Don’t be afraid to condemn persecution, says Archbishop

Christians should not shy from speaking out and acting in response to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, according to Tuam’s Archbishop Michael Neary.

Speaking at a Mass in Knock for those who have died through religious persecution, Dr Neary lamented the destruction and exodus of millennia-old Christian communities from the Middle East, and described how Christians now face persecution in places as far apart as Nigeria, Pakistan, and China, with 50,000 Indian Christians having become homeless after 500 were massacred in Orissa.

While some might feel that appearing to show favouritism to beleaguered Christians when others are suffering could sit badly with Christian morality, Dr Neary said Christians have “a particular family duty to uphold through prayer and penance those who are joined to us by a common baptism”.