Christian Persecution 2019 a Scourge of ‘Mammoth Proportions’

June 2019 is an “especially menacing time” for Christians both on the domestic and international fronts, writes Christian persecution expert John L. Allen in a report Sunday.

The U.S. Catholic Church is facing “one of the most serious potential violations of religious freedom in its history in the form of SB 360 in California,” writes Allen, author of the 2013 bestseller The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution, since the bill would compel priests to reveal information learned while hearing confessions as evidence against possible sex offenders.

“The bill passed the California senate in late May by a 30-2 vote and is expected to be considered by the State Assembly in September,” Allen notes.

On the international scene, “the scope of anti-Christian hostility is staggering,” Allen continues, with the number of Christians facing “harassment, physical assault, arrest and imprisonment, torture, and even death” on a daily basis estimated at around 200 million.

DOJ Busts Massive International Sham Marriage Scheme, 1,000 Weddings to ‘Fraudulently Obtain Immigration Status’

FBI ran secret operation to extinguish Biden family foreign influence scandal: Declassified documents

Fox News Poll: New matchup, same result: Maine Senate race stays locked

Here’s who could replace White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt

New York Social Services Worker Charged With Issuing Multiple Benefit Cards to Herself

Hasan Piker cheers Mamdani aide going ‘beast mode’ with ‘impoverish the White middle-class’ remark

Deadly military helicopter crash in Texas kills 2, sparks wildfire and forces evacuations: officials

DOJ makes first arrest in Southern Poverty Law Center fraud case

Alex Murdaugh’s ‘Charleston or bust’ prayer shot down by prosecutors in fight over ‘Holy City’ retrial

Trump says Karoline Leavitt will leave White House press secretary role, become outside advisor

Former SPLC official arrested as feds expand case over alleged $4M scheme involving extremist groups

Former SPLC Exec Arrested on Fraud Charges Connected to KKK Relationship

DOJ charges 11 in alleged decadelong sham marriage scheme involving Chinese nationals

Report: Russia Is Giving China ‘Incredibly Important’ Military Technology to Use Against US

Trump’s dead ‘anti-weaponization fund’ comes back to life in Georgia Senate race

Christians in North Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and a host of other countries live under a constant threat of active persecution, as documented by Open Doors, a Christian persecution watchdog group.

Even in Latin America, the world’s largest “Catholic” region, the number of Catholic clergy and personnel killed each year frequently tops the list of continents.

While the defense of religious freedom should apply equally to all creeds, Allen asserts, anti-Christian persecution deserves particular focus “given the wall of silence that still too often surrounds the subject.”

“Just as one didn’t have to be Jewish to sympathize with the plight of dissident Jews in the Soviet Union, and didn’t have to be black to be outraged by apartheid in South Africa, similarly today one shouldn’t have to be Christian to recognize anti-Christian persecution as a human rights scourge of mammoth proportions,” Allen writes.

Saturday marked the beginning of the U.S. bishops’ yearly “Religious Freedom Week,” which runs this year from June 22-29.