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When families of clergy members dissolve into chaos

Where should all the world's persecuted Christians flee?

Refugee admissions

It should not be shocking news to anyone that religious persecution happens regularly around the world and that the list of those targeted includes many Christians.

The annual reports from the quasi-governmental agency, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, provide the terrible details, country by country. And private groups keep track of all this, too.

This RNS story, in fact, describes this report from two such private groups who say that fewer Christians fleeing persecution in their native countries have found a safe harbor in the United States in the past half decade.

The report said that "the number of Christians coming to the U.S. from countries named on a prominent persecution watchlist dropped from 32,248 in 2016 to 9,528 in 2022 — a decline of 70%."

It seems odd that such numbers are falling at a time -- especially in recent weeks -- when the number of asylum seeks at our southern borders has been soaring. But perhaps we're simply measuring two different things.

The opening of the new report says this: ". . .the number of persecuted Christians to whom protection is available through the U.S. refugee resettlement program and the application of asylum laws has still been dramatically curtailed. With further restrictions on the near horizon, our aim with this report is to raise awareness and call the American Church both to prayer and advocacy for the persecuted. We also hope Congress and the administration will strengthen U.S. commitment to the persecuted through the refugee and asylum processes."

No doubt in the best of all possible worlds (Where would that be?), the problem of religious persecution and people fleeing violent countries to seek safety in the U.S. could and would be solved in the countries of origin. Stop persecution and poverty and other evils and the problem gets fixed, right?

But as the report itself says, “The tragic reality is that many areas of the world simply aren’t safe for Christians, and Christians fleeing persecution need a safe haven in the United States.”

So we have to deal with reality, not with some beatific fantasy.

And what is important to understand is that our elected representatives probably won't even look at this problem unless they think it matters to constituents. The only way to make sure they know it matters is to communicate with them and to talk about the issue in your faith community and other organizations.

Let's also be clear that when we're talking about persecution of Christians abroad, we mean serious bodily endangerment, not the U.S.-based alleged "persecution" that happens when some clerk says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

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COULD THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BLESS GAY UNIONS?

Change in institutional religions comes slowly, if at all. But before it comes in full flower, sometimes there are hints that something is afoot. That's what seems to be happening now in the Catholic Church, as Pope Francis has suggested that at some point it might be possible for the church to bless, in some way, gay couples. This blessing, the pope insisted, would not amount to condoning gay marriage. As the Reuters story to which I've linked you notes, "Francis said the Church was very clear that the sacrament of matrimony could only be between a man and woman and open to procreation and that the Church should avoid any other ritual or sacramental rite that contradicted this teaching." Still, it seems remarkable for any pope to be talking about some kind of nod of approval of gay couples, especially given that the church still officially teaches that homosexuality is "objectively disordered" and that homosexual practices are "sins gravely contrary to chastity.”

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P.S.: The EJUSA Evangelical Network (E.J. stands for Equal Justice) will co-host a "National Christian Prayer Call to End the Death Penalty" starting at 5:30 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, Oct. 10, to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty. You can register to watch the event at this link.

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