L’Avvenire reported yesterday that over 50 million Christians are victims of persecutions, discrimination and contempt. The number was furnished by a French intellectual, René Guitton, author of “Christian-phobia” at the beginning of 2010 Report on Religious Liberty in the World.
He says India and China, because of their sheer size, have the most cases of persecution.
When the report was given there was present the Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad, Pakistan, who confronts this reality in his diocese. He pointed to the anti-blasphemy laws in Pakistan and the ways in which these laws are actually applied. One law since 1986 has incriminated 993 people, accusing them of profaning the Koran or defaming the prophet Mohammed; among these were 479 Muslims, 340 Hamadi (a sect of Islam that the government doesn’t recognize as Muslim), 120 Christians, 14 Hindu and 10 from other religions.
When, I ask, will we all finally begin to live out Christ’s law of love? Christianity has never failed, contrary to popular opinion. It has never been truly embraced and lived out. Yes, there have been and continue to be numerous individuals who have lived as Jesus lived, but as a whole, we continue to use violence to advance our causes, and we continue to seek vengeance rather than forgiveness in the face of evil.
Loving Christ in our neighbor is the answer. But that really requires a lot of kenosis, self-emptying and service to our fellow men and women. Will we stir up within us the gifts of the Spirit to do so?
Let us pray, too, for all our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world.
