Representative Frank Wolf endorses Faith Under Fire Conference:
Please join us for this eye-opening Chicago-area conference on the worldwide crisis in religious freedom. We will examine the plight of persecuted religious minorities in Islamic countries as representatives of these communities offer riveting testimony. Key members of the U.S. Congress will discuss the latest legislation and actions intended to prevent genocide. Recognized international and national experts will offer insightful analysis of policy issues and the global threat to religious freedom.
Conference is a rousing success; builds bridges among oppressed communities:
[Click here to download a PDF copy of the official program]
Speakers
- Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)
- Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL)
- Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy
- Hon. Fred Grandy, Executive Vice-President at the Center for Security Policy
- Cynthia Farahat, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy
- Clare M. Lopez, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy
- Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom
- Ashraf Ramelah, founder and President of Voice of the Copts
- Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council
- Very Rev. Keith Roderick, Secretary General of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights
Panel 1: Testimony from the Region and Background on Indigenous Communities
Cynthia Farahat
Cynthia Farahat is an Egyptian political activist, writer and researcher. She co-founded the Liberal Egyptian Party (2006-2008) and served as a member of its political committee. In 2008-2009, she was program coordinator and program officer at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in Cairo, a multi-national free market think tank. She was a founder of the Masr El-Om (Mother Egypt) Party and was a member of its political committee (2004-2006). She has published in National Review, Middle East Quarterly, and in other publications in both English and Arabic. In December 2011, Ms. Farahat testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the US House of Representatives on the roots of the persecution of the Coptic Christian minority in her native Egypt. She is a fellow at the Middle East Forum and the Center for Security Policy.
Dr. Ashrah Ramelah
Ashraf Ramelah is the founder and President of Voice of the Copts, a human rights organization with offices in Italy and the United States. He is dedicated to the Coptic cause and believes that this life’s mission is to speak up for the oppressed Copts who cannot speak up for themselves, hence the name, Voice of the Copts.
When he is not meeting with political figures and policy makers, Dr. Ramelah spends his time travelling throughout the country giving talks about the Coptic issue and explaining to the West the oppression against the Copts in Egypt. Dr. Ramelah was invited to address the European Parliament (2010) and to be the keynote speaker in the Italian Parliament (2011) on the issue of Coptic persecution in Egypt. He has done various interviews with Italian newspapers and appears frequently in the Italian and Arab Media. Dr. Ramelah is a featured author at American Thinker.com, Family Security Matters.com, and Canada Free Press.com.
Dr. Ramelah is well known to the Egyptian government due to his advocacy for the Egyptian Copts as well as for Voice of the Copts’ lawsuit against them on behalf of Muslim convert to Christianity Mr. Hegazy and his family in 2009-2010. Ashraf Ramelah also appears as an entry in the Coptic History Encyclopedia.
Dr. Ramelah, himself a Copt, was born in Cairo, Egypt. At the age of 17, he travelled to Italy to study architecture. He graduated with a doctorate in architecture from La Sapienza – Universita’ Degli Studi di Roma,Italy. His special study is restoration of old monuments and history of architecture.
His career as an architect took him to work and live in Italy, Saudi Arabia, Gabon and the USA. His personal interests are Egyptology and Coptic history in the period after the Arab invasion of Egypt in 651 AD.
Voice of the Copts is dedicated to bringing fair, correct and balanced information to the entire world regarding Copts and Christians in countries with an Arab-Muslim majority.
Dr. Ramelah is managing editor of a website in both English and Italian with the same name
Juliana Taimoorazy
Juliana Taimoorazy is the founder and President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, an organization that raises awareness about the persecuted church in Iraq and helps Assyrian Christians resettle in Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts and Arizona. Through her activism and media appearances, Taimoorazy has worked tirelessly to promote the cause of Assyrian Christians in the U.S. While volunteering for Catholic Charities, she has mentored young women arriving in the U.S. She has also volunteered with Operation Homefront in Illinois, an organization that provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors.
Taimoorazy was smuggled into Switzerland in 1989 to avoid religious persecution in her native Iran. After spending seven days in a monastery in Zurich, she was smuggled into Germany where she sought asylum in the U.S embassy. In 1990 she immigrated to the U.S with the refugee status. As an Assyrian Christian living in Iran, Taimoorazy learned to be multi-lingual at a young age, and is fluent in English, Farsi, and Assyrian. She obtained her Masters degree in Instructional Design from Northeastern Illinois University. In addition to being an entrepreneur, she has also worked as a journalist for a local television station in Chicago. As a child, she would take her sister’s hairbrush and stand in front of the mirror and act as a news reporter – even before she learned how to read and write. She currently is a radio host for Nineveh Radio.
Question and Answer
Panel 2:
Paul Marshall: Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide
Paul Marshall is Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, Washington, D.C.
He has spoken on religious freedom, international relations, and radical Islam before Congressional committees, the U.S. State Department, the Helsinki Commission, INS and DHS Asylum Bureaus, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. He has also lectured in Canada, England, Israel, Cyprus, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Greece, India, Switzerland, Spain, Lebanon, Korea, Nigeria, Belarus, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
In November, 2011, Oxford University press published his Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide co-authored with Nina Shea
His co-edited work Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion, was published by Oxford in early 2009 and was awarded the Wilbur Prize by the Religious Communicators’ Council and given the “Book of the Year 2009” Award from the Religious Communication Association.
Marshall is the author of the best-selling survey of religious persecution Their Blood Cries Out (1997). In speeches introducing the International Religious Freedom Act in the U.S. Senate, Senator Nickles described the book as “a powerful and persuasive analysis” and an “exhaustive survey,” “which simply cannot be ignored” and Senator Lieberman described it as “the manifesto of the religious freedom movement.”
He is also the General Editor of Religious Freedom in the World (2008), the most comprehensive survey of religious freedom available in English. His Radical Islam’s Rules: the Worldwide Spread of Extreme Sharia Law was released in 2005. Other recent books include Islam at the Crossroads: Understanding its Beliefs, History and Conflicts (2002), and God and the Constitution: Christianity and American Politics (2002).
The Very Reverend Keith Roderick: Strategy for the Future
Father Roderick has served as Secretary General of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) since 1993. The Coalition is a consortium of over fifty-five organizations working together to champion the rights of minorities living in Islamic countries. Members of the Coalition include Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Assyrians, Armenians, Bahai, Copts, Lebanese, Indonesians, Iranians, Pakistanis, Indians, Sudanese, Nigerians, and others. He has testified to the Senate and House of Representatives on the issue of religious freedom and human rights concerns of non-Muslim minorities in Islamic countries. He has been interviewed and published articles on minorities in the Middle East for national and international media. Father Roderick continues to work with leaders of the minority communities in the Middle East to promote security and equality.
Formerly he was the Director of Spoon River College in Macomb, Illinois and taught religion and philosophy for fifteen years. He founded the Society of St. Stephen in 1982 that worked on behalf of religious prisoners of conscience and their families in the former Soviet Union. He served as Christian Solidarity International’s Representative in Washington, D.C. until 2009. He served as the Co-Director of the International Task Force, formerly The Task Force on Soviet Jewry, Executive Director of the Sudan Campaign, Co-Chairs the Coalition to Save Iraq’s Christians and Other Defenseless Minorities. Is on the Board of Directors/Advisors of the Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy (Darfur), Religious Freedom Coalition (Washington, D.C.), Institut de l’Europe Libre (Paris), International Christian Union, and Middle East Concern (Cyprus) and International Christian Union.
He is an Episcopal priest of the Diocese of Springfield, presently serving as Dean and Rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Carbondale.
Question and Answer
Panel 3:
Congressman Peter Roskam
US Congressman Peter Roskam proudly represents the Sixth District of Illinois in the US House of Representatives and is the Chief Deputy Majority Whip, the fourth-ranking Republican leader in the House. Congressman Roskam serves on the Ways & Means Committee and is the co-chair of the Republican Israel Caucus. Before his election to Congress in 2006, Roskam was a member of the Illinois Senate from 2000-2006, serving as the Republican Whip and Floor Leader. He served in the Illinois House before that from 1993 to 1998.
Congressman Joe Walsh
US Congressman Joe Walsh is a member of the US House of Representatives from the 8th District of Illinois. He has dedicated his profes-sional life to service and advocacy. He has advocated on behalf of a wide range of public policy issues and causes, most notably advancing market-based solutions to education reform and urban poverty. He is a member of the Homeland Security, Oversight and Government Re-form, Small Business committees in the House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Israeli Caucus and Tea Party Caucus.
Question and Answer: Rep. Roskam, Rep. Walsh, Paul Marshall
Clare Lopez: Islamic Persecution of Religious Minorities in Doctrine and History
Clare Lopez is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy and The Clarion Fund. She is co-author of Shariah: The Threat to America with a strategic policy focus on Iran. She is a member of newly-formed Congressional Task Force on National and Homeland Security with a focus on EMP threat. She is a strategic policy & intelligence expert with a focus on national defense, Islam, Iran, & counterterrorism issues.
Policy Issues and Opportunities for Intervention: Clare Lopez, Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, Juliana Taimoorazy, Keith Roderick, U.S. Congressman Walsh
News
Faith Under Fire Conference
Faith Under Fire-The Global Threat to Religious Freedom Dear Concerned Citizen,Please join us for this eye-opening https://faithunderfireconference.org/on the worldwide crisis in religious freedom. This Conference is designed to address the plight of persecuted religious minorities in Muslim countries. Join us to learn the real nature of their hardships and what each of us can do to advance religious liberty for suffering indigenous communities.
“Faith Under Fire The Global Threat to Religious Freedom”
Faith Under Fire
The Global Threat to Religious Freedom
We look forward to seeing you and your friends at this crucial Conference on Saturday, 10 March 2012 where the complex issues surrounding Faith Under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom are illuminated by eyewitness accounts, and key members of our U.S. Congress join international and national experts to work together to contribute discussion in the policy arena and deliver recommendations to U.S. leadership to act on behalf of these persecuted religious minorities.
Crystal Palace Banquets
1070 South Elmhurst Road
Mt. Prospect, Illinois 60056
Registration: $39 per person, $25 per student
Registration includes continental breakfast,
large buffet luncheon and refreshments.
For more program information and to register for the Conference, please visit www.faithunderfireconference.org.
For any questions, please call 773-540-6592 or contact by e-mail [email protected].
Faith Under Fire
by Michael Avramovich
In early January 2012, Harold Sterling of the Calgary Herald wrote an article in which he observed that the so-called Arab Spring has led to a chilling winter for Christians in the Middle East. Mr. Sterling wrote:
According to reports, non-Muslims, most notably Christians, are being increasingly harassed, intimidated and even subjected to persecution and violence, including murder, in a number of foreign countries. Paradoxically, one development which has un-expectedly worsened the situation for some Christian communities in the Middle East has been the dramatic Arab Spring revolutions which, while welcomed by many for overthrowing or weakening repressive and corrupt regimes, have also unleashed anti-Christian actions and violence against Christian communities.
In Egypt, following the fall of President Mubarak, Moslem clerics and politicians from the Moslem Brotherhood, have sought to severely restrict Christians (and Jews) politically. In Iraq, since the fall of Saddam’s regime, more than one million Christians have fled that country. In Syria, press reports have indicated that more than 7,000 have been killed in the past several months, including many children, by government forces against protestors seeking greater political freedom and the ouster of Syrian dictator Hafez Al-Assad. In Ethiopia, Iran, Nigeria, Algeria, Pakistan, Sudan and other Islamic nations, Christians are experiencing great persecution.
To educate American Christians on the threat posed by radical Islam to Christians in the Middle East, an important Conference presented by the Center for Security Policy will take place on Saturday, March 10th, 2012. The Faith Under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom Conference will be held from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM at Crystal Palace Banquets, located at 1070 South Elmhurst Road in Mount Prospect, Illinois, outside of Chicago. Among the speakers are the following:
- Representative Peter Roskam (R-IL)
- Representative Joe Walsh (R-IL)
- Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy
- Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Security Policy
- Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, President and Founder of the Voice of the Copts
- Juliana Taimoorazy, President and Founder of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council
- Very Rev. Father Roderick, Secretary General of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR)
Ticket prices, which includes continental breakfast and buffet lunch, are only $39.00 per person for this all-day event. Student tickets are only $25.00. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Conference website at: https://faithunderfireconference.org/. If you are interested in group pricing discounted rate tickets, please contact the Center for Security Policy at 202-835-9077, and I am sure that they will be happy to assist you in processing your order by phone.
I am certainly looking forward to participating and learning about what is going on elsewhere and what we as Christians can do to assist our brothers and sisters throughout the Islamic world. I hope to see many of you there, and if you cannot attend, please let your friends know about Faith Under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom. I hope to see you there!
Faith Under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom
Dear Concerned Citizen,
Please join us for this eye-opening Chicago area Conference on the worldwide crisis in religious freedom. This Conference is designed to address the plight of persecuted religious minorities in Muslim countries. Join us to learn the real nature of their hardships and what each of us can do to advance religious liberty for suffering indigenous communities.
Leaders of the indigenous communities describe their plight.
Eyewitnesses offer riveting testimony about this harsh reality.
Key members of U.S. Congress discuss action to prevent genocide.
Global experts offer critical analysis of the international threats.
Panelists discuss policy issues and opportunities for action.
Location:
Crystal Palace Banquets
1070 South Elmhurst Road
Mt. Prospect, Illinois 60056
Registration:
$39 per person by 1 March 2012
$45 per person after 1 March 2012
Registration includes continental breakfast, large buffet luncheon, and refreshments.
For more program information and to register for the Conference, please visit www.faithunderfireconference.org.
For any questions, please call 773-540-6592 or contact by e-mail [email protected].
We look forward to seeing you and your friends at this crucial Conference on Saturday, March 10, 2012 where the complex issues surrounding Faith Under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom are illuminated by eyewitness accounts, and key members of our U.S. Congress join international and national experts to work together to contribute discussion in the policy arena and deliver recommendations to U.S. leadership to act on behalf of these persecuted religious minorities.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9
Peter Roskam and Joe Walsh in Mt. Prospect Conference on Faith Under Fire Saturday, March 10th
With the pending Iranian execution of Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani on charges of apostasy for refusing to recant his faith, the following Saturday conference concerning religious freedom takes on immediacy:
Saturday, March 10 2012, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.0 p .m.
Faith Under Fire
The Global Threat to Religious Freedom
Dear Concerned Citizen,
Please join us for this eye-opening Chicago area Conference on the worldwide crisis in religious freedom.
This Conference is designed to address the plight of persecuted religious minorities in Muslim countries.
Join us to learn the real nature of their hardships and what each of us can do to advance religious liberty for suffering indigenous communities.
Leaders of the indigenous communities describe their plight.
Eyewitnesses offer riveting testimony about this harsh reality.
Key members of U.S. Congress discuss action to prevent genocide.
Global experts offer critical analysis of the international threats.
Panelists discuss policy issues and opportunities for action.
Crystal Palace Banquets
1070 South Elmhurst Road
Mt. Prospect, Illinois 60056
Registration:
$39 per person
$25 per student
Registration includes continental breakfast, large buffet luncheon and refreshments.
For more program information and to register for the Conference, please visit www.faithunderfireconference.org.
For any questions, please call 773-540-6592 or contact by e-mail [email protected]
Peter Roskam and Joe Walsh are among the speakers Saturday at the Faith Under Fire conference.
We look forward to seeing you and your friends at this crucial Conference on Saturday, 10 March 2012 where the complex issues surrounding Faith Under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom are illuminated by eyewitness accounts, and key members of our U.S. Congress join international and national experts to work together to contribute discussion in the policy arena and deliver recommendations to U.S. leadership to act on behalf of these persecuted religious minorities.
Best Regards,
Eric Voogd
Conference Director
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9
“Faith Under Fire” comes to Illinois
by William M. Leubscher
Chicago Catholic Examiner
February 18, 2012
If you’re like most Chicagoans, you may remember a passing story about an attack on an Iraqi Church last fall. The mainstream media didn’t dwell on the details much. On October 31, 2011, an al-Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim insurgent group, the Islamic State of Iraq, attacked a church in Baghdad, killing 58 people and wounding another 78. Gunmen took around 52 hostages during the Sunday services and both hostages and police were killed, until Iraq security forces stormed the church. “Chaldean Church Attacked by Terrorists”didn’t mean much to American ears. Many of us have never heard of a “Chaldean”. Perhaps the carnage would have hit home a little more personally, if Chicago’s Catholic community was aware that the Chaldeans are fellow Catholics.
Sadly, the assault on Our Lady of Salvation during their Sunday Mass is just one of countless examples of the persecutions of Christians in the middle east, many of whom belong to historic churches that trace their lineage back to the first century Christians and the apostles themselves. Iraq once had about 1.5 million Christians but the number has fallen sharply in recent years, and was estimated to less than 400,000 in 2011. Pope Benedict XVI condemned the attack and so did most Christian clerics in the region, but where are American Christians to stand with the most vulnerable members of our faith? It seems many Americans just don’t think about those things because we’re used to being in an open society where religious freedom is taken for granted.
Perhaps the most important reason why Christianity needs to be preserved in the middle east is that part of the world is the birthplace of our faith. Many of the most famous events in the Old Testament – and pivotal events in the life of Jesus – occurred in areas that are part of modern day Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and Palestinian territories of Israel like the West Bank. Christians have continually had a presence in those lands for far longer than we’ve had a presence in America. While Christianity in the American Midwest dates back a few centuries, Christianity in the Mideast dates back two millennia.
On the plus side, there are people in Illinois who feel it’s time to step up to the plate and bring this matter to the public’s attention. In March, there is a presentation coming to Chicagoland entitled “Faith under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom”. It is an all day conference sponsored by the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC. This event is being held to discuss the plight of persecuted religious minorities in Islamic countries. Speakers include both religious leaders of different faith communities, and government officials. Included are key members of the U.S. Congress who will provide updates about legislation and what definitive action steps need to be taken to prevent future ethnic and religious cleansing, and potential genocide. Additionally, international and national policy experts will offer analysis of global threat to religious freedom, and what US citizens must understand regarding Islam and Sharialaw. By doing so, they will deliver recommendations in specific areas for the U.S. government to act to help these persecuted religious minorities.
Steps are being taken now to ensure this will be a high profile event for all Chicagoans. A request was made for U.S. Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-6) to be the keynote speaker during the luncheon portion of all the day conference, which has now been coordinated and confirmed. Congressman Roskam sat down with event organizers in his Washington, D.C. office in December 2011 to discuss his role in this event and to ensure it goes well. As someone who has campaigned for Congressman Roskam in the past and heard him speak to supporters, I am certain his role in this event will be a memorable one. Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-8), another outspoken Illinois official who was part of the 2010 freshman “tea party” class, has also confirmed his attendance as a speaker, and will be on panel in the afternoon. Walsh is himself a Catholic and has been at odds with the Obama administration on many issues regarding religious freedom – most recently over the contraceptive mandate in America. An Assyrian radio station in Evanston covered news about this event in early February, and a 20 second commercial spot for the conference is also running on Illinois radio stations. An E-Card has sent out via email with a detailed run down of the day’s events, and a printed version is also now available. The conference registration website is up and running, and The Center for Security Policy is offering a discount to those who sign up in advance for the conference.
Heads of religious leadership from Greek Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, and Lebanese Maronite are invited to participate in this conference (most Christians in the middle east are Catholic or Orthodox, while Protestant Christianity is rare in that part of the world.) Many of the attendees at this event will include members of the US military (active and retired), ACT for America members, Tea Party activists, political leaders, conservative Christian ministry organizations, and churches from throughout the Chicago metro area, including Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
So ,if you’re wondering – no, this event won’t be free. However, it appears to be well worth the price of admission. The final details for the Conference state that “Faith under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom” taking place from 8:30am to 4:30pm on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at Crystal Palace Banquets in Mt. Prospect, Illinois. The Crystal Palace Banquet facility seats 600 people. The cost for this conference is $39/person, which includes a continental breakfast, 7 course luncheon and refreshments throughout the day. Tickets purchased by March 1, 2012 are $39/person; after the 1st of March, tickets are $45/person. (For directions, or any questions about park for the event, it is advised to call Crystal Palace Banquets at (847) 956-7400). Their address is:
Crystal Palace Banquets
1070 South Elmhurst Road
Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
Speakers for this event include such figures as:
- Cynthia Farahat, Coptic Christian activist, and co-founder of the Egyptian Liberal Party (who testified before a special committee of Congress chaired by Congressman Frank Wolf, on December 7, 2011)
- Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, Founder and President of Voice of the Copts
- Juliana Taimoorazy, Founder and Executive Director Iraqi Christian Relief Council
- Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy
- Hon. Fred Grandy, former US Congressman from Iowa and National Security Affairs Sr. Fellow, as well as Executive Vice-President at the Center for Security Policy
- Clare Lopez, former CIA official for two decades, strategic policy and intelligence expert with a focus on Middle East, national defense, WMD, and counterterrorism issues. She will speak on specific areas of expertise include Islam and Iran.
- Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and the author and editor of more than twenty books on religion and politics (he is Nina Shea’s counterpart at Hudson Institute).
- U.S. Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-8), Catholic and tea party activist
- U.S. Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-6), Keynote speaker
What I believe is most important when it comes to spreading the word about persecutions in the middle east is the way it impacts our society’s view of that part of the world. Many people woke up to reality after 9/11, only to see it die down in recent years as people began to feel that Islamic terrorists and other extremist groups just aren’t that threatening to religious freedom. Recently, much of Ron Paul’s foreign policy views have become popular and trendy in America society – a friend of mine recently posted a facebook graphic claiming that Islamic extremists only lash out at us when we bomb them first. This is certainly news to Christians in the Middle East, who have been minding their own business for centuries only to see their way of life continually wiped out simply because they choose to exist alongside fundamentalists in another faith. The “Faith Under Fire” conference illustrates why a child-like posture of “they will be nice to us if we are nice to them” is a fantasy. If it were true, Constantinople would still be a Christian city today, instead of the almost 100% Islamic city of Istanbul.
If you can’t afford it, maybe you know someone who can. What I would ask my faithful readers to do is at least stand with them in spirit by helping to get the word out about this event. Lent is coming up next week, and part of the biggest part of lent is charity and almsgiving. As Catholics, we need to represent the persecuted Church and speak up for our Congressmen who are doing their part to bring relief to our persecuted brothers and sisters abroad. Now is the time to put March 10 on your calendar and set aside time for this very important event. “Faith under Fire: The Global Threat to Religious Freedom” promises to be a truly eye-opening Chicago-area conference on the worldwide crisis of religious persecution.
The website to learn more about this event is https://faithunderfireconference.org/ and you support relief efforts for persecuted Christians in the middle east by visiting https://www.iraqichristianrelief.org/donate.html. March will be a time of penance for Chicago Catholics. Will you be doing your part to set the example?