161 Quotes About Persecution

Even more disturbing as you say, is the ghastly record of Christian persecution. It had begun in Our Lordʼs time - ‘Ye know not what spirit ye are of’ (John of all people!) I think we must fully face the fact that when Christianity does not make a man very much better, it makes him very much worse…Conversion may make of one who was, if no better, no worse than an animal, something like a devil.

If large numbers of people believe in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it. But if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them.

And those of us who are not directly caught up in any persecution for our Christian faith must pray for those who suffer such onslaughts. But even more importantly, we must pray for those who persecute us or our fellow Christians. It is what Jesus Christ calls us to do. And, as Saint Perpetua reported hearing during her last vision, "Do not be afraid, I am here with you, and I am laboring with you.

Martyrdoms would rarely lead to conversions because they were themselves relatively rare.The vast majority of pagans—including the millions who eventually converted—never saw a martyrdom, as recent scholarship has shown.As the most prolific and one of the best-traveled authors of the first three Christian centuries, Origen of Alexandria, stated in no uncertain terms: “Only a small number of people, easily counted, have died for the Christian religion.

We are united by something greater and more valuable than our beliefs alone: the freedom to have those beliefs, and believe what we want without persecution - we must protect that at all costs.

There is a difference between being persecuted for the faith and being persecuted for foolishness.

Wenn wir uns erinnern, wie rassisch, religiös und politisch Verfolgte, die vom sicheren Tod bedroht waren, oft vor geschlossenen Grenzen anderer Staaten standen, werden wir vor denen, die heute wirklich verfolgt sind und bei uns Schutz suchen, die Tür nicht verschließen."[Ansprache am 8. Mai 1985 in der Gedenkstunde im Plenarsaal des Deutschen Bundestages]

If your written words become literal nails to crucify you with, then you have done your job well. You provoked a reaction, whether it is positive or negative is irrelevant. Writing that evokes no reaction is a body without a soul.

If this pious ardor which consumed the prince had its dangers, in that it quickly led to intolerance and persecution, yet it was not without grandeur; since the progress of civilization always follows evangelization.