Pope Benedict XVI appealed to governments on Monday to protect Christians against violence and discrimination. He also called on Pakistan to reverse its blasphemy laws, saying they were a pretext for ‘acts of injustice and violence’ against religious minorities. He was addressing not only Muslim majority countries, including Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria, but also Europe and the West where religion is being marginalised. But most of the concerns he expressed surrounded the recent spate of attacks that have left dozens of Christians dead. Coptic Christians in Egypt were the latest victims of a New Year's Eve bombing. Just weeks before that, Nigeria's Christian population was targeted during Christmas and the Christian minority in Iraq continues to suffer in the months following the church siege in October that left 58 people dead as bombs explode near homes and businesses. ICC president Jeff King lamented that the rate of Christian persecution has accelerated around the globe.

Pray: that the Pope’s message will be well received by the leaders of the nations. (Ps.32:7)

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