Please remember in your prayers all those mentioned in
this report, and all those – living or deceased – who have
paid a price for standing up for their faith:
•Father Fadi Haddad, Greek Orthodox parish priest of
St Elias’ church, near Damascus, Syria, was killed after
setting off to negotiate the release of a parishioner,
who had been kidnapped a few days earlier. Six days
after his abduction, his body was found in a road with
indescribable signs of torture and mutilation on his body.
•
Kidnapped Archbishops Boulos Yazigi and Yohanna
Ibrahim from Aleppo, Syria.
•Kidnapped priests, Father Ishaac Mahfoud and Father
Michel Kayal from Aleppo, Syria.
•Christian manual worker Asia Bibi who was given the
death penalty in Pakistan for a trumped-up charge
of blasphemy. She remains in prison despite an
international campaign calling for her release.
•Chiomi Dike, a mother of five, who lost her husband,
Williams Dike and her three children in a terrorist attack
at St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Nigeria.
A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2011-2013 Be informed!
2013 Persecuted and Forgotten? Report
on Christians oppressed for their Faith
- FREE copy available now. Multiple
copies also available free of charge.
The report can also be downloaded
from our homepage at
www.aidtochurch.org
Persecuted and Forgotten?
•Mariam, a 15-year-old girl, who was repeatedly raped
and then killed by jihadists who overran her home city
of Qusair, Syria. Unlike her family, Mariam was unable
to escape and was captured.
The case sparked world outrage when
Rimsha, who has learning difficulties, was
arrested.
Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the
Catholic Church in Pakistan’s National
Commission for Justice and Peace, told ACN
that he strongly doubted the allegation,
adding: “I would say the case against Rimsha
is concocted – engineered.”
Although, the case against Rimsha was later
dismissed, it had a detrimental impact on her
family – they were unable to live normally
in Pakistan and emigrated to Canada last
summer.
The allegations also caused deep anxiety
among Christians and other minority groups.
More than 300 families fled from the G-12
sector Islamabad, where Rimsha lived,
fearing retribution from extremists.
Pakistan’s harsh Blasphemy Laws are intended
to protect the Qur’an from contempt. But all
too often violence, devastation and even
death ensue when mobs take the laws into
their own hands and disregard due legal
process.
But Christians in Pakistan are persevering in
the Faith.
You are helping to pass on the Faith to
Pakistan’s villages and towns by training
catechists and providing catechetical
materials.
Never forgotten: 17 year-old Coptic Christian
Ayman Labib, brutally murdered for his Faith
(See page 2 for full story)
Bearing witness to the Faith: A young
Pakistani Christian girl wears her cross
Persecuted and Forgotten?
Aid to the Church
in Need’s 2013
report on Christians
oppressed for their
Faith.
To receive a FREE
copy or multiple
free copies please
fill out the response
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Email: [email protected] Web: www.aidtochurch.org
Report by John Pontifex (2013) Photographs by ACN unless stated
“We have been
experiencing a harsh,
bloody, painful and
long Way of the Cross
that has stretched down
every road in Syria.”
Writing to ACN from Damascus, Melkite Greek Catholic
Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch told us that almost everybody has suffered. He especially highlighted the plight
of hundreds of thousands of
Christians.
The Patriarch’s heartfelt words
appear in the Foreword he
wrote for a major ACN re-
search project. The new and
updated 2013 Persecuted
and Forgotten? A Report on
Christians oppressed for their
Faith concludes that within
just two years, violence and
intimidation have worsened
in 20 of the 30 countries where
the problem is most severe.
The report shows that Christianity risks being driven out of
the Middle East as a result of
mass emigration. And Christians in a number of countries
are killed at Mass – including
many more examples of oppression and persecution.
Pope Francis has now said
Helping the suffering Church today
© Lauren E. Bohn
As well as offering them your practical support, please
pray for them all through the year and especially during
Lent when we focus on the Way of the Cross.
A14/1/1
Behind the word ‘persecution’ are human stories of
suffering, courage and hope.
Rimsha, a 14 year-old from a suburb on
the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, was
accused of burning 10 pages of the Noorani
Qaida, an Islamic booklet used to learn basic
Arabic and the Qur’an, in August 2012.
ppress
(Romans 8:36)
Keeping Faith with those who suffer for Christ
Rimsha Masih, a young Pakistani
Christian girl, was accused of
blasphemy and held in custody.
A Report on Christians o
“… For thy sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Persecuted but never Forgotten
Pakistan: Persevering in Faith
Forgotten?
Persecuted and
3 ed for their Faith 2011-201
Please remember
especially in your prayers...
that “there are more Christian
martyrs today than in the early days of Christianity.”
In this snapshot of Persecuted
and Forgotten?, we highlight
the courage of individual Christians, whose struggle for faith
and freedom is sustained by
your prayerful support for ACN.
In telling their stories, we invite
you to pray for those who are
oppressed and help them
where you can.
We are united with them. As
Patriarch Gregorios of Syria
says: “Fear not, little flock! Live
with courage and be light in
the darkness of these days.”
www.aidtochurch.org
Nigeria: Courageous
and steadfast Christians
Egypt: Praying for Peace
“I still come to church each Sunday. I
come by motorbike. Before, I was very
angry. Now I am happy because of the
prosthesis. I still have confidence in God”.
Lucy Unyi, 28, was severely injured during the bomb
blast at St Theresa’s Church, Madalla on Christmas
Day 2011, an atrocity which left 45 dead and 81
injured.
She suffered serious shrapnel injuries; lost the sight
in one eye, sustained severe damage to her vocal
chords and considerable hearing loss. Tragically, her
right leg needed to be amputated below the knee.
Life has changed forever for Lucy and her eight-year
old daughter Regina, but Lucy’s spirit and faith burn
strongly and she has already returned to her sales job
at a brick-making factory.
Attacks on Christians in Maaloula have forced
thousands of them to flee this historic Christian town
Clinging to their Faith: Egypt’s faithful
receiving Holy Communion
17 year-old Coptic Christian student
Ayman Labib (pictured on page
1), was killed at a school in Egypt’s
Minya Province, for refusing to cover
his Cross.
Eyewitnesses told his family that his teacher
began to throttle the boy. Fellow students
then beat him to death.
All this because Ayman refused to cover the
cross tattooed on his wrist. Read full story in
Persecuted and Forgotten?
Ayman’s story is just one example of a
growing disdain for minority groups. Christians
who have previously lived amicably with
their Muslim neighbours are being attacked.
The situation deteriorated following the
downfall of President Mohammed Morsi.
Christians were immediately accused of
supporting the overthrow of the president,
and 60 or more church buildings were
attacked within 48 hours.
Egypt’s 10 million faithful – the largest
Christian population across the Middle East
– face persecution on all fronts.
Christian schools, shops and homes have
all been targeted and some destroyed.
Thousands have fled – leaving the Christian
community fearful.
Yet Christians there cling to their beliefs and
in particular young people who are lively
and full of faith.
Coptic Catholic Bishop Joannes Zakaria
based in Luxor – whose residence was firebombed a few years ago, said: “We are
praying for everyone, for all the people of
Egypt. We are not against Muslims, we are for
everyone... We pray for our Muslim brothers
and sisters, that we may all live in peace and
faith.”
With your support, ACN is helping with the
building of a large pastoral centre in Assiut,
which will serve the community and promote
peace and tolerance.
Patriarch Gregorios III
Syria: Reaching out in Love
“I am a Christian and if you want to
kill me because I am a Christian,
do it.” Moments later, Sarkis
El- Zakhm was shot dead in the
Christian town, Maaloula.
His killers – a jihadist group – were accused
of targeting Christians if they refused to
abandon their Faith.
Next, they turned their guns on Sarkis’
grandfather, Michael Taalab, and Michael’s
cousin, Antoun El Zakhm.
Presiding over their funeral attended by 2,000
people, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch
Gregorios III described it as “very sorrowful
and full of tears.”
Maaloula’s Christian heritage is one of the
oldest in Syria.
Looking down from the once peaceful
hills, a statue of Our Lady opens her arms –
a symbol of welcome and consolation to
all of the town’s inhabitants.
But fierce battles between Jihadist rebels
and government forces forced people in
their thousands to flee for their lives.
Maaloula is famous for using Aramaic, the
language of Christ, but after the attacks the
town fell silent.
For the Church, the Arab Spring has turned
into a Christian winter, threatening to wipe
out Christianity in its ancient heartland.
But with your help, we can continue to reach
out in love to the Syrian faithful – providing
emergency food, shelter and medicine in
Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and the Valley of
the Christians.
Your prayers too, help offer the light of Christ
in Syria and honour brave people like Sarkis.
When Damascus-based Sister Carmel was
given a first-hand account of the young
man’s death, she reflected: “What Sarkis
did is true martyrdom.”
Christians in northern Nigeria are determined to trust
in the Lord amid terrorist attacks and persecution by
extremist group, Boko Haram, who have a mission
to destabilise the country and “have declared war
on Christians”. There are almost daily attacks, making parts of the country among the most lethal in the
world for the faithful.
And yet, Christians there
are steadfast in their devotion to God. In a recent
interview with Archbishop
Ignatius Kaigama of Jos
Northern Nigeria, he said:
“We have suffered persecution, discrimination
and harassment but they
can never take away our
faith and our hope in the
risen Lord.”
Thanks to you, ACN is
helping
with
Church
rebuilding, pastoral help
for victims of atrocities,
inter-faith co-operation,
teaching catechists, proOvercoming adversity:
viding Child’s Bibles and
Lucy Unyi, 28, still has
supporting priests and confidence in God.
seminarians.