What does the Christian Cross actually mean?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/18/2017 - 16:54

When we go into a Christian place of worship, we expect to see a Cross. And when crosses are removed from public places, such as crematoria or hospital chapels, we quite reasonably get rather indignant about it. But in the world in which Christianity began, a place of worship was the last place you would expect to see a Cross. We can only begin to get some sense of what it might have felt like to encounter the symbol of a cross in the first couple of Christian centuries if we imagine coming into a church and being faced with a large picture of an electric chair or perhaps a guillotine.

New documentary explores Christian responses to persecution

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/10/2017 - 20:31

When a man blew himself up inside a Coptic church in Cairo during Sunday mass, killing 25 worshippers on December 11, 2016, he not only performed a gruesome deed but added another instance to a global trend of recent years: the persecution of Christians.

Within a geographic band that writer Eliza Griswold has identified as the 10th parallel running from Libya to Indonesia, Christians suffer death, torture, illegal detention, the burning of their property, heavy discrimination, and other human rights violations on account of their faith.

How will U.S. policy affect Middle East’s Christians in 2017?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/09/2017 - 10:54

A wide variety of issues, both domestic and foreign, have been raised during the presidential transition. One that hasn’t received much notice is the situation of the beleaguered Christian community in the Middle East.

Given the interest in, and media coverage of those other issues, it’s an open question as to just what the United States would do for the Middle East’s Christian minorities under the presidential administration of Donald J. Trump.

Epiphany: The public revelation of the Savior of the world

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/06/2017 - 16:26

While the hustle and bustle of Christmas ends for many people on Dec. 26, throughout Christian history Christmas lasts for twelve days – all the way until Jan. 6.

This feast marking the end of Christmas is called “Epiphany.”

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Epiphany celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. It focuses primarily on this revelation to the Three Wise Men, but also in his baptism in the Jordan and at the wedding at Cana.