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Vicar of Baghdad: Four Iraqi Christian Kids Beheaded After Refusing to Convert to Islam, Telling ISIS Militants 'No, We Love Jesus' Four Iraqi Christian children, who were all beheaded by the Islamic State, refused to betray Jesus and graciously died in his name when the ISIS militants gave them one last chance to say the Islamic words of conversion, the Rev. Canon Andrew White revealed in a recent interview. In an interview last week with the Christian Broadcast Network published on the Orthodox Christian Network, White, who is the only Anglican vicar in Iraq and is know as "The Vicar...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ankara and Istanbul were gray and cold, at least compared to Rome, during Pope Francis' Nov. 28-30 visit to Turkey. And the general reception, outside of the pope's official meetings, was hardly warmer. There were none of the enthusiastic crowds that usually greet him on his trips, no masses waving signs of welcome along his motorcade route or behind police barriers at the stops. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople kisses Pope Francis as they embrace during an ecumenical prayer service in the patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul Nov. 29. (CNS/Paul Haring) Pope Francis, who...

Andrew White, an Anglican priest known as the “Vicar of Baghdad,” has seen violence and persecution against Christians unprecedented in recent decades. In the video embedded below, he recounts the story of Iraqi Christian children who were told by ISIS militants to convert to Islam or be killed. Their response? “No, We Love Yeshua (Jesus).”Find out more about Andrew White’s ministry, The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, which provides humanitarian assistance to many of the Christians under attack by ISIS. Be sure to watch his interview below, and spread the word about the horrific persecution going...

Pope Francis has “dared to do what none of his predecessors had ever done,” Le Figero’s Jean-Marie Guénois rejoiced, “to pray openly, side-by-side with a Muslim dignitary”. The event took place at the Blue Mosque on November 29, the second day of Francis’ visit to Istanbul. In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI – the ever-zealous advocate of Conciliar ecumenism – visited the Mosque but supposedly remained in contemplation. This gave rise to speculation as to whether or not the Pontiff actually prayed in the Mosque, and also gave rise to scandal. Francis, according to Guénois, removed any hint of ambiguity. The...

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM ISTANBUL (CNS) -- Pope Francis called on political and religious leaders across the Muslim world to condemn violence done in the name of Islam. The pope said he told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Nov. 28 that "it would be beautiful if all Islamic leaders -- whether they be political leaders, religious leaders, academic leaders -- would say clearly that they condemn (terrorism), because that will help the majority of Islamic people to say, 'that's true,'" and show non-Muslims that Islam is a religion of peace. Pope Francis answers questions from journalists on his flight...

A day after calling for inter-religious dialogue to end Islamist extremism, Pope Francis on Saturday visited a 17th-century mosque in Istanbul and spent several minutes in a silent prayer with his head bowed in the direction of Mecca. The pope made the gesture to promote Christian-Muslim relations at the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque, on Saturday, the second day of his three-day Turkey visit, according to the Vatican Radio. He removed his shoes before entering the mosque with blue tiles on its walls. Standing next to him was the Grand Mufti, who explained about the Koranic verses...

Pope Francis exits Istanbul's Holy Spirit Cathedral Nov 29. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA. Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 30, 2014 / 01:47 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis’ visit to Turkey may change the traction Christians have in a country that is almost entirely Muslim, said two Turkish young women who had the occasion to greet the Pope on his recent trip. Baram, a nearly 30-year-old woman with a degree in French Literature, told CNA that “there is a group of people here in Turkey that does not understand Christianity, or simply they are not interested in Christianity.” However, she said, “the fact that...

Vatican's chief ecumenical officer speaks about implications of this weekend's papal visitPope Francis and Ecumencial Patriarch Bartholomew will sign a joint declaration Sunday, confirming the growing relationship between the long-separated Churches of Rome and Constantinople. The Pope's visit comes just six months after he and Bartholomew met in Jerusalem and singed a Joint Declaration about their commitment to the search for Christian unity. Accompanying Pope Francis on the journey to Turkey is the head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, who said in a Vatican Radio interview this week that first of all ithe papal...

ISTANBUL, Turkey — While there are plenty of reasons why Pope Francis is going to Turkey this weekend, the official motive is clear: To meet Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, and to move Catholicism and Orthodoxy closer to unity. The small Orthodox community Francis will find may not exactly be on life support, but it faces severe pressure related to being a minority in a country that’s 98 percent Muslim, and where Christians are often seen as a foreign presence. In 2009, the normally measured Bartholomew said he felt “crucified” by a state that wants to see his Church simply die...

Istanbul, Turkey, Nov 26, 2014 / 04:43 pm (Aid to the Church in Need).- Since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, and especially since the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey has become the destination—or passage way—for hundreds of thousands of refugees, many of them Christians. Many, too, are young, single people, prepared to take great risks. In early November, a boat carrying illegal migrants from Turkey to Bulgaria capsized just after coming through the Straits of the Bosporus. The bulk of refugees end up in Istanbul, the vast metropolis capable of absorbing so many...

Notes Hopes That Francis' Apostolic Trip to Turkey Can Deepen Relations, Prepare Next StepsSwiss Cardinal Kurt Koch has suggested ecumenical dialogue is reaching new heights under the pontificate of Jesuit Pope Francis. In a wide-ranging interview with ZENIT at the Vatican last week, the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity discusses Pope Francis' trip to Turkey and what it means for ecumenical dialogue and how this Pope’s reaching out to Evangelicals has created a “new situation” for the Church. Moreover, the prelate speaks on where the Church’s relationship with the Patriarchate of Moscow currently stands, the Pope’s...

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM STRASBOURG, France (CNS) -- Pope Francis said he would "never close the door" on dialogue with the Islamic State in an effort to bring peace to a region of the world suffering from violence and persecution. He also said that "terrorism" could describe not only the actions of such extremist groups but also those of some national governments using military force unilaterally. Pope Francis answers a reporter's question on his flight back to Rome after speaking at the European Parliament and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, Nov. 25. (CNS/Paul Haring) Meeting reporters Nov....

A recent Gallup poll reflecting President Barack Obama's approval rating among American religious groups revealed that the president's highest rating was among Muslims (72 percent) and the lowest among Mormons (18 percent). That's an enormous difference between two groups that actually have a lot in common. What explains such radically divergent views? According to Mormon political analyst Quin Monson, the explanation for Obama's low ranking among Mormons has to do with party affiliation: "It's not surprising, given the fact Mormons are overwhelmingly Republican. There aren't very many Mormon Democrats, and that explains it." That surely is not the whole explanation....

Throughout November, The Huffington Post UK is featuring its Beyond Belief series, chronicling those who've taken on faith to create a force for change."You’re the anti-Christ, you will be destroyed,” screamed an incensed heckler during a speech by Barack Obama in June this year. It was not the first time Obama had heard this very pointed line, nor was he the first President to hear it. Anti-Obama rallies are often decorated with signs or t-shirts carrying overtly religious messages, whether it’s likening him to the Devil, demanding that Christian prayers be returned to schools or suggesting that America has a...

It looked like a chilling scene from a Last Days, anti-Christ-takes-over-the-world disaster movie. Hundreds of Muslims take over America’s most notable church, prostrate on their prayer rugs as their unified chant echoes out in full volume: “There is only one god, he begets not and I bear witness that Muhammad is His only servant and Apostle."

Christine Weick, the Christian woman who snuck into the invitation-only Islamic prayer service last Friday afternoon at the Washington National Cathedral, said that although she interrupted the service to proclaim the name of Jesus and tell worshippers inside to stay away from U.S. churches, she loves Muslims. "God has a love for them. He does, 'God so loved the world.' That includes Muslims. I have a love for them. They are a beautiful people. Most of them are very kind," Weick, 50, told The Christian Post Sunday. The service held inside the Episcopal church was meant to promote interfaith prayer...

Lest we forget the true face of Islam (the only religion that Democrats love). And why do they love Islam? Totalitarian, Legislates immorality, destruction of enemies, homo-sodomite-pedophile religion, etc. (the list goes on)

WASHINGTON – A woman who proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ during the first-ever Islamic Jumaa prayer gathering at Washington’s National Cathedral was ejected from the building on Friday. “Jesus Christ died on that cross over there,” the unidentified woman declared as she stood in the front of the room. “He is the reason why we are to worship only Him. Jesus Christ is our lord and savior!” A man nearby immediately approached her and attempted to reach for her arm, but she pulled away. “We have built, and allowed you here in mosques across this country,” she continued. “Why...

In an audio message released on November 13, a man identified as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, pledged that his group will continue its conquests and vowed to bring jihad to Rome. “The crusaders’ missiles will not stop our advance on Rome,” al-Baghdadi promised. He urged Muslims: “Make the volcanoes of jihad erupt everywhere.” The mention of “crusaders’ missiles” was evidently a reference to reports that al-Baghdadi had been killed or at least seriously wounded by an American cruise-missile strike. The message from the Islamic State appeared designed to belie those reports.

LAHORE, Pakistan — A young, married Pakistani Christian couple, including the pregnant mother of three children, were “brutally tortured and burned alive” at a brick kiln Nov. 4 in the Punjab province following “a false accusation of blasphemy,” according to the brother of the slain husband. The deaths of Shahzad Masih, 28, and his pregnant wife Shama Bibi, 24, were vociferously decried by Christians in the predominantly Muslim country. “They were brutally tortured and burnt alive,” Shabhaz Masih, elder brother of Shahzad, told the Register from the village of Chak 59, located near Kot Radha Kishan in the Kasur district...