“”The religious extremism we have become so familiar with under Boko Haram, and that has caused so many innocent victims, seems to have spread and polarized an increasingly large part of society. There is a serious religious liberty crisis, and it is not only caused by terrorists.”

“The increase in kidnappings, murders and general violence against civilians, including members of the Catholic clergy in many parts of Nigeria, is a scourge that is yet to be properly addressed by the local authorities,”

“The Church wants Lebanon to be truly independent and the Lebanese government to have full authority over all of Lebanon. We want equality and prosperity for all Lebanese regardless of their religion.

The past few decades have been very hard on Christians in Iraq. Economic and political uncertainty, coupled with large-scale persecution that culminated in the rise of the Islamic State, led to a massive exodus which reduced the Christian population from over 1 million to between 150,000 and 250,000 today.

“Many of the people in South Sudan have never known anything else. There are generations that were born into war. And the last war was terrible, so much was destroyed. Schools, infrastructure, hospitals, churches, lives, many women and children, and there was also an attempt to eliminate people with a certain education, people who could become future leaders.”

According to locals who stayed in Vorzel, the seminary was plundered and devastated. Besides the damage caused by two rockets, Russian troops looted the building in mid-March. Witnesses say the soldiers spent two nights in the building.