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.

Trump praises Susie Wiles’ cancer fight in surprise gala video: ‘Winning it decisively’

Trump takes motorcade into Reflecting Pool, blasts past ‘$38M disaster’ fix under Obama

Man indicted for allegedly posting gruesome death threats against Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi on social media

Paralyzed subway victim confronts attacker, calls his actions ‘evil’ at sentencing

EMT Students Snap Into Action When They Realize Instructor Isn’t Acting During Training Exercise: ‘OK, This Is Real’

Prominent Democratic Mayor Announces Unexpected Resignation 6 Months After Re-Election

Watch: Dem State Rep Freaks Out So Badly During Redistricting Debate That He Makes Physical Contact with Cops

Southern Poverty Law Center pleads not guilty as CEO vows to fight fraud case

Video: Democratic Lawmakers Melt Down as Tennessee Passes New Congressional Map

Trump surprises famously low-profile power player with tribute as she steps out for rare public appearance

Bipartisan lawmakers want to strip Big Tech’s legal immunity that can shield social media companies

Breaking: US Launches Strikes on Two Iranian Targets

Israeli Military Investigating After Soldier’s Picture with Mary Statue Draws Outrage from Catholic Officials

FIRST ON FOX: Top Republicans take abortion pill fight to Supreme Court, citing coercion and safety risks

Starmer fears Reform UK, Green Party gains in British election blitz

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.