{"id":11541,"date":"2015-11-12T07:49:53","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T07:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acnmalta.org\/?p=11541"},"modified":"2015-11-12T07:49:53","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T07:49:53","slug":"christians-in-syria-facing-genocide-acn-malta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2015\/11\/12\/christians-in-syria-facing-genocide-acn-malta\/","title":{"rendered":"Christians in Syria facing &#8220;genocide&#8221;- ACN Malta"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><p><strong>Christians in Syria facing &#8220;genocide&#8221;<\/strong><strong> \u2013we need to stand up for religious freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In recent years, the civil war in Syria and the subsequent rise of Islamic State resulted in widespread destruction and loss of life. Although the tragic consequences of war affected the entire population of Syria, Christians have suffered in a particular way as a result of very direct persecution.<\/p>\n<p>In some regions, persecution of Christians is so sever and extensive that ACN has received \u00a0\u201creports of what we really can call genocide,\u201d \u00a0said John Pontifex, \u00a0editor of ACN\u2019s report <strong><em>\u201cPersecuted and Forgotten? <\/em><\/strong>A report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2013-2015\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Syrian Christians have been put under great pressure. They are being killed, forced to flee from their homes, forced to convert to Islam or pay jizyah tax &#8211; an Islamic tax \u2013 which many cannot afford. All evidence of Christian culture is being systematically wiped out as churches, chapels, sanctuaries, icons, religious statues and crosses have been blown up, set on fire or destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>Although persecution of Christians is not happening to the same extent throughout Syria, it is severe enough for ACN to be concerned about a \u201cmotivated ethnic cleansing of Christians\u201d from the region. Worryingly, this persecution is being perpetrated not only by Islamic State, but also by other Islamist militant groups that have the same objective of \u201cclearing the place of Christians\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The persecution Christians are facing in parts of Syria is extreme enough to be described as \u201cgenocide\u201d.\u00a0 It is time for the rest of the world to come to the aid of the persecuted Church. \u201cWe need to stand up for religious freedom,\u201d\u00a0 said Pontifex. All Christians, and everyone who believes in religious freedom, have a duty to make their voices heard and speak out urgently in support of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>Pope Francis gave his support to the work of ACN., which offers help to persecuted Christians around the world. \u201cYour work of prayer and solidarity brings relief and support to our brothers and sisters who suffer for Christ in the Middle East and around the world,\u201d Pope Francis said, adding\u201cI support you with my blessing\u201d When greeting Arabic-speaking pilgrims, Pope Francis also made a special appeal for \u201cthe Lord to protect [their families] from evil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whenever possible, ACN is providing basic aid \u2013 food, shelter and medicine \u2013 to displaced Christians in the safer areas of Syria, as well as to refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Besides practical humanitarian help, ACN also offers pastoral supportbut Pontifax explained \u201dof course the emergency aid which the Holy Father has highlighted by reference to ACN\u2019s need to help in Syria and elsewhere is at the forefront of all our activities at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>ACN Malta.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christians in Syria facing &#8220;genocide&#8221; \u2013we need to stand up for religious freedom In recent years, the civil war in Syria and the subsequent rise of Islamic State resulted in widespread destruction and loss of life. Although the tragic consequences of war affected the entire population of Syria, Christians have suffered in a particular way&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Christians in Syria facing &quot;genocide&quot;- ACN Malta - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2015\/11\/12\/christians-in-syria-facing-genocide-acn-malta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christians in Syria facing &quot;genocide&quot;- ACN Malta - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christians in Syria facing &#8220;genocide&#8221; \u2013we need to stand up for religious freedom In recent years, the civil war in Syria and the subsequent rise of Islamic State resulted in widespread destruction and loss of life. 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