Pope: Persecution, the Church's daily bread
There is obvious persecution such as the Easter Day attack against Pakistani Christians or "polite" persecution not directed not against those who profess the name of Christ, but against those who want to profess the values of God's Son. "It is a persecution against God the Creator in the person of His children".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Persecution "is the Church’s daily bread. Jesus said so. When we go on tour to Rome and go to the Coliseum, we think that martyrs were those killed by the lions. But they are not the only martyrs. They are every day men and women: today, on Easter Sunday, just three weeks ago ... Those Christians celebrating Easter in Pakistan were martyred because they were celebrating the Risen Christ. And so the history of the Church moves forward with its martyrs", said Pope Francis this morning during daily Mass in Casa Santa Marta.
Vatican Radio reports that the Pope was commenting on the passage of Stephen's martyrdom in the Acts of the Apostles: "This triggered a cruel anti-Christian persecution in Jerusalem similar to those suffered by those who are not free today to profess their faith in Jesus. But there is another persecution that is rarely mentioned, a persecution disguised as culture, disguised as modernity, as progress".
Francis says, "I would call this persecution – with irony – ‘polite'. It is when it is not those who profess the name of Christ who are persecuted, rather those who want to have and show the values of the Son of God. It is a persecution against God the Creator in the person of His children! And thus we see every day that the powers make laws that force a nation that does not follow these modern, polite, laws or at least he does not want them in its legislation, to follow this path. The nation is accused, it is politely persecuted. It is a persecution that takes away a man’s freedom, even of conscientious objection”.
"This is the persecution of the world" that "takes away freedom," and "God - says the Pope - has made " us free to bear witness to the Father who created us and Christ who saved us". This persecution, he added, "also has a leader. Jesus named the leader of this ‘polite’ persecution: the ruler of this world. And when the powers want to impose attitudes, laws against the dignity of the Son of God, they persecute and go against the Creator, against God. It is the great apostasy. So the life of Christians continues with these two persecutions. The Lord has promised us He will not abandon us. 'Be careful, be careful! Do not give in to the spirit of the world. Be careful! But always onwards, I will be with you'".
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