Imagine what it must be like to worship the Holy Trinity during the Divine Liturgy under the constant threat of gunfire and bombings.
Sometimes when I hear the Beatitudes sung during the Liturgy, I wonder what our brothers and sisters must think and feel when they sing and hear Christ's words, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My Name's sake. Rejoice! And be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in the heavens!"
For our Christian brethren in the Islamic world, these words are made real. They are experiencing the truth of Christ's words day-by-day in a profound, life-and-death manner we cannot even begin to apprehend in our land of comfort and entertainment.
God forgive us and help us to remember and pray for our persecuted brethren � these confessors and martyrs � and that we may strive just a little more earnestly to deepen our own faith, that we may share in the Resurrection with these witnesses for Christ!
Jihadis Cleansing Pakistan of Christiansby
Raymond Ibrahim; March 21, 2015
On Sunday, March 15, as Christian churches around the world were celebrating morning mass,
two churches in Pakistan were attacked by Islamic suicide bombers. At least 17 people were killed and over 70 were wounded.
The two churches (located in Youhanabad, Lahore�s Christian quarter) were St. John�s Catholic Church and Christ Church (Protestant). The Taliban claimed responsibility. It is believed that the group had hoped for much greater death tolls, as there were almost 2,000 people in both churches at the time of the explosions.
According to eyewitnesses, two suicide bombers approached the gates of the two churches and tried to enter them. When they were stopped � including by a 15-year-old Christian who blocked them with his body � they self-detonated. Witnesses
saw �body parts flying through the air.�
Thus did the jihadis �kill and be killed,� in the words of Koran 9:111, the verse most often cited to justify suicide attacks.
According to an official
statement of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan, despite all the threats received by the churches, authorities only provided �minimal� security:
Agents present at the time of the attack were busy watching the cricket match on TV, instead of carrying out their duty to protect churches. As a result of this neglect, many Christians have lost their lives.
The statement further urged:
� the government to adopt strong measures to protect churches and other religious minorities in Pakistan [since] the Christian community of Pakistan was targeted by extremists in the past.
Less than a year-and-a-half earlier, on September 22, 2013, in Peshawar, suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church right after Sunday mass and blew themselves up in the midst of approximately 550 congregants, killing nearly 90 worshippers. Many were Sunday school children, women, and choir members. At least 120 were injured.
One parishioner
recalled how �human remains were strewn all over the church.� (For an idea of the aftermath of suicide attacks on churches, see
these graphic pictures.)
In 2001, Islamic gunmen stormed St. Dominic�s Protestant Church, opening fire on the congregants and killing at least 16 worshippers, mostly women and children.
Earlier, Father Leopold, the ailing parish priest, was robbed by thieves:
[They] pretended to be ordinary members of the faithful wanting to enroll some children at the parish school. Then they suddenly pulled out guns.
Christmas season is an especially dangerous time for Christians meeting in churches. On
last December 25:
Heavy contingents of police were deployed in and around the churches � citizens were allowed only after [a] thorough body search � while the entry points leading to the churches had been closed by placing cemented blocks and barbed wire.
When Christian worshipers were coming out of different churches after performing Christmas prayers, more than one hundred Muslim extremists equipped with automatic rifles, pistols and sticks attacked the Christian women, children and men.
There have also been general attacks on Christians, especially in the context of accusing them of �blaspheming� against Islam. Last November, a mob � not the �Taliban,� and not �terrorists� � consisting of at least 1,200 Muslims tortured and
burned to death a young Christian couple (the wife was pregnant) in an industrial kiln in Pakistan.
Someone had accused the Christian couple of desecrating the Koran.
Even when not in church and not accused of blasphemy, Christian minorities are always in danger. Last December, Elisabeth Bibi, a 28-year-old pregnant Christian mother of four, was �
beaten, scorned and humiliated, deprived of her dignity [and] forced to walk naked through the town� by two Muslim brothers � the pregnant woman�s employers � following an argument.
In the ordeal, she lost her baby.
Speaking last Sunday from Rome, Pope Francis
said:
It�s with pain, much pain that I was told of the terrorist attacks against two Christian churches in Lahore in Pakistan, which have caused numerous deaths and injuries. These are Christian churches and Christians are persecuted, our Christian brothers are spilling their blood simply because they are Christians. I implore God � that this persecution against Christians � that the world seeks to hide � comes to an end and that there is peace.
Pope Francis is often criticized for his apologetic approach towards Islam. Even here, he does not note who is persecuting these Christians, leading to confusing assertions (�our Christian brothers are spilling their blood� sounds like Christians are killing Christians). But the pope is forthright as to why Christians are being killed: �simply because they are Christians.�
Others, such as the U.S. government, will not even concede that much.
Such obfuscation ensures the Muslim persecution of Christians �that the world seeks to hide� will continue indefinitely.
