Pope Francis: “World looks the other way at Christian persecution”

This is from the Catholic online publication, CRUX

Meeting with members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Nov. 16, the pope said that “the tragic situations of Christians who are persecuted and killed in ever-increasing numbers” is plain to see, even if the world “too often turns and looks away.”

Christians face not only “martyrdom in blood” in countries where they are persecuted and killed for the faith, but also a “white martyrdom” in democratic countries that try more subtly to stifle religious freedom and expression.

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“It is a good sign that your initiatives in the field of training and health care are open to all, regardless of the communities to which they belong and the religion they profess,” the pope said. “In this way, you help to pave the way for the knowledge of Christian values, the promotion of interreligious dialogue, mutual respect and mutual understanding.”

However, the pope also emphasized that the order’s main purpose “is the spiritual growth of its members” so that their spiritual lives and works of charity offer a coherent witness to the Gospel.

Members of the order are not called to provide social and material improvements like “a philanthropic institution,” the pope said, but are called to “place at the center and as the final goal of your works the evangelical love for your neighbor to bear witness everywhere to the goodness and care with which God loves everyone.”