Pope Francis made a statement Thursday that the Catholic Church would not accept a Middle East that is devoid of Christians.
The Pope told reporters after a meeting with patriarchs in Syria, Iran and Iraq the church would not resign itself to a Christian-free Middle East. The Pope called for “the universal right to lead a dignified life and freely practice one’s own faith to be respected.”
“Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the Holy Land sometimes overflow with tears,” The Pope said.
The number of Christians in the Middle East continues to dwindle through oppression and civil war. Christians are just 10% of the Egyptian population, 5% in Syria, 2% in Iraq and 1.2% in Palestinian territories.
The Vatican said the population of Christians in the region has shrunk more than half since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Christian leaders in the city of Detroit are banding together in hopes of stemming the tide of violence that has broken out the last few weeks including a gun battle at a barbershop that left three people dead.
The leaders are plastering the city with “Thou shalt not kill” posters and billboards along with crafting messages for their congregations about combating violence with love.
“We all have to do what we can do, and right now we don’t have a respect in our communities for life; we don’t have a respect for many things,” Ovella Andreas, a Detroit area minister, told WWJ-TV. “But we still have to create a standard to hopefully have a consciousness about God …. because even our people have become apathetic.”
The group has worked with the city to have the 22nd day of each month declared “Stop the Violence Day” in Detroit.
“This is an emergency; this is a crisis, and we have to come together now to do what we can,” Andreas said. “I truly know if we do what we can, God will do what we cannot; but we’re not doing all that we can.”
A Kentucky teenager who refused to wear the number 666 in a regional cross country meet lost her chance to continue to chase a state championship.
Codie Thacker took a stand for her Christian beliefs and refused to wear the number even when she was told that she would not be able to run.
“I just don’t believe that 666 should be a number that’s anywhere on your body and I did not want that number associated with me. It kind of made me sick,” Thacker told reporters.
A representative for the Kentucky High School Athletic Association spokesman said that officials were not told Thacker’s objection was for religious reasons or they would have accommodated her. However, both Thacker and her coach told reporters they explicitly told the KHSAA officials she was objecting because of her Christian faith.
“I wouldn’t have been more proud of her if she won the entire meet. She stood on her principles; she stood for what she believed in,” Thacker’s coach Gina Croley said.
A new survey shows that 76 percent of America believes in the existence of a God and 38 percent of those surveyed said they do what God tells them to do.
Most of those who believe in God are also more likely to give credit or blame for weather and disasters to God rather than some excuse like man-made global warming.
The YouGov.com survey found that born again Christians are more likely to do something because God told them. Protestants were more likely to do something than Catholics by a result of 56 percent to 39 percent.
The survey was surprising in that the difference between Republicans and Democrats was not as wide as researchers had expected. The number of Republicans who complied with what they felt God say was 42 percent compared to 40 percent for Democrats.
