Persecution of Christians around the world

 

Persecution of Christians around the world [ edit ]

The Open Doors Global Christian Persecution Index is a tool gathering data intended to be representative of the persecution of Christians. Compiled by the “research department” of Portes Ouvertes International from field data, it tracks the changes experienced by Christians in 150 countries, then ranks among them the 50 countries where it is, according to the criteria defined by the Index , the most difficult and dangerous way to practice the Christian faith. The classification does not simply reflect the violent acts of persecution (hammer persecution) but also the “environmental conditions” underlying the persecution (vice-like persecution).

In 2023, the report analyzes the persecution over the last thirty years. The number of countries affected by persecution has increased from 40 in 1993 to 76 today, according to the NGO ⁶ . The average score of the 50 worst countries for Christians has increased by 25% in thirty years. Thus, the persecution would spread and intensify ⁷ .

The 2023 ranking shows a significant increase in persecution, which has been increasing steadily for 10 years ⁸ . Over the period studied to develop the Global Christian Persecution Index 2023, 5,621 Christians were killed because of their belief, almost 90% of them in Nigeria :  this represents 15 Christians killed per day in the world because of their faith ⁹ . 4,542 Christians were detained, including 1,750 in India. Of the 5,256 Christians kidnapped in one year, 4,726 were in Nigeria .

The NGO Portes Ouvertes estimates that more than 360 million Christians (1 in 7 Christians) are heavily persecuted in the world ¹⁰ . Among them, it is those who left their old religion to embrace Christianity who are the most persecuted ¹¹ .

North Korea has regained the top spot. It records the highest score ever measured since the creation of the Index in 1993, which is 98 persecution points (the maximum being 100 points) ¹² .

The association also reports a worsening of violence in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 30 years. Islamist extremism, represented by several armed groups, is gaining ground. Kidnappings, raids on churches and even murders are becoming more and more frequent, particularly in Nigeria ¹³ .

Canon in honor of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki /Dimitar Solunski/

 

Canon in honor of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki /Dimitar Solunski/

Oh, wise Demetrius, as thou standest brightly in glory before the throne of God, do not forget us, pray for us, the wretched, who – strangers in this land – contemplate thy great deeds today and glorify thee, hoping strongly for thy intercession!

 

Hear now, Oh glorious Demetrius, thy poor servants, and have mercy on them: we have strayed far from thy bright temple, but our hearts burn, and we deeply long to worship one day in thy church, with thy prayers.

 

Why, Oh wise Demetrius, should only we, your poor servants, be deprived of thy beauty and of love for the creator; wander through foreign countries and cities; and suffer from the cruel soldiers of the pagans and heretics...

Methodius

Fight against Anger - Archim. Thaddeus Vitovnitsky (Strbulovich) ('Thank the Lord')

 

Fight against Anger

How should you fight against anger? Father Thaddeus raised this question himself, as if knowing that I was going to ask him. He gave me the example of two monks of the Holy Mountain who fought against the temptation of anger for 14 years. Once the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to one of them and said that anger is conquered by giving up one's own desires and will.

If we do not put ourselves in the place of the judge and be exalted before others, there will be no anger. It's the same with non-peace; our non-peaceful thoughts cause anxiety in the people with whom we communicate. It is necessary to learn to control your thoughts, to bring order to them, then the thoughts of other people will not harm us. One must learn Christ's simplicity. It often happens that when we are going to visit someone, we already think in advance that perhaps we will interfere with him, and then our visit does not work out as it should, because we come in embarrassment and make on the one to whom we came, negative action.

There is no humility until the heart calms down and begins to dispassionately perceive external influences. Such a state is not easy to achieve, and it does not mean insensitivity to the pain and suffering of others, but indifference to our own demands, which often cause our suffering.

the time for repentance has already expired - Metr. Agafangel

 

Metropolitan Agafangel: The Religion of the Antichrist for Slavic Nations

Author: Metropolitan Agafangel. Date of publication: October 07, 2023. Category: Author's column.

The religion of the Antichrist for former Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians becomes (or has, rather, long become) a mixture of “Orthodox-likeness” (which is in total professed by all the “official churches” in the post-Soviet space) with a communist (atheistic) Soviet essence [inherent]. It is precisely this “explosive” combination that makes modern post-Soviet men completely ready, guided by abstract considerations, to “reasonably” [truly] and ideologically kill their own brothers, and the nation as a whole – [to be] completely ready to accept the Antichrist, at that, with joy, “not for fear, but for conscience.” ".

Orthodoxy cannot be mixed with any other “projects”, otherwise it ceases to be Orthodoxy and turns into false faith and ideology. The Orthodox [faithful] understood this very well as early as in the 4th century, when the Byzantine Empire became Christian, then true believers left large cities and became hermit monks. But, nevertheless, like the Byzantine Empire the Russian Empire also protected monks and simply the faithful, and so it was quite possible for them to live on its territory.

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