St John of Nepomuk, 14th century Bohemian Christian martyr,
drowned on the King's orders for refusing
to break the seal of the confessional
By Ruth Gledhill
Christian TodayOne Christian died for their faith every six minutes in 2016. That is the shocking new figure about to be published in the latest statistics on Christian martyrs.
Pope Francis has repeatedly stated that there are more Christian martyrs in today's world even than in the early days of the Christian church during the persecutions of the Roman empire.
The figures will be published in the latest statistics from the Center for Study of Global Christianity. They actually represent a slight decline on the figure of 105,000 deaths two years ago. Of the 90,000 deaths, 70 per cent, or 63,000, were killed in tribal conflicts in Africa.
The centre, based in the United States, has included these figures in the statistics because they believe that many of these Christians were slain after they refused for reasons of conscience to take up arms.
Massimo Introvigne , director of CESNUR, the Centre for Studies on New Religions, revealed the findings in an interview with Vatican Radio to mark St Stephen's Day, which follows Christmas and commemorates the first Christian martyr.
He said about 90,000 Christians were killed for their faith, that is one every six minutes in 2016.In addition, there are between 500 million and 600 million Christians who cannot freely profess their Christian faith.
The other 30 percent, or 27,000, were Christians who in terrorist attacks, in the destruction of Christian villages and in government persecution, such as in North Korea.
Persecution Unveiled has been called by God to prick the consciences of this nation and all free people to speak up and act on behalf of those who have no voice. Follow us on Pinterest, and Google; like us on Facebook, and visit our website using this link.
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