Pope: More Persecuted Christians Today Than Ever Before
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
VATICAN CITY (Worthy News)– While celebrating a memorial Mass Monday for ancient Christians martyred by Nero, Pope Francis said there are more martyrs today than at any time in history, according to Breitbart.com.
"There are more witnesses, more martyrs in the Church today than there were in the first centuries. Think of the Middle East where Christians must flee persecution, where Christians are killed … So it is right that our thoughts turn to the many martyrs of today, the many martyrs who give their lives for faith. It is true that during the times of Nero many Christians were persecuted, and today there are just as many."
The International Society for Human Rights estimated that 80 percent of all religious discrimination in the world today is directed against Christians.
Yearly estimates of the number of Christians killed for their faith range from 7,000 to 100,000, which represents nearly one death per hour even at the lowest estimate.