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.

17 College Basketball Players Charged with Fixing Games

ICE Deputy Director Leaves Agency to Run for Congress in Ohio

Trump rolls out ‘Great Healthcare Plan,’ urges Congress to slash costs for Americans

Trump’s Greenland takeover would likely entail enormous price tag: report

FBI arrests suspect after federal courthouse in Minneapolis windows smashed

Stunning Footage: Minneapolis Rioters Break Into Federal Agent’s Vehicle, Steal Weapon and Ammunition

Alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson’s lover Lance Twiggs no longer under FBI protection, source says

Leavitt urges Democrats to grab a coffee with an ICE officer before blowing up at ‘left-wing hack’ reporter

DHS, Greg Abbott Call Out Dems After Illegal Sends ICE Agent to Texas Hospital While Trying to Run Him Over

Democrat-led states push anti-ICE bills that may violate supremacy clause

Federal appeals court sides with Trump admin in judge’s Mahmoud Khalil decision

Top House GOP leader demands Tim Walz resign as Minneapolis erupts over ICE shooting

Alarming Video: Furious Somali Men Pour out of ‘Daycare’ and Accost Journalist Investigating Where $2.25 Million in Grant Money Went

House Democrats Are Tearing Themselves Apart Over ‘Performative’ Kristi Noem Impeachment Effort

Trump to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader after praising ‘terrific’ Maduro loyalist

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.