Church leaders speak
2017 (June) Australian Bishops Visit Egypt in Mission of Peace
A delegation of Australian bishops has visited Egypt to offer solidarity to suffering Coptic Christians and to build ecumenical ties with them and Muslims.
2017 (March) Pope Francis asks us to join him in prayer for persecuted Christians
Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for March 2017 is “Support for Persecuted Christians. That persecuted Christians may be supported by the prayers and material help of the whole Church”. Watch a video here.
2017 ( 8 Feb) Australia’s Catholic bishops speak out for persecuted people
Submission to the inquiry into the status of the human right to freedom of religion or belief
2017 (30 Jan) Pope Francis speaks about martyrdom today.
"But the greatest strength of the Church today is in the little Churches, tiny, with few people, persecuted, with their Bishops in prison." More...
2016 (20 Sep) Pope Francis’ appeal for peace at the closing ceremony of the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi
2016 (15 Aug) From the ground in Syria, Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart pleads for peace: 'Enough is enough'
2016 (28 Jul) Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan warns of despair among displaced Iraqi Catholics
2016 (25 May) Bishop Antoine Chbeir cries out as ISIS devastates Syrian towns
2016 (12 Feb) Joint declaration by Pope Francis and Patriarch Krill on the occasion of their historic meeting in Havana, Cuba. Three paragraphs of the document are devoted specifically to drawing attention to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
Pope Francis has spoken often of an 'ecumenism of blood':
A delegation of Australian bishops has visited Egypt to offer solidarity to suffering Coptic Christians and to build ecumenical ties with them and Muslims.
2017 (March) Pope Francis asks us to join him in prayer for persecuted Christians
Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for March 2017 is “Support for Persecuted Christians. That persecuted Christians may be supported by the prayers and material help of the whole Church”. Watch a video here.
2017 ( 8 Feb) Australia’s Catholic bishops speak out for persecuted people
Submission to the inquiry into the status of the human right to freedom of religion or belief
2017 (30 Jan) Pope Francis speaks about martyrdom today.
"But the greatest strength of the Church today is in the little Churches, tiny, with few people, persecuted, with their Bishops in prison." More...
2016 (20 Sep) Pope Francis’ appeal for peace at the closing ceremony of the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi
2016 (15 Aug) From the ground in Syria, Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart pleads for peace: 'Enough is enough'
2016 (28 Jul) Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan warns of despair among displaced Iraqi Catholics
2016 (25 May) Bishop Antoine Chbeir cries out as ISIS devastates Syrian towns
2016 (12 Feb) Joint declaration by Pope Francis and Patriarch Krill on the occasion of their historic meeting in Havana, Cuba. Three paragraphs of the document are devoted specifically to drawing attention to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
Pope Francis has spoken often of an 'ecumenism of blood':
- Such as in the following homily (25 Jan 2015): "In this moment of prayer for unity, I would also like to remember our martyrs, the martyrs of today. They are witnesses to Jesus Christ, and they are persecuted and killed because they are Christians. Those who persecute them make no distinction between the religious communities to which they belong. They are Christians and for that they are persecuted. This, brothers and sisters, is the ecumenism of blood. More...
- In a statement in Feb 2015 Pope Francis denounced the murder of 21 Coptic Christians by ISIL militants in Libya. More...
- In August 2015 he slammed the "atrocious, inhuman and inexplicable" persecution of Christians and minorities, urging the international community not to remain silent. More...
- On 1 September 2015 he made a plea to the International Community to "Do something to put a stop to the violenece and oppression." Departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis told the people in St Peter's square, “There are more martyrs (today) than there were in the first centuries” of Christianity. More...
- On 12 October 2016 at the ecumenical gathering of the Conference for Secretaries of the Christian World Communions. More...
2015 (Dec). 'In this year’s Christmas message, the Patriarch of Jerusalem has invited the Holy Land’s parishes to switch off their Christmas tree lights for five minutes in solidarity with those who tragically lost their lives in recent months [in a wave of stabbing attacks which has received little international attention]. Addressing the Middle East which has been rocked to its core by wars and intifadas, he said: “Mercy is a political act par excellence”.' More...
2015 Statement on refugees by Bishop Peter Comensoli, Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay
2015 (23 Aug). Bishop Peter Comensoli's video message for Migrant and Refugee Sunday. With Sandie Cornish. Watch it here...
2015 (23 Aug). Bishop Peter Comensoli's video message for Migrant and Refugee Sunday. With Sandie Cornish. Watch it here...
2015 (1 Aug). Sydney Archbishop calls for increased Syrian refugee intake
"Affirmation of our Commitment to Interfaith Relations During Tense Times." 2014 Statement by Diocesan Administrator of Broken Bay