitely for too long, including by the U.S. government’s own standards. Some have been imprisoned for over seven months with no hearing date set for their release.

Mark Arabo, a spokesman for the Chaldean community in San Diego said “they are being held without a real reason…. They’ve escaped hell [IS]. Let’s allow them to reunite with their families.”

The detainees include a woman who pleaded to see her sickly mother.  The mother died before being reunited with her daughter who escaped the clutches of IS.  “She had been begging to be let out” of the U.S. detention center and see her dying mother, said a priest aware of her case.

Discussing the ongoing plight of these Iraqi Christians,  San Diego’s East County Magazine concludes:  “Why the federal government has failed to take steps to expedite such reunification in cases where family and religious leaders are willing to vouch for and help those seeking asylum here, then, remains an unfathomable mystery.”

Such “unfathomable mysteries” are reminiscent of the U.S. State Dept.’s habit of inviting Muslim representatives but denying visas to Christian representatives. Since the start of 2015, 4,205 Muslims have been admitted into the U.S. from Iraq but only 727 Christians.  For every one Christian the U.S. grants asylum, it grants asylum to five or six Muslims—even though Christians, as persecuted “infidel” minorities, are in much greater need of sanctuary, not to mention more assimilating to American culture than Muslims.

Christians Debate: Is it OK to 'Act Muslim' to Save Their Lives

The very asking of this question serves to underscore the fact that we are living in a new Age of Martyrdom. 

The Martyrdom of Bishop Teodor of Vrsac, Serbia.

Before exploring the contemporary debate, we might be wise to take a look back at a previous age of martyrdom to see how the Church survived a very similar trial.

The question of Christians committing apostasy in order to save their lives, and how to deal with those who did so, was experienced on a widespread scale in the middle of the 3rd century when, under Roman Emperor Decius (249-251), a fierce new outbreak of persecution against the Church was launched.

From Fr. Alexander Schmemann, The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy:

One of the primary reasons for the decline in Christian intensity had undoubtedly been the lull in the persecutions. From the death of Marcus Aurelius (185) until the middle of the third century, the Church lived in relative security... 

The persecution that suddenly burst upon the Church in the year 249 seemed a terrible and unexpected trial and exposed in full clarity how far many, many Christians had departed from the original intensity of faith and way of life... 

[Emperor Decius] gave first priority to the restoration of state worship, and this inevitably led to conflict with Christianity. Except for Nero, Decius was the first representative of Roman power to take the initiative in these persecutions as opposed to the system of private accusation followed by test. In a special edict he ordered all his subjects to prove their loyalty to the national gods by making the sacrifice. 

The Church again responded with the blood of martyrs, including not only Origen... but Bishop Flavian of Rome, Babylas of Antioch, and Alexander of Jerusalem. But what startled the Church was the mass apostasy. 

“Fear struck them,” wrote Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria, “and many of the more influential Christians gave in immediately, some giving way to fear, others, as civil servants, to the requirements of their positions, still others drawn along with the crowd. Some were pale and trembling, as if it were not they who were making sacrifices to the idols but they themselves who were being brought to sacrifice; and therefore the crowd mocked them.” 

 The same picture appears in the letters of Cyprian of Carthage: “There were some who did not even wait to be summoned to climb onto the Capitol, or to be questioned to renounce their faith. They ran to the Forum themselves, they hastened to their [spiritual] deaths, as if they had wished it for a long time. And — O ultimate crime! — parents brought their children with them, so that they might lose in their childhood what they had received on the threshold of their lives.” 

The persecution passed liked a whirlwind and quickly abated, but it left the Church in ruins. The question arose as to how to deal with those who had lapsed, who now rushed back for forgiveness and reconciliation. While the Church had recognized a “second repentance” at the beginning of the century, now the question was posed anew and more acutely.

Pew Report: Christianity Most Persecuted Faith Worldwide

• A Baker’s Dozen of the chief miscreants were Muslim states: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
• The rise of anti-Semitism is particularly worrisome, especially in Europe.
• Religious persecution occurs in virtually every Muslim state.

Related:

• Persecution of Christians a Significant Indicator of Future World Chaos (based on Open Doors 2015 World Watch List)

Report: Christianity Most Persecuted Faith Worldwide
by Doug Bandow, CNS News, March 19, 2015

'Our Lady' church in Baghdad, 2010.

Americans take religious liberty for granted. It is the First Freedom, guaranteed by the First Amendment. But four of five people around the world lack the freedom to worship and live faithfully. And the percentage of the world’s population lacking religious liberty recently edged upward. Attacks on Jews hit a recent peak. Even Americans cannot afford to take their freedoms for granted.

The Pew Research Center, with Peter Henne as lead researcher, recently issued its latest study on religious liberty. The report makes for a sad read. Many organizations address religious persecution, which occurs in virtually every Muslim and authoritarian state, plus a diverse mix of other nations. Pew also assesses equally threatening social antagonism, ranging from discrimination to hostility to violence.

In some nations governments take the lead in suppressing the faithful, imposing a range of restrictions backed by the state. Examples include bans on particular faiths, prohibitions on conversion, and restrictions on religious practice. In other countries the people make their societies unfriendly to minority beliefs, imposing a wide range of less formal sanctions. Such behavior includes harassment, intimidation, and violence, including murder. The overall global environment to religious faith is hostile. Concluded the study: “restrictions on religion were high or very high in 39 percent of countries. Because some of these countries (like China and India) are very populous, about 5.5 billion people (77 percent of the world’s population) were living in countries with a high or very high overall level of restrictions on religion in 2013, up from 76 percent in 2012 and 68 percent as of 2007.”

Franklin Graham Says Obama's 'Sympathy to Islam' Will Lead to Christian and Jewish Persecution in America

"...Growing up [Obama's] frame of reference and his influence as a young man was Islam. It wasn't Christianity, it was Islam."

by Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post, March 3, 2015

Rev. Franklin Graham (PHOTO: REUTERS/ALLISON SHELLEY)

The Rev. Franklin Graham has warned in an interview that President Barack Obama is "very sympathetic to Islam" and that America's foreign policy is influenced by Muslims. He added that this influence could lead to Christians and Jewish people being persecuted in the United States.

"There are Muslims that have access to him in the White House. Our foreign policy has a lot of influence now, from Muslims. We see the prime minister of Israel being snubbed by the president and by the White House and by the Democrats and it's because of the influence of Islam. They hate Israel and they hate Christians, and so the storm is coming, I believe," Graham told Gordon Robertson, host of CBN's "The 700 Club" interactive program.

Graham further pointed out that Obama had a Muslim father, and that as a child the president went to school in Indonesia, which has the largest Islamic population in the world.

Persecution of Christians a Significant Indicator of Future World Chaos

"With nearly twice the number of Christians persecuted over the previous year, it’s clear why Christians should be very concerned."

by David Curry, President of Open Doors USA
FoxNews.com,  February 9, 2015

Click through for Open Doors 2015 World Watch List full report & map.

Boko Haram continues its march toward making Nigeria an Islamic state. A few weeks ago, as the world focused on the terror attacks in Paris, the group continued its murderous rampage across the northern part of the country. Last weekend it killed dozens in Maiduguri. These are just the latest atrocities from Boko Haram, which has kidnapped hundreds of schoolchildren, murdered thousands of innocent men, women and children and driven hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

Unfortunately, all indicators point to the likelihood that the worst is yet to come.

Last month, Open Doors released its 2015 World Watch List, an annual survey of the most dangerous and difficult places in the world to be a Christian. This year’s report uncovered some startling and worrisome trends. In every region of the world — Africa, Asia and even in the Americas — persecution of Christians is growing. There was not one country on the 2015 list that decreased its acts of violence and persecution from the previous year. The escalation of violence over the past year was so great that the threshold used to create the list had to be increased. With nearly twice the number of Christians persecuted over the previous year, it’s clear why Christians should be very concerned.

What may not be as clear is why everyone else should care.

St. Barsanuphius of Optina: On Attacks Against the Church

I have to listen to complaints about the fact that we are now going through difficult times, that now free rein is given to all kinds of heretical and godless teachings, that the Church is being subjected to the attacks of enemies from all sides and that it will become terrible for Her, that these murky waves of unbelief and heresy are overcoming Her. 

I always answer, “Don’t worry! Don’t be afraid for the Church! She will not perish: the gates of hell will not prevail against Her, right to the Dread Judgment itself. Do not fear for Her but for yourself—that’s what you have to fear for, and it’s true that our times are very difficult. Why? Because now it is especially easy to fall away from Christ, and then—perish.” 

— St Barsanuphius of Optina (†1913)

via Pravoslavie

More Tyranny in America: Catholic TV Network Forced to Comply With HHS Mandate

The repeal of the Edict of Milan (313 A.D.) continues to accelerate both at home and abroad under the openly corrupt Obama regime, supporter of Muslim extremist groups and persecutor of traditional Christians.


Catholic TV Network Forced to Comply With HHS Mandate
by Christine Rouselle, Townhall.com — June 18, 2014

EWTN: Global Catholic Television Network (EWTN), a Catholic-themed television network founded in 1980 in a garage studio by a nun, has been denied protection from the HHS contraception mandate following a decision yesterday by Mobile, Ala. District Judge Callie V. Granade.

A statement posted on EWTN's website and Facebook page by CEO Michael P. Warsaw expressed his disappointment with the decision and said that EWTN will seek an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta:

Western Leaders Warned: Islam Demands Subjugation

Few politicians willing to address Islamic theology as 'root source' of Muslim persecution of Christians.

by Jim Fletcher, WND — May 17, 2014

Western leaders are unwilling to recognize that Islamic jihadists want to subjugate the world and apply Islamic law to everyone, including them, according to several researchers.

Raymond Ibrahim, a researcher, translator and author, said that because Muslim persecution of Christians and others is “grounded in the theology of Islam, very few politicians are willing to address the root source of it.”

“And of course if you cannot ascertain a problem, you cannot fix it,” he said.

BIPARTISAN GOVT REPORT FAULTS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR IGNORING PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

Pro-Muslim, Anti-Christian 'Obama Doctrine' exposed in Government Report.

Good to see an actual bi-partisan government report drawing attention to what Raymond Ibrahim, I and others have been reporting on for years now. But the wording and emphasis of the report's conclusions are not strong enough. 

The foreign and domestic policy choices and alliances of President Barak Hussein Obama reveal a strategic shift in U.S. orientation. In fact, we can point to and identify a specific "Obama Doctrine" which confers preferential treatment and standing upon Muslim nations and extremist groups, at the direct expense of basic safety, freedom and aid to indigenous Christians abroad, and Christian believers and organizations, including Christian churches, at home.

Regarding foreign policy, the Obama administration has explicitly allied with Islamic extremists in Egypt, Libya, Syria and elsewhere, its official support providing direct aid, "soft power," and diplomatic cover for what more than one non-partisan conference has termed an "apocalyptic," "genocidal" persecution of Christians of "biblical proportions."

Raymond Ibrahim terms the Obama Doctrine as "Obama's Proxy War on Mideast Christians," and I have written very strongly against the Obama Doctrine, including the following original articles: 

• On The Wrong Side of History (July 2013)
• Obama Doctrine makes U.S. a 'Sinister Bystander' (July 2013)
• The Obama Doctrine: Known by its Fruits (Sept. 2012)
• Repealing the Edict of Milan: Obama as the anti-Constantine (Oct. 2013)

REPORT FAULTS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR IGNORING PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

by William Bigelow, Breitbart News — May 7, 2014

A new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan group, asserts that the Obama administration is turning a blind eye to persecution of Christians by Muslims in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, as well as persecution of Christians in North Korea.

Dwight Bashir, the commission's deputy director of policy and research, told FoxNews.com:

While the Obama administration should continue to shine a spotlight on abuses through public statements, it also should impose targeted sanctions to demonstrate that there are consequences, too. By not utilizing an existing legislative tool, the United States risks sending the message that it prefers a nuclear deal to standing up for the rights of the Iranian people. The United States should not be confronting such a scenario in the first place.

The worst 16 countries that violated religious freedom were listed in the report. Iran, the report stated, had gotten even less tolerant after "purportedly moderate President Hassan Rouhani" ascended to the presidency last year. Of Iran, the report added, “As of February 2014, at least 40 Christians were either in prison, detained or awaiting trial because of their religious beliefs and activities.”

Morad Mokhtari, an Iranian human rights researcher who is Christian, stated that Rouhani “has not been effective in changing the judicial system” and there is no way to ascertain if he will challenge Iran’s sharia law.

Saudi Arabia was targeted in the report, which stated, “Not a single church or other non-Muslim house of worship exists in the country.” Some Saudi Arabian textbooks in 2013 and 2014 “justified violence against apostates and polytheists and labeled Jews and Christians ‘enemies.’"

Barack Obama never brought up the Saudi intolerance when he visited the country in March, despite the fact that a bipartisan group of 70 members of Congress asked him to discuss human rights with the Saudi government.

In Easter Message, Patriarch John X (Yazigi) says Syria's Christians won't yield to extremists

Faith and Strength from the Orthodox Christian Patriarch of Antioch, "where the disciples were first called Christians." (Acts 11:26)

Fox News via Pravoslavie — April 22, 2014

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Syria says Christians in the war-ravaged country "will not submit and yield" to extremists who attack "our people and holy places."

In comments to mark Easter, Patriarch John Yazigi called on the warring sides to end the practice of "intimidation, displacement, extremism and takfiri mentality," a term for Islamic extremists. Such radicals have become increasingly influential among rebels, attacking Christians who they see as infidels and partly as punishment for what they consider Christians' support for President Bashar Assad.

Yazigi's message was carried by Syria's official news agency late Saturday. Christians represent about five per cent of Syria's population. Assad's forces and rebels trying to overthrow him are locked in a civil war in which more than 150,000 people have been killed. FOX News

Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/70161.htm

© Pravoslavie.Ru

Syria: Jihadists Crucify 2 Christian Youths Who Refuse to Convert to Islam

Google Translate from this Croatian Catholic site.
Originally posted in English by Atlas Shrugs, April 22, 2014

Islamists have been crucified and the other gruesome ways of killing Christians who refused to renounce faith.

In the occupied towns and villages , jihadists and extremist Muslim groups Christians offered Shahada ( a sentence that expresses the foundation of Islamic belief ) or death … They thought it was unacceptable to give up their faith and therefore suffered martyrdom , the nurse said Raghida , former head of the Christian school in Damascus Vatican Radio Syria

Islam or death ! - Choice of the front of which are in the height of the conflict in Syria found many Syrian Christians , and about the atrocities that affected the Christian population of the Middle Eastern country , once known for the harmonious coexistence of Muslims and Christians , spoke sister Raghida , former head of the Christian school in Damascus .

Turkey Still Haunted By Genocide a Hundred Years Later

The author fails to understand that the Muslim Turks' early 20th century genocide against the Armenian Christians was fueled by Islamic scriptures, teaching and worldview. Islam is the cause of the Armenian Genocide, and the Turkish leaders' hysterical protests against it are consistent with all Muslim responses to historical proof of jihad and genocide committed by Muslims in the name of Islam and Allah in the fourteen centuries since Muhammad set the global jihad in motion.


Turkey Still Haunted By Genocide a Hundred Years Later

By Harut Sassounian, The California Courier

AINA — April 22, 2014

Still image from the documentary 'Ravished Armenia' about the Armenian Genocide.

Every time that the Armenian Genocide is mentioned anywhere in the world, Turkish officials protest hysterically like children caught with the hand in the cookie jar!

The Turkish leaders' psychotic behavior could be explained by their guilty conscience, despite public protestations of innocence, knowing full well that their ancestors did indeed commit one of the most heinous crimes in the annals of history -- genocide!

Last week, the world witnessed yet another manifestation of Turkish temper tantrums when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, despite heavy-handed pressure from the Ankara regime and its highly compensated lobbying firms, adopted Resolution 410 on the Armenian Genocide with a 12 to 5 vote. This is the first time in a quarter century that this body has approved such a Resolution.

Turkey ‘Aided Islamist Fighters’ in Attack on Syrian Christian Town

Rapidly re-Islamizing Turkey is openly complicit in the Syrian jihad and Muslim persecution of Syrian and Armenian Christians. In fact, it is a perpetuation of the Armenian Genocide of a century ago. 

OCP Media — April 15, 2014

By Ruth Sherlock

The Telegraph - 15/4/14

A severely damaged house in the Armenian Christian town of Kasab (Photo: REUTERS).

Turkey facilitated an attack carried out by Islamist fighters against the Armenian town of Kasab inside Syria, eyewitnesses have told the Telegraph.

In an operation that was months in the planning, Turkish authorities gave rebel groups the mandate they needed to attack, allowing them access through a heavily militarised Turkish border post, whose location was strategically vital to the success of the assault.

“Turkey did us a big favour,” said a Syrian activist with the rebel group, whose name the Telegraph knows but has been asked not to reveal. “They allowed our guys to enter from their border post.

“We needed to hit the regime from different sides and this was the only way from near the coast, so it was a big help.”

Kasab, the ancestral home of the Armenian [Christian] ethnic minority in Syria, which had remained relatively sheltered from the conflict in Syria.

'Every Friday is a Day of Death' for Christians in Cairo

International Christian Concern — April 23, 2014 ICC Note: The situation in Egypt continues to deteriorate for the nation's Christians. As systematic kidnappings of Christians plagues the Minia region to its south, reports confirm the brutal murder of a Christian woman by Muslim Brotherhood radicals in Cairo. Viciously stabbed to death, Mary Sameh George was murdered for hanging a cross from her review mirror. The mob responsible for her death set fire to Mary's car shortly after taking her life, sending a message of repression and violence to Christians local to Ain Shams. 04/22/2014 Egypt (GlobalDispatch) - A shocking new report details an Islamic mob of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt attacking and murdering a Christian woman for having a cross hanging on her car mirror. The report on Monday chronciles eyewitness account of the beating, stabbing, and shooting death of Mary Sameh George in Cairo on March 28. “Every Friday the supporters of Muslim Brotherhood organize a march after Friday prayer in Ain Shams,” the witness told the International Christian Concern (ICC). Identified only as Wahid, he says that “On this Friday afternoon, violent clashes took place between the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the security forces during their march.”

A Plea To Free Kidnapped Syrian Bishops

Marking the one-year anniversary of the abduction of Bishops John and Paul of Aleppo, Syria.

By Wolfgang Danspeckgruber

Huffington Post via OCP Media - April 22, 2014

It is now precisely a year, 365 days, since the kidnapping of the two Metropolitans of Aleppo, the Syriac-Orthodox Archbishop Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim and the Greek-Orthodox Archbishop Boulos Yazigi, which took place on the road between Aleppo and the Turkish border on April 22, 2013.

The kidnappers murdered the driver on the spot while a fourth person in the car managed to escape unharmed. While rumors abound, and we have endured a host of different reports and messages concerning life, injury, or death, to date there have been no verifiable signs of the two Metropolitans – neither of life nor of death. The Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox churches in Aleppo have been missing their leaders. In addition to pastoral work, the churches also operate schools and hospitals, and run humanitarian programs for all persons in need, regardless of their color or creed.

The location of the Metropolitans and their state of health, as well as the identity and aims of their kidnappers, is still unclear. According to multiple media reports, it is assumed that Abu al Banat and a jihadist Group of Chechen led the kidnapping.