The new Christian martyrs Archives - Page 2 of 3

In India and across Asia, Christians are targeted for their faith
- Dec 20, 2015
MUMBAI/BHUBANESWAR, India — To this day, Kanaka Rekha Nayak still cannot describe what happened to her husband, Parikhit, seven years ago without tears. An orgy of violence had swept the eastern Indian district of Kandhamal in August 2008 after the slaying of a local Hindu leader was erroneously blamed on

By John L. Allen Jr.
In Asia, a wide spectrum of anti-Christian persecution
- Dec 20, 2015
Although Christianity represents just around 7 percent of Asia’s population, that’s still an enormous pool of humanity — about 310 million people. Christians form the majority faith in two Asian nations, the Philippines and East Timor. In Vietnam and South Korea, Christianity is the largest and best-organized religious option, even

By John L. Allen Jr.
China increases its crackdown on Catholics
- Dec 20, 2015
As the ranks of Catholics in China have swelled, so, too, have government efforts to corral the trend — through heavy-handed crackdowns and police surveillance, if rarely by actual physical assault. This attempt at state control extends to the appointment of clergy, as the case of Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Ma

By John L. Allen Jr.

Photos: The new Christian martyrs in Asia

Dec 20, 2015

An altar boy looks on during a midnight prayer service at the Our Lady Of Charity Church on April 11, 2009 in the village of Raikia, south of Bhubaneswar, India. Christians gathered to pray under fear of threat of continued violence by militant Hindu nationalists in the Kandhamal area. (Credit:

By Crux Staff

Syria: 'An endless Calvary'

Dec 13, 2015

Not so long ago, a 53-year-old engineer named George Shenekji Chankji was, by Syrian standards, living the dream. He was part of a thriving Christian middle class in Syria, where Christians traditionally counted for about 10 percent of the national population and tended to be over-represented among professional elites. Along with

By John L. Allen Jr.