MARTYRDOM Msgr. George Frendo O.P. DEFINITION OF MARTYRDOM Thomas Aquinas developed a very interesting theological viewpoint on martyrdom in his Summa Theologiae[1]. He considers martyrdom as “the shedding of one’s blood for Christ’s sake”[2] and “the right endurance of sufferings unjustly inflicted”[3]. These affirmations imply that these unjust sufferings are not just something imposed on...
Pope Francis is “profoundly concerned” for the humanitarian situation in Syria. The Pope stressed this in a letter that was hand-delivered to Syrian President, Basher Hazef Al-Assad, on July 22, by Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Cardinal Turkson was in Damascus with the Apostolic Nuncio to...
A Fulani herdsman and a Jukun Kona farmer at Yawai Abbare in Jalingo Local Government of Taraba State, Nigeria were said to be at the root of the conflict which started on the 6th of May, 2019 and lasted for more than a month, degenerating so badly that at the end of it the Jukun...
Aid to the Church in Need has been involved in producing a report commissioned by the British Foreign Secretary showing the scale of persecution of Christians around the world and the response of the United Kingdom Government to their plight, the first of its kind to be requested by a national government minister. The report...
Exactly 2 years ago, on 10 July 2017 the Iraqi government declared the defeat of Daesh (ISIS). The liberation of Mosul took place three years after the city had been subjected to strict sharia law, including forced conversions, mass executions and a resurgence of slavery. When the city was liberated, “no one believed that the...
Father Raimond Girgis, Franciscan, Superior of the Saint Paul Memorial at Damascus, Makes Appeal Speaking to ZENIT in Amman, Jordan “I know what war means, the scare, the fear of dying, I experienced it all in person,” says Father Raimond Girgis, Franciscan, Superior of the Saint Paul Memorial at Damascus. “My church was five times...
Africa has continued to be a continent where wars, famines and religious conflicts take place. In many regions, Islamist terrorist groups are putting the lives of Christians in danger. In addition, corruption, crime and natural disasters threaten the lives of the faithful. But that is not all there is to know about this continent. At...
