Christianity is facing "elimination" in the
Middle East at the hands of an Islamic State
"apocalypse", the Archbishop of Cantebury
will warn today.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby will use his
Christmas Day sermon at Canterbury Cathedral to say IS is "igniting a trail of fear,
violence, hatred and determined oppression".
He will also brand the Islamic extremists as "a
Herod of today" - a reference to the Biblical
despotic king of Judea at the time of Jesus's
birth.
"Confident that these are the last days, using
force and indescribable cruelty, they (IS) seem
to welcome all opposition, certain that the
warfare unleashed confirms that these are
indeed the end times," he will tell the
congregation. "They hate difference, whether it is Muslims who think differently, Yazidis or Christians, and because of them the Christians face elimination in the very region in which
Christian faith began.
"This apocalypse is defined by themselves and
heralded only by the angel of death. "To all who have been or are being dehumanised by the tyranny and cruelty of a Herod or an ISIS, a Herod of today, God's judgement comes as good news, because it promises justice."
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis used his own
festive message to urge all faiths to unite in
the face of attacks on their freedom to
worship.
He said: "It has been reported that persecution of Christians persists in over a hundred countries, more than for any other religion.
"Faith communities have a responsibility to
stand together to oppose discrimination and
attacks on freedom of religious expression
wherever they are to be found. "Most recently, the shocking ban on public celebrations of Christmas in Brunei is reflective of an intolerance that as Jews, we
simply cannot countenance." Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, urged the faithful to shun all violence.
"As we celebrate this Christmas let us be
resolved to lay aside our own tendencies to
angry violence so that we may condemn, with
integrity, those who perpetrate such violence
and claim for it the name of God."
Earlier, the Pope used his Christmas Eve mass
at St Peter's Basilica to call on Christians
everywhere to push back against materialism
over the festive season.

news.sky.com/story/1612009/christians-face-elimination-in-middle-east

Abi

If I say anything now...I'll get banned... Let them kwontinu...!!!