Kung Sino ang Inuusig ang Siyang Tunay na Iglesia - Pasugo

Originally posted at Iglesia ni Cristo blog

“Hindi kailangang patunayan pa kung hindi tunay na Iglesia, kung ito'y kay Cristo o hindi. Ang pag-uusig na nagaganap sa INK, na siyang katuparan ng pinagpauna ng Panginoon ay siyang malinaw na katunayan na ang INK ay tunay na Iglesia at kay Cristo. Anu-ano ang mga kinathang kasinungalingan na ipinaparatang kay Jesus an nakasisirang puri! Hindi lamang nila sinasabing siya'y may demonyo, kundi pinaparatangang siya'y nauulol (Juan 15:20). Kung siya'y inusig tao man ay uusigin din. Ang pag-uusig sa Ulo at tagos hanggang sa katawan. Siya ang ulo, tayo ang mga sangkap, na siyang Iglesia." - PASUGO Nobyembre 1954, p. 1-2

Hindi lamang sa Estados Unidos ang PAG-UUSIG sa IGLESIA KATOLIKA kundi sa Pilipinas din at sa Europa, Africa, Asia at sa Africa. Inuusig siya ng mga Protestante, Muslim, Ateista, Komunista, mga makakaliwa, mga Satanista at sa Pilipinas, inuusig siya ng pamahalaan ni Duterte at ng Iglesia Ni Cristo® 1914.  At sa tuwing inuusig ito o may sakuna na ang Iglesia Katolika ang biktima, walang mapagsisidlan sa tuwa at pagsasaya ng mga kalaban ni Cristo sa pangunguna ng mga kaanib ng INC™ sa social media. Taliwas sa ikinikilos, sinasalita at ginagawa, sila ay HINDI kay Cristo! At dahil ang pamantayan ng Iglesia Ni Cristo® 1914, kung sino raw ang INUUSIG ay siyang PATUNAY na ITO ANG TUNAY NA IGLESIA NI CRISTO!

Fire at Tallahassee’s Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More adds to the growing list of attacks on churches

John Burger | Jun 07, 2019 Aleteia.org

Are incidents of church vandalism on the rise?

Cocathedralofstm | Instagram | Fair Use

A fire at Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More, a prominent church in Tallahassee, Florida, is being investigated, and it may be the latest example of what appear to be increasing attacks against Catholic churches in the United States.

“Today, there was a fire inside the Co-Cathedral church in Tallahassee,” Bishop William A. Wack Diocese of the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese said in a statement Thursday. “The cathedra [bishop’s chair] and presiders’ chairs were set on fire and are destroyed. The walls of the sanctuary are charred, and there is smoke damage. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and it went out before igniting the whole building. An investigation is underway.”

“Having seen churches burn in the news, seeing this before, I didn’t ever think that this would happen to our church here,” Fr. John Cayer, the cathedral’s rector, told WCTV. “We have no idea who has done this. This is an obvious case of arson.”

A common reaction on the part of parishioners to incidents of vandalism against churches is “Why would anyone do this?”

But there might be another reason to ask why: Why does it seem like vandalism against churches is on the rise?

Recent incidents include:

• A statue of Jesus was broken apart and left in pieces in front of St. Mark’s in Boston on Sunday. Earlier in the year there was a rash of graffiti attacks at various Boston churches.

• A statue of the Virgin Mary was found defaced at St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Selden, New York, at the end of May. There was damage to the nose, chin and one of the cheeks.

• Pro-abortion graffiti was spray-painted onto Notre Dame de Lourdes church in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, last month.

• All Saints Catholic Church in Babcock, Wisconsin, was defaced with graffiti reflecting religious hatred and pornography May 14.

• Someone spilled paint, wrote graffiti and broke windows at All Saints Catholic Church in New Richland, Minnesota, the night of May 11-12. They also spilled wine, attempted to remove a microphone from the altar and tried to break into a lock box in a back room.

• St. Matthew Catholic Church in El Paso was vandalized May 7, Earlier in the month, a window at St. Patrick Cathedral was broken, and a bottle with an unknown liquid was found near the damaged window.

• A statue of St. Bernadette was damaged at St. Philip Catholic Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, May 7.

And that’s only Catholic churches. There have also been a number of incidents at Protestant churches around the country.

According to the FBI, the number of incidents of anti-Catholic “hate crimes” has been fairly steady over the past few years. From 70 incidents in 2013, it has dipped to 53 in 2015, but has risen to 62 in 2016 and 73 in 2017, the latest year for which statistics are available.

In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, one of the 10 largest Latin Catholic dioceses in the U.S., instances of vandalism have been low for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2018. Only three reports of theft, burglary, and vandalism have been filed with the archdiocese’s Insurance Services Office.

“One additional instance of vandalism that the office is aware of was not reported to Insurance Services because the parish community took care of cleaning and repairs on a volunteer basis,” Alaina N. Longo, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said on Thursday.

Christian Post: Minutes after Sunday School class said they would die for Christ, half killed in Sri Lankan bomb blast

HOLY MARTYRS, PRAY FOR US!

News Source: Christian Post

Children during a Sunday School session at Zion Church in Batticaloa Sri Lanka. | Twitter/danishkanavin

Just minutes after expressing their willingness to die for Christ, half the children from one Sunday School class at Zion Church in Batticaloa were reportedly killed in the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka.

“Today was an Easter Sunday school at the church and we asked the children how many of you willing to die for Christ? Everyone raised their hands," Caroline Mahendran, a Sunday School teacher at the church, said, according to Israeli public figure Hananya Naftali. "Minutes later, they came down to the main service and the blast happened. Half of the children died on the spot.”

The report comes as the death toll from the bomb attacks on several churches and luxury hotels in the island nation, where Christians make up less than 10 percent of the 20 million population, rose to nearly 300 Monday with at least 500 wounded.

Fr. Kumaran, a pastor at Zion Church, told Times of India that he witnessed the death of many of the children shortly after arguing with the suicide bombing suspect he did not recognize.

It was about 8:30 a.m., Kumaran said, when he saw the suicide bombing suspect carrying a bag at the steps of the church already filled with worshipers.

"I asked him who he was and his name. He said he was a Muslim and wanted to visit the church," Kumaran said.

Inside Zion Church in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, in the aftermath of a suicide bombing there on April 21, 2019. | Twitter/danishkanavin

Kumaran said he was ushered away from the encounter by other priests because it was getting late for Mass. As he walked toward the podium he heard an explosion. When he turned around, the blood of his congregants, including many from the children’s Sunday School class, was splattered on the church walls.

"Twenty-eight people were killed, among them 12 children. Two are critical," a distressed Kumaran told the publication.

Arasaratnam Verl, 41, said his 13-year-old son, V. Jackson, who is also his only child, was standing near the church entrance after attending the Sunday School class. Jackson was killed instantly.

"My elder sister was killed too. My two younger sisters and my brother-in-law are critical," Verl, a taxi driver, told Times of India.

Verl said his friend, Ramesh, who had also questioned the suicide bombing suspect and “pushed the man outside the church door," also died too as the man blew himself up shortly after that.

Outside Zion Church in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, on April 21, 2019, after a suicide bombing. | Twitter/Garikaalan

“I have never heard the sound of a bomb explosion before. We initially thought it was the burst of a tire,” S. Vikash, 21, a medical representative who lives near the church, said. "When we realized it was an explosion, we followed the sound of fire engines and ambulances. The scene was terrifying. There was blood and body parts strewn all over. It was heart-rending to see the bodies of children."

Outside Zion Church, the bombings in Sri Lanka on Sunday also targeted St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, the capital; St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo; as well as high-end hotels in Colombo, including the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury.

Fr. Kanapathipillai Deivendiran, who was scheduled to deliver the Easter Day message at Zion Church on Sunday, told The Hindu had he not been running late, he may have been killed too.

“I went a little after 9 a.m. I was a few minutes late or you will not be speaking to me now,” he said. “I didn’t know that there had been a blast a few minutes before that, I just walked into the premises. As I entered, I was shaken by the sight — walls had collapsed completely, there were bodies all over the floor,” he said.

KUNG ALING IGLESIA ANG INUUSIG AY SIYA RAW ANG TUNAY

Originally posted at Iglesia ni Cristo 33AD blog

"The Catholic Church is a worldwide force that has reigned for centuries. Through European colonialism, its influence can be found on all continents. Missionaries were an essential part of this religious expansion and although most of these countries have since gained their independence, Catholicism still reigns."  -World Atlas

Isa sa mga maraming pinaghuhugutang batayan ng mga kaanib ng INC™-1914 sa larangan ng debate ay "KUNG SINO RAW ANG INUUSIG AY SIYANG TUNAY NA IGLESIA" at sila raw 'yun.

Inuusig nga ba ng mundo ang INC™ ni Ginoong Manalo?

Ayon sa mga kaanib ng INC™ ni Ginoong Manalo na itinatag niya sa Punta, Sta. Ana Maynila, Pilipinas noong 1914, galit daw ang mga Katoliko at mga Protestante sa Iglesia Ni Cristo®, patunay raw na "tunay" ang kanilang inaaniban ayon sa  Mt. 24:9 ukol sa pag-uusig sa "iglesia" at sila (INC™-1914) nga raw iyong tinutukoy.

Isang kahibangan na naman sapagkat HINDI kailanman tinutukoy ang TATAG na iglesia ni Ginong FELIX MANALO, na inirehistro lamang sa pangalang "Iglesia Ni Cristo" bilang isang TRADEMARK!

Ayon sa Mateo 24:9 ay ganito: "Kung magkagayo'y ibibigay kayo sa kapighatian, at kayo'y papatayin: at kayo'y kapopootan ng lahat ng mga bansa dahil sa aking pangalan."

Sino na nga ba ang "pinatay" na kaanib ng INC™ ni Manalo dahil kay Cristo?

O di kaya'y INC™ ni Manalo, kinapopootan ng BUONG mundo?

Ayon sa HuffingtonPost HINDI ang Iglesia Ni Cristo® ni Ginoong Manalo ang kinapopootan ng mundo. At wala ni isa sa kanilang mga kaanib ang napatay na dahil sa kanyang pananampalataya sa INC™. Sa kanilang report noong 2013, ang pinaka-inuusig raw ay ang ang KRISTIANISMO sa Iraq, Pakistan, at iba pang mga bansang nasa ilalim ng relihiyong Islam, kasama ang North Korea na nasa ilalim ng komunismo.  Sa mga nabanggit na mga bansa sa mundo, WALA PONG INC™ roon. Takot silang mapatay. Ang mga Kristiano roon kaanib sa orihinal at tunay na Iglesia ni Cristo  na si Cristo mismo ang nagtatag ~ ang Iglesia Katolika!

Kapighatian at kamatayan at kapopootan sasainyo (Mt. 24:9)
(Photo Credit: ExpressUK)

Sa report naman ng Pew Research Center noong 2016, may 144 raw na bansang talamak ang pag-uusig sa mga Kristiano ~ tulad ng pagdiskriminasyon, verbal assault, pisikal na atake, pagkakaaresto kahit walang sala o kaya'y ang pagsara o pagsira sa kanilang mga bahay-dalanginan o  mga pook na itinuturing na banal sa mga Kristiano. Sa listahang ito makikita ang mga bansang

Muli, wala ni isang kaanib ng INC™ 1914 ang kabilang sa mga inuusig. Kaya't papaano sila ang tinutukoy na inuusig ng mundo?

INC™ 1914 and nang-uusig sa tunay na Iglesiang tatag ni Cristo!

Sa kasaysayan ng Iglesia Ni Cristo® mula nang inirehistro at opisyal na itinatag ito ni Ginoong Felix Y. Manalo noong Hulyo 27, 1914, ang kanilang SANGKALAN ay ang Iglesia Katolika.

Tulad ng pag-amin ng kanilang PASUGO Oktubre 1956, p. 1:

“Ang Iglesia ni Cristo ay nagdaos ng pamamahayag sa Lunsod ng Davao. Nagsalita roon si Kapatid na Felix Manalo at ang kasama niyang mga Ministro. Ipinahayag doon ng mga nagsalita na ang Iglesia Katolika Romana ay hindi itinatag ni Cristo kundi itinatag ng Diablo."

Halosa sa bawat limbag na kanilang opisyal na magasing Pasugo, ang inuusig nila roon ay ang Iglesia Katolika tulad nitong sinabi nila sa PASUGO Oktubre 1959, p. 5:

“Mga magdaraya at anti-Cristo, ang mga nagtuturong si Cristo ay Dios."

PASUGO Agosto 1962, p. 9:

“Kaya ang tunay na anti-Cristo, ang mga Papa ng Iglesia Katolika Apostolika Romana. At ang tunay na ampon ng anti-Cristo ay ang mga Katoliko.”

Sino ngayon ang lumalabas na INUUSIG? Lalo lamang nilang pinapalitaw na ang IGLESIA KATOLIKA ang TUNAY na Iglesia sapagkat ang Iglesia Katolika nga naman ang kinapopootan, pinapatay at inuusig ng buong mundo at kasama ang INC™ ni ginoong Felix Y. Manalo sa mga nang-uusig sa Iglesia Katolika!

At para matuldukan kung ang Iglesia Ni Cristo® ba ay kanino, kay Cristo o kay Felix Manalo, PASUGO ang sasagot:

PASUGO Agosto-Setyembre 1964, p. 5

“Kailan napatala sa Pamahalaan o narehistro ang INK sa Pilipinas? Noong Hulyo 27, 1914. Tunay nga na sinasabi sa rehistro na si Kapatid na F. Manalo ang nagtatag ng INK."

Sa kanilang ika-100 daang TAON ng PAGKAKATATAG, kanilang inamin ang ganito:

"On July 27, 1914... the Iglesia Ni Cristo was registered with the Philippine government... the Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Office of the Division of Archives, Patented Properties of Literature and Executive Office of Industrial Trade Works..." -PASUGO God's Message Special Centennial Issue, p. 16 (by Nicanor P. Tiosen)

Wala na tayong dapat pang pagtatalunan kung sino ang TUNAY na Iglesia! Ito ay ang IGLESIA KATOLIKA!

The ONLY VICTORIOUS CHURCH

Is There an Official Catholic Position on Islam?

William Kilpatrick

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

[Catholic Thing] Like most Americans, I didn’t know a great deal about Islam prior to 9/11. So, for a while anyway, I accepted the formula that “Islam” means “peace.”

That’s what President Bush and other world leaders assured us, and they also insisted that the 9/11 terrorists represented only a tiny minority of Muslims. The most compelling argument for me, however, was that the Catholic Church seemed to hold the same view – that Islam was a religion of peace.

The linchpin of that positive assessment of Islam was the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate. The section on the Church’s relationship with Muslims states that Muslims “adore the one God,” “revere Jesus,” “honor Mary,” and “value the moral life.” Their religion, in other words, was just like ours.

If that was the case, then it stood to reason that Islam, like Catholicism, was a peaceful religion and that terrorists, therefore, misunderstood their own faith.

Catholic Herald: Houses of Parliament lit up in red for persecuted Christians

by Madeleine Teahan posted Thursday, 24 Nov 2016 for Catholic Herald

The Houses of Parliament lit up in red to commemorate persecuted Christians last year

Buildings across the country were lit up to mark 'Red Wednesday'

The Houses of Parliament, churches, cathedrals, synagogues and universities were lit up in red yesterday to highlight the plight of persecuted religious minorities abroad.

The event – Red Wednesday – was organised by Aid to the Church in Need. Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, London Routemaster buses and Bolton town hall were also lit up in red to commemorate the persecuted.

Catholic Herald: Houses of Parliament to be lit up in red for persecuted Christians

The Parliament building will be lit up along with at least 10 cathedrals for #RedWednesday

The towers of the Houses of Parliament (AP)

Catholic Herald - The Houses of Parliament in Westminster will be lit up in red for #RedWednesday next week in honour of the world’s persecuted Christians and all those who suffer for peacefully held beliefs.

John Bercow MP, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and Lord Fowler, Speaker of the House of Lords, agreed to the initiative after being lobbied by parliamentarians, many of whom had been contacted by constituents.

Among those calling for Parliament to turn red was Trevor Harrison, from Sevenoaks, who wrote to his MP, Sir Michael Fallon.

He said he contacted his MP after attending an event in Parliament organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief – itself a supporter of #RedWednesday.

Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, which is organising #Red Wednesday together with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Mr Harrison said: “Turning Parliament red is a wonderful way to get the message about religious freedom to as wide an audience as possible.”

“We all need to get behind #RedWednesday – we need to stand together against violence carried out in the name of religion – we need to speak up about regimes which persecute people of faith.”

This will be the second year running that Parliament will turn red for #RedWednesday.

So far this year, at least 10 cathedrals across the UK have pledged to go red including London’s Westminster Cathedral and others in Ayr, Edinburgh, Paisley, Birmingham, Norwich, Wrexham, Derry and Armagh.

In total, nearly 50 public buildings are expected to get behind #RedWednesday – schools, colleges and churches including London’s Anglican St Martin-in-the-Fields and All Souls, Langham Place.

There will be a week of vigils and other events across the country from November 19 to 26.

At 6pm on November 22 a solidarity service will take place outside Westminster Cathedral, with talks, witness testimonies, a video message by MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, music and speeches by Coptic Orthodox Bishop Angaelos, Neville Kyrke-Smith, national director of Aid to the Church in Need (UK), and Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

Throughout the day, a traditional London red bus emblazoned with #RedWednesday slogans will be criss-crossing the capital, stopping at London landmarks.

Most Persecuted Religion in the World are Christians

Another Massacre of Christians in Egypt

A prayer for the new martyrs of the Palm Sunday massacre in Egypt

Source: Aleteia

O New Martyrs, slain at worship as we enter into our holiest days, you now number among the ancient holy ones. Before the throne of the Almighty, we beg you to keep us particularly in your prayers. Once again we are focused on the mysterious geography where humanity first came into being, and then into contact with the Reality of the One God — the lands where all will someday finally be revealed.

Today, we ponder why it is that our attention is continually turned to this region in gasping sorrow, all due to a malevolent force as old as Eden. We know that Christ Jesus is the Victor over death, and the Victor over evil, but we acknowledge that the victories come only by way of His Cross. O New Martyrs, you and the people of your region share in that Cross and we, in spirit, share it with you. In the presence of the Perfect Wisdom — the Holy, Mighty One who imparts all that is True, teach us to pray the words that will bring peace, if peace is possible, or to pray the words of pure worship, contrition and trust, if it is not.

Pray that we may learn how to become the peace we seek.

Pray that we may put aside all that is irrelevant to the moment and, looking forever to the East, prepare our spirits for the engagements into which we may be called, whether we live amid these places of ancient roads and portals, or in the most modern of dwellings.

Mary, the God-bearer, pray for us,
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us,
Saint John the Forerunner, pray for us,
Saint Charbel Makhlouf, pray for us,
Saints Mariam Baouardy and Marie-Alphonsine of Palestine, pray for us,
Blessed Charles de Foucauld, pray for us,

All Holy Men and Women, pray for us.
Amen, Amen.

AP News: First mass in two years held in Iraq’s main Christian town

Published October 31, 2016 8:06am
By THIBAULD MALTERRE AND SAFA MAJEED, Agence France-Presse via GMA Network

In spite of church being burnt out, Mosul Archbishop Putrus Moshe defiantly leads the Sunday Mass in the Grand Immaculate church in Baghdeda for the first time in two years after this church was liberated from ISIS last week. Photo Source: This is Christian Iraq

QARAQOSH, Iraq - A handful of faithful gathered in a burnt out church Sunday for the first mass to be celebrated in two years in Qaraqosh, which was once Iraq's main Christian town.

Iraqi forces retook Qaraqosh from the Islamic State group days earlier, as part of a massive offensive to wrest back the country's second city Mosul.

"After two years and three months in exile, I just celebrated the Eucharist in the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception the Islamic State wanted to destroy," Yohanna Petros Mouche, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, said.

"But in my heart it was always there," Mouche, who officiated with four priests, told AFP.

IS jihadists took over swathes of Iraq in June 2014, also taking Mosul where the prelate was based.

He moved to Qaraqosh, a town with a mostly Christian population of around 50,000 that was controlled by Kurdish forces and lies east of Mosul in the Nineveh plain.

But a second jihadist sweep towards Kurdish-controlled areas two months later forced around 120,000 Iraqi Christians and members of other minorities to leave their towns and villages.

"We had no other choice but to convert or become slaves. We fled to preserve our faith. Now we're going to need international protection," Father Majeed Hazem said.

Donning a resplendent chasuble and stole, Mouche led mass on an improvised altar in front of a modest congregation mostly made up of members of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), a local Christian militia.

‘Damaged but still standing’

"I can't describe what I'm feeling. This is my land, my church," said Samer Shabaoun, a militiaman who was involved in operations to retake Qaraqosh.

"They used everything against us: they shot at us, they sent car bombs, suicide attackers. Despite all this, we're here."

Shortly before Sunday's mass, the soldiers now guarding Qaraqosh were surprised to find two elderly women in a house, one of them bedridden.

"We stayed the whole of the occupation by the Islamic State, from the first day. Sometimes they would bring us food," one of them said.

The bell tower of the church was damaged, statues decapitated and missals strewn across the nave floor, which is still covered in soot from the fire the jihadists lit when they retreated.

But some of the crosses have already been replaced and a new icon was laid on the main altar, where the armed militiamen took turns to light candles.

"This church is such a powerful symbol that if we hadn't found it like this, damaged but still standing, I'm not sure residents would have wanted to come back," Mouche said.

Christmas in Mosul?

"But the fact that it's still here gives us hope," the blue-eyed prelate, who wears thin-rimmed glasses and sports a neatly trimmed white goatee, said as he surveyed the damage in Qaraqosh after mass.

It could be months before former residents return to a town that needs to be cleared of explosive devices left behind by IS and whose infrastructure suffered badly.

The seminary library was completely burnt down and the ashes were still warm.

"This is barely a few days old—the jihadists torched it when soldiers started entering the town," Mouche said.

In the course of his visit to Qaraqosh, the archbishop recited ritual phrases to "purify" various buildings, holding a cross in one hand and swinging a thurible of incense with the other.

Jihadists appear to have used the cloister-like back yard of the cathedral for target practice.

The ground was littered with casings, the pillars riddled with bullet impacts and IS instructors even left behind a board detailing the workings of a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

The Iraqi offensive on Mosul launched two weeks ago has yet to reach the city borders, and commanders have warned it could last months but Mouche was optimistic: "I hope to celebrate a Christmas mass in Mosul cathedral." —Agence France-Presse

CNA: Iraqis hopeful in battle for Mosul, yet cautious of what lies ahead

By Elise Harris for Catholic News Agency
Posted October 17, 2016

An Iraqi woman holding a rosary. Credit: Elise Harris/CNA.

Erbil, Iraq (CNA/EWTN News).- Hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a ground offensive to retake Mosul from the clutches of Islamic State, a priest working in the thick of the country’s refugee crisis said people are happy with the advances, but unsure what the future will hold.

“We are so happy because yesterday the war began between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga with ISIS,” Father Roni Momika told CNA Oct. 17.

He relayed how shortly before, they had received the “good news” that the ancient Monastery of the Martyrs Saint Behnam and his Sister Sarah, also known as the Mar Behnam monastery, near Nimrud “is free,” though it has suffered significant damage from Islamic State forces.

There are still many Christians living in the villages surrounding Mosul, he noted, but said soldiers from the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga are with them.

“We hope that (soon) we will hear good news about Qaraqosh, a big center for Christians, that it will be free and that there is no ISIS there,” he said, but admitted that it might not be that easy.

Fr. Momika is a Syriac Catholic priest serving in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where he works in the city’s Aishty camp for the displaced.

He and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

In 2014, while he was in seminary, Momika and his family were forced to flee Qaraqosh, also known as Bakhdida, when Islamic State militants attacked, taking over the city after storming it in the middle of the night with bombs and gunfire.

Since his seminary was closed following Islamic State's assault, he completed his studies in Lebanon, and returned to Iraq for his diaconate ordination, which took place March 19. On Aug. 5 he was ordained a priest in the Aishty camp, where he continues to serve the people by leading women's groups and working with youth.

Aleteia: Despite threat from ISIS, 100 children receive First Communion in Iraq

AUGUST 21, 2016 POSTED BY ALETEIA
Details:

The first communion Mass in Alqosh was an historic moment for a “frontier town” that has been under threat from the militants of the Islamic State (IS) for a long time. Now it can “hope for peace and normalcy” around these hundred children, said Mgr Basil Yaldo, auxiliary bishop of Baghdad and close associate of the Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako.

The Chaldean primate presided over the ceremony that was attended by “all the priests of the city, the nuns and more than 700 people. The faithful were excited because for the first time, the patriarch celebrated communions in the community.”

Like many other towns in Iraqi Kurdistan, Alqosh too welcomed scores of refugees.

“Life in the area is almost back to normal,” said the vicar of Baghdad. “We hope that soon the whole plain [of Nineveh] can be liberated from the jihadists, and that refugees can return to their villages.”

The work to secure the area, he added, has “already started and for the past two days Iraqi troops have launched the battle to liberate the villages surrounding Mosul.”

…Addressing the boys and girls who received the first communion, Patriarch Sako urged them not to abandon their land, the city of Alqosh, but to stay and help in the reconstruction “because there is a (Christian) heritage to be preserved. ”

The Chaldean primate, Mgr Yaldo noted, also called on young people to “be stronger, come to church and participate in the life of the Christian community as one participates in the life of a family.”

After the service, the children asked Patriarch Sako some questions. One of them, Mgr Yaldo noted, said that when he “grows up he wants to become a priest to serve the poor and the needy.”

The patriarch could not hold back his emotion after listening to such words, adding that “it is important to support and share the suffering.”

Read it all. God bless every one of them and keep them safe.

Christian Post: Atheist Journalist Sohrab Ahmari Announces Conversion to Catholicism After Jihadis Kill French Priest

BY SAMUEL SMITH , CP REPORTER
August 1, 2016|4:38 pm

(PHOTO: SCREENGRAB/YOUTUBE/FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE)
Sohrab Ahmari.

Last week's killing of a French priest by radicals associated with the Islamic State has inspired atheist Wall Street Journal writer Sohrab Ahmari to come out publicly about his plans to convert to Catholicism.

After the news broke that Father Jacques Hamel had been killed by radicals who raided the Church of the Gambetta in the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray district of Normandy last Tuesday, the Iranian-born Ahmari announced in a tweet:

"#IAmJacquesHamel: In fact, this is the right moment to announce that I'm converting to Roman Catholicism."

Ahmari later deleted the tweet and pinned another tweet the following day.

"To new followers: I deleted my tweet professing my conversion, to avoid drawing internet-crazies' attention to my church," the tweet explained.

In response to published reports and tweets that incorrectly claimed he was converting to Christianity from Islam, Ahmari clarified in another tweet that he is actually converting from Atheism.

Although Ahmari publicly announced his conversion only after Hamel was killed, his decision to convert was not inspired by Hamel's martyrdom.

A source close to Ahmari told The Christian Post that Ahmari has been under instruction with a Roman Catholic priest for some time now but Hamel's death was what prompted him to announce his conversion plans.

Ahmari was born in Tehran and moved to the United States when he was 13 years old. He earned a law degree from Northeastern University and was inspired to become a journalist because of the disputed 2009 Iranian elections.

Ahmari has been published in The Boston Globe, The New Republic, The Chronicle of Higher Education and works as an editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal's European edition.

In response to the attack in Normandy last Tuesday, Ahmari praised French President François Hollande for declaring that France is "at war" with the Islamic State.

"I support that sentiment because it's still ahead of where many other European governments are in terms of recognizing that what's happening is a low-grade jihadist insurgency targeting all of Europe, and many governments are in denial," Ahmari said in a video interview on WSJ.com. "As far as the Hollande government goes, at least it's a first step to recognizing the adversary and to say there is a war. That is more than can be honestly said of President Obama."

Ahmari added that he thinks European governments are being too reactionary and are not mobilizing to defeat the extremist threats.

"What you see is governments lurching from attack to attack and being very reactive," he said. "If something like [the Normandy church attack] happens, France ramps up sales of artillery to the Iraqi government. ... But you don't see that full-scale mobilization that really needs to happen."

Another area of concern that Ahmari warned about is the Islamic State's growth in Libya.

"No one is paying attention to this vast stretch of territory becoming an 'ISISistan,' if you will," Ahmari stressed.

CNA: New Iraqi priests bring joy amid years of sadness, displacement

By Elise Harris

Roni Salim Momika is ordained a priest in Erbil's Aishty camp for the displaced Aug. 5, 2016. Courtesy of Fr. Roni Momika.

Erbil, Iraq, Aug 8, 2016 / 03:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Roni Salim Momika, one of three priests ordained in an Erbil refugee camp Friday, said the event has turned the dreary mood of displaced Christians into one of joy, which he hopes will give them the strength to stay in their homeland.

“My feeling is happy, happy!” Fr. Momika told CNA after his Aug. 5 ordination, adding that he feels “something inside” that makes him deeply joyful.

He was ordained a priest of the Syriac-Catholic Church alongside his friends and fellow deacons Emad and Petros in the large, prefabricated church inside Erbil’s Aishty 2 camp for the displaced, which is home to some 5,500 people forced to flee their homes due to ISIS.

The ordination, he said, “will give hope to (the people)” in the camp, mostly Syriac Catholics from Qaraqosh, who for two years have been forced to live as refugees.

Fr. Momika, who is from Qaraqosh, noted how Aug. 6 marks the exact two-year anniversary since ISIS attacked his hometown, driving out inhabitants who didn’t meet their demands to convert to Islam, pay a hefty tax or face death.

“We left Qaraqosh during this time two years ago,” he said, explaining that it’s been “a time of challenge” and “a time of sadness” for the Christians.

However, while the anniversary could serve as a reminder of the bleak and uncertain reality for Christians in Iraq, the sight of three young men being ordained to the priesthood has instead made it “a happy time, a hopeful time, and a good time,” Fr. Momika said.

“Before it was a bad day because we became refuges and ISIS entered to Qaraqosh, but now this day became a good day because it’s our ordination and we give hope to our people,” including the hope “to stay here,” he said.

Fr. Momika, Emad, Petros and another seminarian named Paul were all forced to flee Qaraqosh when ISIS attacked in 2014.

Before being forced to leave, Momika and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

Since the Qaraqosh seminary was closed following the 2014 attack, the then-seminarians were sent to finish their studies at the Al-Sharfa Seminary in Harissa, Lebanon. After completing their studies in Lebanon, they returned to Iraq for their deaconate ordination, which took place March 19.

Since then, Paul decided to serve in Baghdad, and was ordained there roughly 20 days ago, while Fr. Momika and the others were ordained in Erbil.

Archbishop Yohanno Petros Moshe, Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdistan, the priests’ bishop, was the one who celebrated their ordination Mass in the Aishty camp.

Fr. Momika, whose family fled to Erbil after leaving Qaraqosh, said that while the church only has a capacity of about 800 people, about 1,500 showed up for the ordination.

Several of his family members were able to come for the ordination, including his father, sister and many others who traveled from Baghdad, Aqrah and other cities to be there.

Until now Fr. Momika has worked with the youth and led the women’s groups inside Erbil’s refugee camps. The priest said that for now he will remain in Erbil and continue to serve in that capacity, but it’s up to Archbishop Moshe to decide “if I will stay here or not” in the long run.

As a newly ordained priest surrounded by violent persecution, Fr. Momika said that he wants “to stand with the refugees” despite the “the danger (in their) lives.”

He said he wants to give the Christians “power, hope, and courage to continue their lives and stay with the poor people” and those who are suffering, adding that for him, the essence of his role and vocation is “to give Christ to the people.”

Praying for the Beatification of Persecuted Catholics in Byeongin (Korea) in 1866

We pray for the Beatification of the Korean martyrs.  This year is Anniversary 150 years of Byeongin persecution(1866).

Rome event to mark persecution of Christians around the world.

Source: Wanted In Rome

Rome event to mark persecution of Christians around the world.

The waters of Rome’s Trevi Fountain will be dyed red in recognition of Christians who have died for their faith, at an event on Friday 29 April.

The initiative is being organised by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to highlight the persecution of Christians and the “systematic violation of their right to religious freedom” in numerous countries around the world.

The Chaldean Catholic bishop of Aleppo in Syria, Antoine Audo, and ACN president Cardinal Mauro Piacenza will be at the event to discuss the persecution faced by Christians in the world today, in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, North Korea and Somalia.

The event is supported by several religious and charitable associations including Communion and Liberation, Caritas Italy, the Christian Workers Movement and the Focolare Movement.

Pope Francis speaks frequently about modern-day martyrs, recently describing them as “the lifeblood of the Church.”

Fined for praying the Rosary

By Matthew Biddle
Source: Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn

EIGHT Canberra Catholics, including a priest of the Archdiocese, received an official police warning on April 15 for allegedly breaching the exclusion zone around the ACT Health Centre in Civic.

The group, which has held weekly pro-life prayer vigils outside the facility for more than 17 years, was gathered outside PJ O’Reilly’s Irish Pub on West Row when police asked them to move elsewhere.

Seventy-five-year-old Kerry Mellor decided not to move from the location, and was consequently fined $750.

The Health (Patient Privacy) Amendment Act 2015 Bill, introduced in the ACT Legislative Assembly by Greens Minister Shane Rattenbury and passed on October 29, established the exclusion zones, which came into effect on March 22.

The Bill prohibits behaviour that attempts to stop a person from entering the building, as well as “a protest, by any means… in relation to the provision of abortions” in the facility.

Mr Mellor, who has been attending the prayer vigils for the past 12 years, told Catholic Voice he was convinced the police had made a mistake.

“We do not believe that we are protesting,” he said.

Participants in the weekly prayer vigils outside the ACT Health Centre in Civic were given a police warning on April 15. PHOTO: MATTHEW BIDDLE

“We are praying, which is directed exclusively to almighty God and his Blessed Mother. It’s not a protest, it’s a petition that God will act to change the hearts and minds of people.

“It’s also an ancient tradition to pray for the dead, including the innocents killed here – we pray for their souls, and we make a small act of reparation for this horror committed in our midst, in our community.”

Contrary to media reports, the pro-life group does not hand out anti-abortion material, nor do they engage in conversation with individuals entering or leaving the health centre.

Rather, the group recites 15 decades of the Rosary, a litany for life, and several concluding prayers each Friday morning.

Mr Mellor said he had taken legal advice, and would not be paying the $750 fine, which could lead to a trial in the ACT Magistrates Court.

“I have made a formal request that the charge be withdrawn, on the basis that our quiet prayer cannot possibly be interpreted as any of the types of ‘prohibited behaviour’ in the legislation. I’m awaiting the outcome,” he said.

Mr Mellor also said it was important that the official interpretation of the rules in relation to the exclusion zone be clarified to all parties.

“We’ve had conflicting advice, which makes it hard for everyone,” he said. “It’s in the interests of police, as much as in our own, to have clear definitions of what the law says we can do, and what it says we can’t do.”

Last year Archbishop Christopher Prowse took part in a prayer vigil outside the facility during the annual ’40 Days for Life’ campaign.

Later, after the Bill establishing the exclusion zones was passed, he described the legislation as “cold and clinical”.

“It completely ignores the complexity of the abortion issue itself,” he said at the time.

“The real issue is trying to assist fragile women with unwanted pregnancies to consider deeply options other than abortion.”

Lebanon, Christians, Under Islamist Threat

2016-04-25 | Shadi Khalloul, Act for America

Recent upheavals in Lebanon are making local Christians communities worry about their existence as heirs and descendants of the first Christians. Christians in the Middle East now are facing a huge genocide -- similar to the Christian genocide the followed the Islamic conquest of the Middle East in the 7th century A.D.

Islamic jihadist groups are threatening Lebanese Christians and demanding that they submit to Islam. Lebanon's Christians, descendants of Aramaic Syriacs, were the majority in the country a mere 100 years ago.

The demand for Christians to convert to Islam was one of the declarations issued by ISIS and other Islamic groups hiding in the mountainous border between Syria and Lebanon.

Saad Hariri, a Saudi-backed Sunni Muslim politician and the son of assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, recently invited every Lebanese party to his office to sign a document confirming that Lebanon is an Arab state. Arab state equals Islamic laws, as with all members of the Arab League. Why is it so important to Hariri or to the Sunni and Islamic world to include Lebanon as an Arab state and cancel its current name as a Lebanese state only?

And why do the Arab states, including the Palestinian Authority (PA), refuse to recognize Israel, with its 80% Jewish majority, as Jewish state, while at the same time trying to impose the definition of an Arab state on Lebanon, whose population is 35% non-Arab Christians?

There are approximately one million Syriac Maronites left in Lebanon, as well as another 700,000 Christians belonging to other churches. In addition, more than eight million Syriac Maronites live in the diaspora. These eight million Christians fled over the centuries because of persecution by Muslims, often conquerors of the Christian homeland. Lebanon was never a strictly Arab or Muslim. But that is the step that Saad Hariri, as a milder face of the expansionist ISIS ideology, would have us take -- under the guise of a modern, moderate, Sunni secular front.

Isis Threat to Crucify Lebanon's Christians as Islamic State Prepare to Cross Syria Border
By Jack Moore for IBTimes
September 30, 2014

Christians in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley have begun arming themselves in preparation for an Isis (now known as the Islamic State) offensive as it seeks to expand its territorial control outside of Syria.

Up to 3,000 militants from the Islamic State and other jihadists occupy the mountain range between Lebanon and Syria near the Sunni town of Arsal.

As IS seek to grab land outside of the mountain caves and farms they currently control, Christian volunteers have now created village defence forces to protect against the Sunni militants who have taken up to 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage.

"We are a minority and we are under threat by the jihadists," Rifaat Nasrallah, a commander of the volunteer guards in the Greek Catholic town of Ras Baalbek, said.

"It wasn't the idea of anyone in particular," Nasrallah says of the formation of defence units. "The whole village felt in danger so we all agreed it was necessary."

"We don't shoot if we see someone or something moving in the mountains," said one of the watchmen. "We just call the Army and they investigate."

Ras Baalbek has a population of 15,000 and is separated from the flashpoint town of Arsal by a range of hills.

"Imagine if Islamic State makes it into Ras Baalbek and they crucify a Christian. It will set Lebanon alight," a western diplomat in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times.

There are approximately 2.4m Chrisitans in Lebanon, 20pc of the total population.

The terror group has continued to crack down on religious freedom since the announcement of its Islamic "caliphate", straddling the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The Sunni jihadists have taken over Iraq's largest Christian town of Qaraqosh causing thousands of residents to flee towards Kurdistan region.

They also issued an ultimatum to Christians in the city of Mosul to convert to their radical form of Islam or be forced to either pay a tax, leave the city or be harmed for refusal to convert.

The city is now reportedly empty of Christians as hundreds of families fled following the ultimatum of death or a historic contract ‒ known as "dhimma"‒ where non-Muslims can receive protection if they pay a fee known as a "jizya".

STAND WITH PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS!

Source: European Press Agency (EPA)