Martyrs Around the World

As bishops of the United States, were addressing to the situation they find at home. At the same time, they were sadly aware that religious liberty in many other parts of the world is in much greater peril. The obligation at home is to defend religious liberty robustly, but we cannot overlook the much graver plight that religious believers, most of them Christian, face around the world.
The age of martyrdom has not passed. Assassinations, bombings of churches, torching of orphanages — these are only the most violent attacks Christians have suffered because of their faith in Jesus Christ. More systematic denials of basic human rights are found in the laws of several countries, and also in acts of persecution by adherents of other faiths.