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Let us invoke St. Agnes, virgin and martyr. O glorious Agnes, chosen by God, though weak, to make His own might manifest in your martyrdom, together with the Apostles intercede before the throne of our Our Father in heaven and beg strength for the bishops of the Church in the United States so that they will in a timely manner, and with no uncertain words and actions, stand up for religious freedom in the face of attacks by the Obama Administration. I have posted this in times past, but it bears repetition:Here is something I have posted in the past…...

Iran state media put out a stunning report Saturday claiming that imprisoned Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is facing the death sentence for rape and extortion, not for apostasy and refusing to renounce his religion, as his lawyer, human rights groups and Western news media have reported. "His crime is not, as some claim, converting others to Christianity," the deputy governor of the Gilan province, Gholomali Rezvani, told Fars, the semi-official state news agency. "He is guilty of security-related crimes." The Fars comments were part of a larger Iranian media push to counter reports that Nadarkhani was facing execution for refusing...

Three Catholic martyrs executed under the Nazi regime were beatified in Germany today, June 25. The event was also noteworthy for its rememberance of their Lutheran companion.Fathers Hermann Lange, Eduard Müller and Johannes Prassek, along with Lutheran pastor Karl Friedrich Stellbrink, were guillotined in a Hamburg prison in November 1943. The Nazi regime found them guilty of “defeatism, malice, favoring the enemy and listening to enemy broadcasts.” At a ceremony in the northern German city of Lubeck, Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, declared the trio of Catholic clergy to be ‘blessed.’ He...

ISLAMABAD, (SANA): Although Public opinion is divided on the Abbottabad Incident however more than two third of Pakistanis (68%) believe the sovereignty of their country was severely compromised in the American operation and about half of population are sad and 44% consider Osama bin Laden a Martyr. Findings of a study released by Gilani Foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan during May 7-10, less than a week after the death of Osama Bin Laden, shows the mixed emotions of Pakistani people about the life and death of Osama bin Laden. When asked, in a in a poll, whether they...

A profoundly disturbing report issued brazenly by a Taliban commander under the noses of our "Afghan ally": "Kabul- The Afghan Taliban have created a special unit to avenge the killing of Al-Qaeda's leader by US special forces in Pakistan on Monday, a commander in eastern Afghanistan has told Al-Jazeera. 'We have created a special unit to avenge the martyr Sheikh Osama Bin Laden,' Dawran Safi told the Qatar-based Arabic satellite TV channel. 'We will take forward his standard and wage war against foreigners and their agents,' Safi said in an interview from the Afghan capital, Kabul." As Diana West observes,...

Senator Barack Obama has said that Osama bin Laden should be brought to justice in a way that would prevent the terrorist leader becoming a martyr. Seeking to portray himself as tough enough to be commander-in-chief, the Democratic presidential candidate warned that there was an executive order dating back to Bill Clinton's presidency that allowed the CIA to kill bin Laden if capture was not an option. "If I'm president, and we have the opportunity to capture him, we may not be able to capture him alive," he said. Though he refused to detail what approach he would take to...

Rome Circa 66 AD Dear Christian Recruit, Thank you so much for your interest in joining the Church. Your letter was forwarded to me by the former head of the evangelization and recruiting department. Unfortunately, he met a similarly grisly fate as his predecessor. They were both beheaded and stoned (though not in that order ;) You asked about the benefits of being a Christian; well things have been a bit dodgy for this young Church. I’m sure that in the future things will get a lot better for Christians throughout the world but for now… As you might already...

Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan, Mar 8, 2011 / 05:56 am (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Pakistan will consider a proposal to ask the Vatican to declare assassinated Pakistani minister Shahbaz Bhatti a martyr.“Bhatti is a man who gave his life for his crystalline faith in Jesus Christ,” Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, who drafted the proposal, told Fides news agency. “It is up to us, the Bishops, to tell his story and experience to the Church in Rome, to call for official recognition of his martyrdom.”The country’s bishops’ conference will consider the proposal during its...

In a recent interview, the federal minister of minorities in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti, declared himself ready to die for their principles and the defense of persecuted Christians despite threats by Muslim extremist groups.

An Afghan physiotherapist will be executed within three days for converting to Christianity. Said Musa, 45, has been held for eight months in a Kabul prison were he claims he has been tortured and sexually abused by inmates and guards. Mr Musa, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in the 1990s, has worked for the Red Cross for 15 years and helps to treat fellow amputees. He was arrested in May last year as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy following a crackdown on Christians within Afghanistan. He claims he was visited by a...

On that tragic day, "three-year-old Adam witnessed the horror of dozens of deaths, including that of his own parents. He wandered among the corpses and the blood, following the terrorists around and admonishing them, 'enough, enough, enough.' According to witnesses, this continued for two hours until Adam was himself murdered." That is all I know about Adam, but I cannot get his story out of my head. I believe Adam gave us a message for the whole world.

‘Modern day martyr’ studied to evangelize his home country JACKSONVILLE — Michael Loua was a passionate Christian — he loved his family, he loved his home country of Guinea, West Africa, but most importantly, he loved his God. This weekend, Michael was killed because of his passion to lead those in his home country to his Lord. “He was a preacher; he was an evangelist, so he loved to evangelize people and to lead people to the Lord,� said Michael’s widow, Elisabeth Loua. Elis-abeth said now her children are uncomfortable with the idea of going back to Guinea. “When I...

Child-Preacher Ammar: “A child must be raised on the love of jihad, and on the desire to be martyred for the sake of Allah. The tree of Islam is irrigated with blood, not with water. Embedding the spirit of Jihad within the soul of the child is one of the most important things educators should deal with, especially in this day and age, when the law of Islam is absent from the Islamic countries, a time when the sun of the glory of Islam has set, a time when sovereignty is in the hands of tyrants, when the Islamic Caliphate...

To continue living a Christ-like life in this kind of environment is to practice the martyrdom of witness. Why witness? Because it means giving testimony to our deep religious convictions although all around us others are giving their own example to the contrary. It means giving witness twice over: once on our own behalf as the outward expression of what we internally believe and once again on behalf of others whose conduct is not only different from ours but contradicts it. Wherein lies the martyrdom? It lies in the deprivation of good example to us on the part of our...

SEOUL, South Korea -- Like most North Koreans, Son Jong Nam knew next to nothing about Christianity when he fled to neighboring China in 1998. Eleven years later, he died back in North Korean prison, reportedly tortured to death for trying to spread the Gospel in his native land, armed with 20 bibles and 10 cassette tapes of hymns. He was 50. [snip] He served in the presidential security service for 10 years until his discharge as a master sergeant in 1983. In those years, he was ready to dedicate his life to fighting the “American imperialists,” his brother says....

www.catholicnewsagency.com Shrine of Ugandan martyrs visited by 500,000 for feast day Catholic bishops and lay faithful participate in the celebration of the Ugandan martyrs. Credit: ACN. Moroto, Uganda, Jun 30, 2010 / 02:54 am (CNA).- Earlier this month over 500,000 people gathered in northeastern Uganda to celebrate the feast day of Saint Charles Lwanga and companions, who are known as the Uganda Martyrs.Catholic faithful from around Uganda as well as Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo gathered at the shrine of the Uganda martyrs in the Diocese of Moroto on June 3 as part...

St. Margaret is considered the first woman martyred under Queen Elizabeth's religious suppression. Margaret was raised a Protestant but converted to Catholicism about two to three years after she was married. According to her confessor, Fr. Mush, Margaret became a Catholic because she "found no substance, truth nor Christian comfort in the ministers of the new church, nor in their doctrine itself, and hearing also many priests and lay people to suffer for the defense of the ancient Catholic Faith." Margaret's husband, John Clitherow, remained a Protestant but supported his wife's decision to convert. They were happily married and raised...

Anne was born during the reign of King Henry VIII to an honoured knight, Sir William Askew. Anne was described as attractive in form and faith, a beautiful and high-spirited young woman, well educated, with unusual gifts, and “very pious.” Her father arranged that she should be married to the son of a friend, Thomas Kyme, to whom her deceased sister had originally been promised. Anne endeavored to be a faithful wife, and bore her husband two children. However, despite an initially happy marriage, her husband, Kyme, threw her out of the home because of her Protestant Faith. Anne had...

A new ministry partnership has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the fact that an estimated 176,000 Christians around the world were martyred – killed for their faith – in a one-year period from the middle of 2008 to the middle of 2009. That's 482 deaths per day, one every three minutes. Martyrdom didn't go away with the Middle Ages, according to reports from Open Doors USA, which now has combined efforts with actor Kirk Cameron of "The Way of the Master" ministry as well as evangelist Ray Comfort of Living Waters ministry to focus on those who are...

The persecution of Christians in Pakistan is becoming very brutal and very deadly. The truth is that it is no longer safe to be a Christian in Pakistan anymore. A Christian man in Pakistan's Punjab province is literally fighting for his life after radical Muslim leaders, backed by police, burned him alive for refusing to convert to Islam while his wife was raped by police officers. This incident, which took place on March 19th, is just the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Christians in Pakistan. The name of the man is Arshed Masih, and according to reports...

The silence from Pakistani authorities is deafening. An update on this story. "Punjab: Christian burned alive dies, Christian community calls for justice," by Fareed Khan for Asia News, March 23: Islamabad (AsiaNews) - Arshed Masih died last night in hospital from the serious injuries - burns covering 80% of his body - which the 38 year old Pakistani Christian suffered when he was set on fire because he refused to convert to Islam. The funeral of man, who died after three days of agony, should take place in the late afternoon, but the family has asked that "before an autopsy...

Pakistani Christian burned alive dies, Christian community calls for justice Arshed Masih, a 38 year-old Pakistani Christian, died yesterday evening at 7.45 from his very serious injuries. The family requests that an autopsy is performed before the funeral. Christian associations and human rights activists demonstrate outside the hospital. Catholic leaders: the federal and provincial government do not punish the guilty. Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Arshed Masih died last night in hospital from the serious injuries - burns covering 80% of his body – which the 38 year old Pakistani Christian suffered when he was set on fire because he refused...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her colleagues to back a major overhaul of U.S. healthcare even if it threatens their political careers, a call to arms that underscores the issue's massive role in this election year. Lawmakers sometimes must enact policies that, even if unpopular at the moment, will help the public, Pelosi said in an interview being broadcast Sunday the ABC News program "This Week." "We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said. "We're here to do the job for the American people."

LONDON – Agents for Britain's MI5 intelligence service have discovered that Muslim doctors trained at some of Britain's leading teaching hospitals have returned to their own countries to fit surgical implants filled with explosives, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. Women suicide bombers recruited by al-Qaida are known to have had the explosives inserted in their breasts under techniques similar to breast enhancing surgery. The lethal explosives – usually PETN (pentaerythritol Tetrabitrate) – are inserted during the operation inside the plastic shapes. The breast is then sewn up. Similar surgery has been performed on male suicide bombers....

One year ago today, China kidnapped my husband. I don't know where he is. I don't know what is being done to him. The only thing I know is why he disappeared: My husband, Gao Zhisheng, defied Beijing by representing people the government finds threatening. As a leading human rights lawyer in China, he fought for those who had been abused by police, those who had their land stolen by the government and those who were persecuted for their religious beliefs. And now my husband is one of those persecuted people he so vigorously defended. Chinese authorities abducted Zhisheng on...

Video shows fighter jets shooting down US missionaries Anne Barrowclough An extraordinary video has emerged showing a bungled CIA operation that led to the shooting down of a light plane carrying American missionaries in Peru. The dramatic footage taken from a CIA surveillance plane, which has been shown on America's ABC News, shows Peruvian fighter jets opening fire on the missionaries' seaplane even as its pilot screamed for help. Although the Peruvian pilots issued a warning first, the pilot of the missionaries' plane was on a different frequency and could not hear it. The Peruvian jets shot down the missionaries...

On November 19, 2000 a ceremony held in Poznań, Poland, honored the grandfather of Redeemer member Andre Manitius, Pastor Gustaw Manitius (1880-1940), a Lutheran pastor and bishop who was martyred by the Nazis. A city park was dedicated in honor of Pastor Manitius, and a cross which had belonged to him was returned to his church. (See photograph in the online photo Gallery). Pastor Manitius was honored for the courage and dedication of his service to the Lutheran community in Poznań, and for the faith that empowered him to resist the Nazis regardless of the cost to himself of doing...

The Irish missionary priest savagely murdered in Kenya was due to retire home to Co Limerick next year. Shocking details of the murder of Fr Jeremiah Roche have emerged, as police in Kenya concentrate their investigations on two suspects. It is understood the priest was stripped naked, tied to a chair and was then stabbed in the throat and hit on the head with a blunt object. The robbers left the scene with Fr Roche's blood-stained clothes, a CD player and two mobile phones. His clothes were recovered a kilometre away. The killing took place close to Kericho, in the...

In two separate incidents near Bukavu, a priest and a nun were murdered in a growing wave of anti-Christian violence. Aid to the Church in Need reported today that the Catholic Congolese are "in shock" after the "brutal" killings. Father Daniel Cizimya Nakamaga, 51, was shot in the head on Sunday when gunmen stormed his home in Kabare, smashing a window to enter the presbytery. Monsignor Pierre Bulambo, vicar general of the Bukavu Archdiocese, affirmed that "the archdiocese has fallen victim to an act of barbarism." He continued: "The people have been traumatized and are very afraid. The Congolese are...

It’s no wonder we haven’t heard this story from the Democrat controlled media, but a new group of anti American Black Muslims calling themselves the National Black Foot Soldiers actually celebrated what they call the BOW Black on White “martyrdom” of Police murderer Maurice Clemmons.

Islamic Extremists Execute Young Convert in Somalia Christian accused of trying to convert Muslim teenager found shot on Mogadishu street. NAIROBI, Kenya, November 23 (CDN) — Islamic extremists controlling part of the Somali capital of Mogadishu this month executed a young Christian they accused of trying to convert a 15-year-old Muslim to Christianity. Members of the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab had taken 23-year-old Mumin Abdikarim Yusuf into custody on Oct. 28 after the 15-year-old boy reported him to the militants, an area source told Compass. Yusuf’s body was found on Nov. 14 on an empty residential street in Mogadishu,...

In my homilies to you over the years, I’ve often spoke of our Catholic Faith, and sometimes of our Byzantine Tradition; but I have rarely spoken of the particular Church to which we belong, and of it’s history in Eastern Europe. Our Metropolitan Church is located entirely in the United States; and, the further you travel outside of Pennsylvania, the less you see of any ethnic identity among the members of our parishes; but, as you know, the ancestors of our Church’s original members came from an Orthodox Church which came into union with Rome in 1646 at the Union...

Somalia: Christian Leader Killed On Sept. 28 an Islamic extremist shot and killed Mariam Muhina Hussein, an underground church leader, after discovering six Bibles in her possession, according to Compass Direct News. The day before the shooting, a leader of the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab reportedly sent his wife to visit Hussein's home in Marerey villange. She pretended she was interested in learning about Christianity. During the visit, Hussein read passages of the Bible and told the woman that she could visit regularly to discuss God's Word, according to Compass. The following day, the al Shabaab leader, identified as...

Colombia: Pastor Martyred On Sept. 21, Pastor Manuel was shot and killed by The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. FARC guerrillas made an appointment with Pastor Manuel and his family. “He thought they were going to authorize him to have a church officially, which he had discuss[ed] and asked [for] before,” said VOM contacts. “One of them came in [the house] with the pastor’s wife, Gloria, and his daughter while the pastor was outside. He was shot five times.” A FARC guerrilla who was...

Let us suppose that Manuel Zelaya, the ousted former president of Honduras, is a intelligent man with a good understanding of how politics works. Then the question is: what is his game? Because he started all this. He was removed from office three months ago in circumstances of doubtful legality. Both the Supreme Court and the Congress had demanded his removal for "repeated violations of the constitution and the law," but the way it was done - woken up by soldiers and hustled out of the country by plane - smelled more like an old-fashioned military coup. A member of...

Mourners Protest Islamic Attacks on Copts in Egypt Muslim assailant gruesomely slays Christian, attacks two others with knife. ISTANBUL, September 23 (CDN) — A funeral for a Coptic Christian gruesomely killed on a village street north of Cairo by a Muslim assailant last week turned into a protest by hundreds of demonstrators in Egypt. Galal Nasr el-Dardiri, 35, attacked 63-year-old Abdu Georgy in front of the victim’s shop in Behnay village the afternoon of Sept. 16, according to research by a local journalist. Other Copts watched in horror as El-Dardiri stabbed Georgy five times in the back, according to interviews...

Motive Sought for Slaying of Church Worker in Bangladesh Police, wife doubt student attackers’ story of cell phone theft. DHAKA, Bangladesh, September 24 (CDN) — Authorities are investigating possible motives for the vicious killing of a church worker by students at Dhaka University. A management student at the university and his friends are accused of torturing and killing Swapan Mondol, 35, on Sept. 12 in Suhrawardy Park, adjacent to the university. Mondol, a convert from Hinduism, was supervisor of youth mission for Free Christian Church of Bangladesh (FCCB). The primary suspect’s friends claim they came to his aid after Mondol...

St. Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea's first priest and martyr Seoul, South Korea, Sep 15, 2009 / 12:10 am (CNA).- After two years of remodeling which included the addition of multimedia exhibits, the Korean Martyrs Museum-Shrine has reopened in Seoul.The Museum-Shrine, which contains rooms for liturgical celebration and prayer, was built in 1967 on the site in Jeoldusan where many of the Korean martyrs died from 1866 to 1873. Thousands of Catholics were killed in the fierce persecutions.The Shrine-Museum presents numerous historical documents, visual reconstructions, photographs and documentaries, Fides news agency reports.Archbishop of Seoul Cardinal Nicholas Choeng inaugurated the reopening...

A Michigan police chief says a 63-year-old anti-abortion activist who was protesting outside a high school was shot and killed in front of horrified students and parents. Owosso police chief Michael Compeau said the activist, Jim Pouillon, was outside the school this morning with a sign when a man drove by and shot him. No one else was injured. Compeau says a 33-year-old Owosso man was later arrested in the school shooting and he then told police he was involved in the gravel-pit shooting.(continued)

VOM: Pray for Muslims On Sept. 1, The Voice of the Martyrs received a letter from the wife of one of many Christians being held in prison in an Islamic country. In her letter, she shared how her 3-year-old daughter struggles with her husband’s imprisonment and asked for continued prayers. Her letter reads: “Thanks for your e-mail and love and prayers. I am doing OK. Worry tries to take over me and my mind keeps thinking worries I shouldn't. But the Lord continues to calm me down and give me peace and patience to wait. This week [my husband] is...

The Huffington Post explains that "Melissa Lafsky is the deputy web editor at Discover magazine, where she writes the Reality Base blog. She was previously the editor of the New York Times's Freakonomics blog, and is a former associate editor at HuffPo's Eat The Press." So she's a major-media-certified pundit when she wrote about Chappaquiddick drowning victim Mary Jo Kopechne on Arianna's pages today:

Pakistan: Eight Believers Killed On Aug. 1, a mob of angry Muslim extremists attacked Christians in Gojra district, Punjab province, killing at least eight believers, including a seven-year-old child, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. Dozens of homes and a church building were looted and burned. Reports indicate the violence resulted from rumors Christians had desecrated pages from the Quran several days earlier at a wedding in a nearby village. This was the second attack because of such a rumor. On July 30, Muslim extremists attacked Christians, burning more than 50 homes and animals in Korian village, Faisalabad....

Bangladesh: Pastor Tortured by Police On June 7, police raided an evangelism meeting, arrested and tortured a pastor and two others in Boalia, Bangladesh, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. Pastor Habibur Rahman, of Boalia Spiritual Church was leading the meeting when suddenly the police came in and took them to the police station. That night the police blindfolded them with cloths for few hours and beat them up. During the beatings police asked who was supporting them financially, and how long they had been evangelizing and how many people they had converted. At some point during the...

Nigeria: Pastors Beheaded On July 26, 12 Christians were killed, including three pastors, in northern Nigeria after members of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram launched attacks on police and government bases, according to contacts at VOM Canada. The violence, which began in Bauchi state, spread to Borno, Kano and Yobe states. Churches were set ablaze and several people were abducted, including Christians. Many believers were threatened with death if they refused to convert to Islam. According to media reports, assailants behead three pastors: Pastors Sabo Yukubu, Sylvester Akpan and Pastor George Orji. The assailants were reportedly acting on the...

Pakistan: Day of Prayer Christians in Pakistan are inviting believers around the world to join them in prayer for their nation and for the blasphemy laws to be repealed, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. More than 575 pastors from different churches in Pakistan have agreed to observe July 26, 2009 as a day of prayer for persecuted believers. Christians are also running a petition aimed at repealing the blasphemy laws that have led to the arrest of many believers. The Voice of the Martyrs joins believers in Pakistan in prayer and encourages believers around the world to...

July 28 Spiritual Bouquet: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. St. John 14:27 SAINTS NAZARIUS and CELSUS - Martyrs (First century) Saint Nazarius, born in Rome, was the son of a pagan military man who held an important post in the Roman army. His mother, honored by the Church as Saint Perpetua, was a zealous Christian, instructed by Saint Peter or his disciples in the most perfect maxims of Christianity. Nazarius at the age of nine embraced the Faith with so much ardor...

July 27 Spiritual Bouquet: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. St. John 14:23 SAINT PANTALEON of NICOMEDIAPhysician and Martyr(†303) Saint Pantaleon was born in Nicomedia of a pagan father and a Christian mother, who died while her son was still a child. He was among the court physicians of the Emperor Galerius Maximianus. Deceived by hearing the false maxims of the world applauded, he was without religion when God decided to rescue his soul from its unhappy darkness....

A Christian woman accused of distributing the Bible, a book banned in communist North Korea, was publicly executed last month for the crime, South Korean activists said Friday. The 33-year-old mother of three, Ri Hyon Ok, also was accused of spying for South Korea and the United States, and of organizing dissidents, a rights group said in Seoul, citing documents obtained from the North. The Investigative Commission on Crime Against Humanity report included a copy of Ri's government-issued photo ID and said her husband, children and parents were sent to a political prison the day after her June 16 execution......

While watching Sarah Palin's resignation speech, I thought, "Who is this amazing woman? What planet did she come from? Will there ever be anyone like her?" Once again, I was blown away by her power, grace, character and courage. The world is mourning the loss of a one of a kind pop icon. I mourn the loss of a one of a kind conservative leader martyred for the cause of conservatism. Though impossible for the pop icon, I pray Palin will be resurrected for 2012. The martyr of Palin has angered, energized, and elevated my commitment to fight for the...