These last two weeks have been bad weeks for Christians in several parts of the world. Truth be told, even the two weeks before these and the two weeks before those were quite bad. But let’s concentrate on the last two weeks or so. I will give three different stories from different parts of the world.

Laos, Asia: According to Human Rights Watch for Laos Religious Freedom, eight Christian families living in the village of Natahall, in Laos, are being pressured to abandon their faith. At first there were five Christian families and the village chief threatened to remove them from the village. The number of Christian families has increased to eight. Now the village chief accompanied by the police are ordering the Christian families to either abandon their faith or lose their homes. The officials are saying that after working to get rid of the Americans they will not let people import the “religion of the Americans” in their homes.

Syria, Middle East: Archbishop Jean-Abdo Arbach, the Melkite Greek Catholic archbishop of Homs, said in an interview with Aid to the Church that the persecution of Christians in the northern regions of Syria which are under the control of the rebels, is on the increase.

The Archbishop said that Sharia or Islamic law is to be introduced while all Christian symbols which are publicly visible are to be destroyed. Archbishop Jean-Abdo Arbach said that a special tax will soon be imposed on Christians.

According to some reports the situation of Christians in the areas controlled by the government is improving.

However, Amine Gemayel, a Maronite Catholic and a former Lebanese president said that Christians are leaving the Middle East “in an exodus approaching biblical proportions.” He referred to “church burnings, physical assaults, and killings” in Egypt, “a bloody-minded reign of terror” by “ultra-radical Islamists” in Syria, and “an onslaught of murder” in Iraq. Up to a few years there were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, today there are only 150,000!

Nigeria, Africa: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria met in Abuja, the nation’s capital, and issued a statement in which, among other things, they decried attacks on Catholic schools by the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram and by members of the largely Muslim Fulani tribe.

“The mindless massacre of innocent students’ right in their schools in the North Eastern States of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe is a very painful case,” the bishops said. “Despite the efforts of security agencies, life and property in Nigeria are still exposed to people of wicked intentions.”

Catholics are holding firm so much so that more than 2,000 Catholics in northern Nigeria went to Mass last Sunday although their city was being attacked by Boko Haram terrorists. Father John Bakeni, who celebrated Mass in St. Patrick’s cathedral in Maiduguri, told Aid to the Church in Need that while the city was being rocked by rocket-propelled grenades worshippers nonetheless opted to go to Mass.

These are not isolated incidents.

It is true that religious persecution can affect people of all faiths. The Rohinga Muslims sre passing through very difficult times in Burma while the Bahais face persecution in Iran. China is no stranger to persecution because of religious reasons. Ask the Tibetan Buddhists who will clearly tell you about the persecution they suffer.

It is also true that the victims include people of no religion. A young Indonesian atheist who has declared his atheism on Facebook was given a two year prison sentence.

But in every single country where there are infringements of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Christians face persecution. (Article 18 states that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”)

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, recently said that she believes Christians are the most persecuted group in the world today.

The price that so many Christians are paying for their belief should shake us out of our apathy and be not afraid to stand up and be counted.