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.

Iranian women’s soccer team captain becomes latest member to withdraw asylum bid

Panama Canal Braces for Rise in Traffic Amid Iran War

More Americans Make This Money Move in Possible Sign of Economic Woes

String of attacks connected to naturalized citizens raises national security questions

Soros Prosecutor Blames Republicans After Convicted ISIS Supporter Opens Fire At Old Dominion University

Top California librarian questioned about missing $650K tied to Dolly Parton child literacy program

Latino voters are ‘no longer sleeping,’ Univision president warns GOP, Dems

It Took CNN Analyst Only 15 Minutes to Suggest Trump Incited Michigan Synagogue Attack

Hero ROTC Cadet Stabbed ISIS-Inspired Shooter To Death, Saving Lives

Airline CEOs torch lawmakers for turning air travel into a ‘political football’

Brother of Michigan synagogue attacker was Hezbollah commander, Israel alleges

Dems Are Using the Filibuster to Keep the SAVE America Act at Bay

‘President Trump Is Ending It’: Mike Waltz Erupts At NBC Host Over Iran

Daughter of George W. Bush’s Top Intel Official Has Been Hit With Long Prison Sentence for Murder

Rising gas prices from Iran conflict put GOP on defense after previous Biden attacks

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.