Vice President Mike Pence assures persecuted Christians, 'We're with you. We stand with you. (PHOTO: REUTERS)
ishtartv.com - christianpost.com
By Brandon Showalter,
Jun 6, 2017
WASHINGTON
— The persecution of Christians in the Middle East carried out by the Islamic
State is a "genocide" the depletion of Christianity from its ancient
homeland "must" and "will" end, according to Vice President
Mike Pence.
Speaking
before approximately 1,300 guests of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast at
the Marriott Marquis Hotel Tuesday, Pence praised the contributions Catholics
in the United States have made to American life before segueing into the plight
of persecuted Christians in the Middle East, many of whom are Catholic.
While Islamic terrorists have savagely targeted religious people from every
background, including versions of Islam that are not their own, Pence said,
"it seems that the practitioners of terror harbor a special hatred for the
followers of Christ, and none more so than the barbarians known as ISIS."
Likening
their atrocities to savagery not seen since the Middle Ages, the Vice President
said that he believes that the group "is guilty of nothing short of
genocide."
Throughout
the region in the past few weeks and months examples of this brutality are
increasing.
On
Palm Sunday, Pence noted, Coptic Christians were attacked in two separate cities in Egypt; in Syria
Christian communities are being burned to the ground and Christians are fleeing
in massive proportions.
"In
Iraq we see ancient churches demolished, priests and monks beheaded, two
millennia old Christian traditions in Mosul virtually extinguished," Pence
said.
"Christianity
faces unprecedented threats in the land where it was given birth and an exodus
unlike it since the days of Moses."
He
recounted a story he heard of a bishop from Mosul he met who returned to his
home parish to celebrate Easter Sunday.
Although
the church no longer had a roof and the walls were falling down, "the
anthems of faith rose," Pence said, "it had to be a glorious
service."
"Whether
in Mosul, Iraq or Syria, followers of Christ have fallen 80 percent in the last
decade and a half."
"This
must end. This will end," the vice president said emphatically.
Religious
freedom is a "foreign policy priority" for this administration,
"and under President Donald Trump, America will continue to condemn
persecution of any faith in any place at any time," he continued.
"We
will confront it with all of our might," he said, adding that the United
States would not relent "until we drive the cancer of terrorism from the
face of the earth."
Pence,
an evangelical born and raised in a devout Irish Catholic family, praised
Catholicism in his speech, saying that the faith has made an "indelible
mark on the American spirit."
Faithful
American Catholics should consider President Donald Trump an "ally,"
he said, "and President Donald Trump stands with the most vulnerable: the
aged, the infirm, and unborn."
Pence
concluded his remarks by saying that it was the greatest privilege of his life
to serve as vice president but that he was most proud to serve alongside a man
who "stands without apology for the sanctity of human life," to which
he received sustained applause and a standing ovation.
The
accomplishments of the Trump administration in his first few months in office,
such as reinstating the Mexico City policy and expanding it to apply to
billions of foreign aid dollars, and the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S.
Supreme Court, have delighted many Catholic leaders who are arguably the main
bulwark of the pro-life movement.
"Life
is winning in America again," Pence said.
In
late March Pence was the tie-breaking vote in the United
States Senate to pass legislation undoing an Obama executive rule that forbade
states from defunding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion
provider.
In
January, just days after the inauguration, Pence was the first ever sitting
president or vice president to appear in person and speak that the annual March
for Life.
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