christianity-by-country

"I do not think that Christianity will ever make much progress in Asia, for what is commonly known by that name is not the teaching of Christ but a rearrangement of it made in Europe and like most European institutions practical rather than thoughtful. And as for the teaching of Christ himself, the Indian finds it excellent but not ample or satisfying. There is little in it which cannot be found in some of the many scriptures of Hinduism...""

"I want to read a statement, from "The Coming of the Third Millennium", which was issued very recently by the Pope, in relation to the situation in Asia: "The Asia Synod will deal with the challenge for evangelization posed by the encounter with ancient religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. While expressing esteem for the elements of truth in these religions, the Church must make it clear that Christ is the one mediator between God and man and the sole Redeemer of humanity.""

"Some pastors and clergy treat ministry as a profession supported by government salaries. They know that their preaching must align with “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” and with “core socialist values,” and they use heavily censored “patriotic” editions of the Bible. But to secure income, advancement, and access to resources, they choose obedience to Party directives over obedience to God’s teachings. Many even preach the spirit of Party meetings from the pulpit and lead congregations in raising the national flag and singing the national anthem during worship."

"Vietnam led other humanitarian organizations to distance their work from American foreign policy. Since World War II, agencies such as Catholic Relief Services, CARE, and Church World Service viewed their work either as supportive of America's anti-Communist position or at least neutral in the face of international need. By 1965, however, as protest to the war escalated at home, many agencies realized that apoliticism was impossible. Any participation in Vietnam had become a politically partisan act. Vietnam ended the notion of apolitical humanitarianism and cozy church-state partnership overseas. Several ecumenical agencies pulled out of Vietnam while others sought to protest and influence U.S. military action. As a result, they lost millions of USAID dollars."

"I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uyghurs, the Yazidi -- what ISIS did to them was truly cruel -- or Christians in Egypt and Pakistan killed by bombs that went off while they prayed in church."

"As the Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed wrote: When ideology stiffened under the pious military ruler, General Zia, Nawaz Sharif was with him, following the lead given by him and didn’t object when the laws against blasphemy and desecration of the Quran were passed and even made more draconian. Zakat tax meant to be spent on the poor can’t be spent on non-Muslims who are counted among the poorest communities in Pakistan. Muslims who are born in Christian hospitals and study in English-medium schools funded by Christian charity don’t mind if poor Christians are not helped with Muslim charity."

"Christians, being neutral in the struggle and not the target of persecution, did not migrate in great numbers... They marked their homes with crosses... testifying later as to how the cross had saved them from physical death - an illustration of the power of Christ's cross to save from eternal death as well."

"“In spite of the assurance given by the Qaid-i-Azam Christians are being ill-treated in the West Punjab. The rights of the Christians are being crushed in every form of life. We have, again and again, made representations to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and to the West Punjab Cabinet for our protection.”"

"[Hindus and Christians in Pakistan] face continued threats to their security and are subject to various forms of harassment and social exclusion."

"To fully understand this drama, we must bear in mind a few events which did not take place because they could not have taken place. No missionary has stepped in and courted martyrdom to defend the tribals and Hindus of Pakistan, in fact no missionary was around when the initial massacres took place in East Pakistan, because the missions have disinvested in Pakistan. The missions in Islamic countries find their converts harassed and even killed by their own families, their schools and churches attacked on all kinds of pretext, their graduates not given jobs. So, the missionary headquarters prefer to direct their energies to more hospitable countries like India. The fact that a missionary was killed by a "Hindu" while defending the Muslims, and not the other way round, proves in the first place that Catholic priests can function in India, much more than in Pakistan... Nehru] himself (and the entire secularist establishment till today) reneged on his duty to defend the non-Muslims surviving in the Islamic state which he had helped to create. In the Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950, he had given up every right to interfere on behalf of the minorities in Pakistan. By effectively condoning the persecution of non-Muslims in Pakistan, he must accept a share in the responsibility for the retaliatory tribal violence which killed Rasschaert."

"It is rewarding to be a missionary in India, and much safer than China or Pakistan.... These media give far less coverage to the numerous acts of terror against Pakistani Christians, because it would only make things worse for them. So they save their fire for the propaganda war against the Hindus, who have given Christians hospitality for a full sixteen centuries, and who today give them facilities and constitutional privileges which contrast with the restraints imposed on them in most Asian countries. Since the missionaries have no hope of converting Pakistan, they concentrate on converting India and consequently vilify Hinduism much more than Islam."