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.

Far-left surge: Mamdani-backed candidates oust Dem establishment incumbents

Paroled felon charged in deadly fire at New York homeless hotel that killed 6

DOJ charges 10 Southern California defendants in largest federal healthcare fraud crackdown in US history

Top Dem beats progressive who likened himself to Bernie Sanders in closely watched race

‘Party of Zohran’: Mamdani emerges as Democratic kingmaker after socialist allies sweep NYC primaries

Biden appointee crushes comeback bid by billionaire wine mogul David Trone

Mamdani-backed socialist with history of anti-American rhetoric wins vicious Dem primary race

GOP voters pick Trump-backed nominee in battle to flip crucial House seat

Meet the Republican challengers vying to unseat New York’s congressional Democrats

Investigators revisit Florida serial killer case as search resumes for possible additional victims

Iranian World Cup Fans Defy Regime and FIFA with Banned Displays of Resistance

Biden-appointed judge ripped after blocking ICE arrests at immigration courts

Video: Facing 20 Years, $250k Fine, Nazi-Obsessed, Anti-ICE Woman Pleads Guilty to Punching Officer in Face

Florida man allegedly kidnapped teen girl and hid her inside a clothes dryer before she called 911

Coffee Shop in NYC in Full Retreat After Hateful Attack on Jewish Congressman Backfires in Every Way Possible

See also Alan Greenspan dies at age 100

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.