His Holiness Pope’s January prayer intention: For those who suffer religious persecution
His Holiness Pope Francis dedicates his first prayer message of 2022 to combatting religious discrimination and persecution, reminding us that religious freedom is not limited to freedom of worship, but is tied to fraternity.
By Vatican News staff reporter
“How can we allow that in this society, which is so civilized, there are people who are persecuted simply because they publicly profess their faith?” asks His Holiness Pope Francis in the video for his monthly prayer intention for January 2022.
“How is it possible that many religious minorities currently suffer discrimination or persecution?”
The January prayer intention marks the beginning of the seventh year of the Pope Video, a ministry of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
In his message released on Tuesday, the Holy Father says that persecuting people simply because they publicly profess their faith is “inhuman” and “insane.”
A worldwide phenomenon
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, which is supporting this month’s message, notes in its annual “Religious Freedom in the World” report that worldwide, religious freedom is violated in one out of every three countries, comprising around two-thirds of the total world population.
More than 646 million Christians, ACN reports, live in countries that do not respect religious freedom…
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