[size=14pt]We will Slaughter You - Shekau
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(CNN)This is the time of the year when Christians the world over -- more than 2 billion of us -- reflect upon the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord.


In light of the tragic massacre of Christian college students in Kenya on Thursday, and the ongoing threat against Christians in other nations, this Holy Week we are calling upon Christians to also reflect upon the crucifixion, beheading, stoning, enforced slavery, sexual abuse, human trafficking, harassment, bombing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Christians -- and others -- whose faith alone has made them a target of religious extremists.

Countless lives have been utterly destroyed in nations such as Iraq, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria.

In June 2012, Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Iraq told the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "We beg you to help. We want only peace, security, and freedom. Please no more death, no more explosions, no more injustice." By then, nearly every remaining church in Iraq had constructed a blast wall around its building to buffet the threat of the inevitable church bombing.

This crisis escalated substantially last summer when ISIS swept like lightning through Iraq's Nineveh province, capturing the country's second-largest city, Mosul; a city that was until 2014 a home of a thriving Christian community, there centuries before Islam.

Again and again the world did not respond as it might have, and now the inconceivable has happened: Iraq's Nineveh Plain has been emptied of its ancient Christianity community, which existed there for more than 1,500 years.

On March 27, in a presentation to the U.N. Security Council, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako referred to the present reality of his fellow Iraqi Christians as a "catastrophic situation."

He's right.

Rarely since the first century has the church in the East faced persecution on this scale. Christian communities that took 2,000 years to build, and that were started by the apostles themselves, lie in ashes between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Survivors waste away as refugees, often in deplorable conditions, with no homes or churches to return to if the region eventually stabilizes.

Whether they be Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, Christian communities are united in what Pope Francis has called an "ecumenism of blood," recognizing that Christianity is experiencing more martyrdom today than in the first century.

This is not an exaggerated or contrived crisis.

As Nina Shea, director of the Hudson's Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, has aptly put it, "Piece by piece, Middle Eastern Christianity is being shattered."

Our concern is not to the exclusion of anyone else under threat by these religious fanatics, and we reject those who believe that this evil is reflective of the majority of Muslims whose community has actually experienced the most casualties in this conflict.

It is also true that Christianity faces a legitimate threat of extinction in several parts of Iraq and Syria and it faces a growing threat in nations such as Nigeria. In solidarity with those being threatened we agree with the words delivered by Jordan's King Abdullah II at the United Nations last fall, "Christians are an integral part of [the Middle East's] past, present and future."

When history writes of our time will we be able to say that we tried everything in our power to cease this attempt to eliminate 2,000 years of Christianity from the Middle East and to stop this threat before it spreads to other nations?

These communities need our love and support like never before, and they also need security and protection from the world like never before.

This Easter we reflect upon the words of a Christian who was himself beheaded for his faith alone.

He converted to Christianity one day on a road to Damascus, Syria, when his name was changed from Saul to Paul.

In a letter to Christians living in another dangerous place in another persecuted time, he wrote, "Pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people."

This Easter, let us earnestly pray with all the love of Christ for all those in harm's way.

Kenya identifies one of four al Shabaab gunmen as son of government official: interior ministry



One of Garissa attackers 'identified as Kenyan law graduate' AFP

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya on Sunday identified one of the al Shabaab gunmen who massacred students at a northeastern university as the son of a Kenyan government official, the interior ministry said.

Spokesman Mwenda Njoka said Abdirahim Abdullahi was one of the four gunmen who attacked the Garissa University College campus on Thursday, killing nearly 150 people.

"The father had reported to security agents that his son had disappeared from home... and was helping the police try to trace his son by the time the Garissa terror attack happened," Njoka told Reuters in a text message.

(Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; editing by John Stonestreet)

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Uchenna 2 hours ago 0 5
The opinion that terrorism by Muslim sects like Boko Haram in Nigeria is the result of bad governance and resulting poverty has once again been shown to be false. Not too long ago, a young Nigerian whose father was a retired wealthy banker was apprehended for attempting to blow up a U.S. airline. His father similarly contacted security agencies when he discovered his son was missing.

It is comforting to know there are Muslim parents that care about the greater society, however more obviously needs to be done by parents and other stakeholders in the Muslim world. It is more of a failure in the emirates than the government in places like Kenya and Nigeria where Islamic rule and elected government exist side-by-side.

Denial is a major problem for parents of dysfunctional children. In Nigeria, for example, the initial reaction of the Muslim leaders in the north to the atrocities of Boko Haram was to describe the action of the terrorists as not being unique to the Islamic north. The Sultan was quick to point out there was robbery and kidnapping going on in the south east, for example. Although his statement is true, these crimes are not being primarily committed against people because of the opposing religious beliefs. Moreover, Christians in the south of Nigeria do not become defensive when valid accusations are leveled against fellow Christians.

Islamic extremism and the resulting terrorism is motivated by the unique interpretation of Islam by some sects. The manner in which these adherents understand the Koran and the Hadith (Sayings of Mohammed ), determines their world view and consequently kind of Jihad--contention, struggle, holy war.

The only people that can provide a lasting solution to terrorism is Muslims themselves. If the world of Islamic faithfuls that speak out against acts of terror against people of other religions and ethnicities really want to bring an end to these unGodly acts, they must come together as a family or nation or body of believers to address the loose areas of Islamic doctrinal interpretation. Even if they cannot enforce a particular way of seeing things, they can adopt and publish an official position. This will isolate the terrorists as well as vindicate Islam before the rest of society.
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Bond000000007 4 hours ago 1 4
Kennedy; you are very right. This whole massacre is a demonstration of how ethnicized political leadership in Kenya since Moi's regime todate which has been used in favour of Somalis against Kenyan communities perceived as threats or even taken as none Kenyans has an unfathomable cost for our country.

There is no ethnic community in Kenya that is entrenched in the political, business, security commerce and any other sector more than the Somalis save for Indians. This is how they are used by the ethnicized political leaders to achieve their goals. Now, what are Kenyans having in return for this? A seemingly multi-pronged mission executed in collaboration with al shabab against Kenya which may not necessarily exclude Somalia separatism! Everythign points to this direction and we may still be pretending that ooh, let us not divide Kenyans on religion or otherwise. Where does the loyalty of the son of a political leader who most likely has had unqualified favours done to them more than the average Kenyan belong; to Somalis al shabab or Kenya? The answer is obvious!

The consequences of letting people whose loyalty is to their ethnicity access everything from security to commerce in every part of the country can only be a disaster for this country. After Westgate, some have been talking in the media of mistakes made for several years and the mistakes are still continuing at the cost of the majority of Kenyan communities and not the ethnic leaning politicians. Kenyans are suffering because of ethnic politics and the politics of power for the sake of enrichment at the cost of the public!

If Kenyans do not make a choice, then the saying that actions especially of acute ethnic divisions and ways of doing things in the country will obviously only accelerate the dividends of poverty, protracted wars with separatists for the sake of ethnicized Kenyan politics and terrorist massacres.

One cannot imagine that over 140 people can be just massacred like that and there is a group calling itself security "experts". If we are honest and love this country, then we have to accept that this massacre and the massacre of Kenyans and Americans at the US Embassy in Nairobi tells everything wrong about Kenya!. The ethnic leaning politicians have been corruptly and unconstitutionally strengthening those whose hands are chopping the feeding person - Kenya.

May the Lord rest the soul of the departed in eternal peace.
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Yahooooo 4 hours ago 0 15
Peaceful Muslims need to speak out against horrific terror attacks like this.
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joeblack 3 hours ago 0 8
But the west will make you believe lack of opportunity among youths of the Muslim world is responsible for violence. Then we soon noticed that the diaper bomber has a wealthy dad; lives in a comfortable home in London. Muhammad Attah of the 911 era returned unspent money to his handlers.
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James 2 hours ago 1 1
Only the liberal west harbors these delusions.
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axed 1 hour ago 0 1
Osama jest like Obama was milioneaire.
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John 1 hour ago 0 3
Four guys killed 140 people? Wow! Those gun-free zones are really effective at concentrating helpless victims for easy access.
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NewBikeOldBIKE 34 minutes ago 0 2
we've got the son of another Kenyan government official in America helping Islamic terrorists.
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John 2 hours ago 0 3
Is he an Obama cousin?
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Al 8 minutes ago 0 0
It is amazing that in Kenya, 10% of the population is Muslim and it commits 90% of the murder.
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BillW 2 hours ago 0 2
We must incarcerate for life the family, blow up the mosque and kill the mullah that runs it as a starter in all these attacks. Without punishment it is just glory to the killers
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CONRAD 1 hour ago 0 0
Now we know. The real enemies are always from within. So sad and unfortunate. Condolences again.
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WE WILL SLAUGHTER YOU AND IF ALLAH PERMITS IT, WE WILL EAT YOU - MALAM SHEKAU