Friday 24 February 2012

Italy launches an edict marking official persecution of Christians



All seats sold out - The Colisseum
in 303 AD
Not that, Christians had not already suffered liberal bouts of martrydom and torture for hundreds of years but, on 24th February 303, under the Emperor Diocletian, an official edict was announced stating that all Christians (Catholics) were fair game for seizure of their possessions and forfeiture of their lives, generally being ripped apart by savage animals in the arena or crucified or burnt alive.

Have things changed much in the past 1700 years or so?

I think not. Today's persecutors are not Romans but Muslims, or, should I say, Extreme Muslims, Islamists.

Skim around the world taking a flying look at the countries where Christians are still being routinely murdered, restricted, abused....

China, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Hungary, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, The Yemen, Bhutan, Somalia, Sudan, The Gambia, Iran, The Maldives...in all over 50 countries worldwide take part....and with the exception of the two or three that are communist, the rest are all Islamic.

Offhand I can't think of any group of humanity that is so presecuted as the Christians.

Of course, it is coming to the UK, and it will be here sooner than you think.

Already, parts of some of our major cities are effectively "no go" areas for non Muslims - what effect would a Corpus Christi procession produce in Hackney or Wood Green?
A riot would result and the likelihood would be that the Christians would be the ones being arrested.

Or, if one walked through those areas wearing a crucifix or saying the Rosary - what would result?

Soon women will not gain entry to parts of our major cities if they are not wearing ankle length dresses and  face veils.

Of course, as Christians we can accept and even relish persecution but we also have responsibilites for the young and those yet to be born.

Perhaps we do need to raise our heads above the parapet a little more and undertake acts of public prayer as do Juventutem London and the Legion of Mary (and, of course, the Pro Life Groups).

What would be really good would be a major Rosary procession through the streets of Birmingham or Manchester to show the world the power of prayer.

Perhaps a few of the Bishops might like to organise such a thing.......whoops, a pig just flew by my window!

3 comments:

  1. In the USA the infanticide mandates of the democratically-elected government have helped focus Catholics and has created a temporary but yet happy bond among Catholics and numerous evangelicals. Natural law alone would make it very clear to a rational person that killing babies is wrong, but our culture is increasingly a bizarre Sodom-and-Gomorrah thing.

    Mack in Texas

    ReplyDelete
  2. Same for Australia mate. We are a non Christian country,although founded as a penal colony but with a degree of Christian culture such as the influence of Irish catholicism for about half the population beforer and after Federation in 1901-113 years after settlement, Anglicanism and Presbyterianism for ,and a good dose of Lutheranism in South australia and Queensland. BUT the Christian influence has gone,with secularists wanting to make RE taught by teachers and not anyone else,hedonism on the rise ,and anyone who ahs a differing opinion -such as Cardinal pell -are pilloried by the media
    WE are ripe for judgement

    ReplyDelete
  3. Matthias - there is so much that is good and great about Australia, such a shame to see it going down on the spiritual front.

    ReplyDelete