Mon, 1 Dec at 15:58
Tuesday, December 02, 2025
Now Tell Me That There Should Not Be A Death Penalty!
https://www.christianpost.com/news/4-killed-several-wounded-at-family-gathering-in-california.html?utm_source=Freedom%20Post&utm_campaign=Freedom%20Post&utm_medium=newsletter
Monday, December 01, 2025
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Armenia.
Christianity under siege in the world’s oldest Christian nation.
Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church. (Photo: Getty/iStock)When Armenia adopted Christianity as its state faith in 301 AD, Rome was still persecuting Christians and the Anglo-Saxons had yet to reach Britain. The Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (AAHC) has endured and survived the onslaughts of Persians, Ottomans and Soviets. Yet in 2025 it faces persecution once again, this time from its own elected government.
A new report by the international law firm Amsterdam & Partners lays bare an extraordinary assault on the Church by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. His government has jailed bishops and priests and smeared the supreme patriarch. It has also imprisoned the Church’s leading benefactor, businessman Samvel Karapetyan - a major philanthropist who has funded schools, hospitals, and the restoration of ancient churches - in a notorious Soviet-era jail in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. His “crime” was to speak publicly in defence of the Church.
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The Armenian government’s behaviour would shame any democracy. It has sought to overthrow the patriarch, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, directing online diatribes of a sort unthinkable in any civilised country. One archbishop, Mikayel Ajapahyan, is serving a two-year sentence for the apparent offence of criticising the government. Karapetyan’s companies, including Armenia’s electricity utility, have been seized. It is political persecution dressed up as law enforcement.
Armenia’s constitution grants the AAHC an “exclusive mission” in the nation’s spiritual life, recognising its unique role in the preservation of Armenian identity. The report accuses Pashinyan of trampling on those guarantees and committing widespread breaches of human rights. Alison Meuse, a respected journalist and regional expert, warns that the Church “has not faced such an existential threat since the harshest years of the Soviet purges”.
The origins of the repression lie in the catastrophic military defeat of 2023, when Azerbaijan’s assault on the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh displaced more than 100,000 Armenian Christians. The Church, true to its vocation, defended their rights, appealing to the international community to safeguard Armenian cultural and religious heritage and provide humanitarian relief for the displaced.
Pashinyan, who was widely blamed for the loss, has chosen to deflect that blame onto the one institution that still commands public confidence. A poll last year found that the Church commands the trust of almost 80 per cent of Armenians, compared with barely 30 per cent who trust the government. It is the classic pattern of an insecure ruler lashing out at an institution he cannot control.
The symbolism could scarcely be starker. The government of the world’s oldest Christian nation, the first to raise the Cross above the crescent and the hammer and sickle alike, now persecutes its own clergy. The message is chilling: faith itself is a political crime in Armenia.
Western governments have been shamefully silent. Armenia, sandwiched between Russia, Iran and Turkey, is a geopolitical pawn, useful to the West when seeking to court Yerevan away from Moscow, tolerated when it violates basic freedoms. But Britain, the EU and the United States all profess to uphold religious liberty. Their embassies should be demanding the release of Samvel Karapetyan and the reinstatement of constitutional protections for the AAHC.
Armenia’s tragedy is not only political but spiritual. For seventeen centuries the AAHC has been the custodian of Armenian identity, language and national survival. It endured genocide, exile and Soviet atheism. That it now faces repression from its own government is a moral disgrace. The West cannot claim ignorance; the evidence is in black and white, published by a respected international law firm with offices in London and Washington.
Furthermore, if Christian leaders in Canterbury and Rome, both represented within the World Council of Churches in Geneva, are serious about support for the persecuted Church, they must now speak with their own voices. The WCC has expressed concern, but national churches and the Vatican have yet to match that concern with public pressure on Yerevan. Silence will be read in Yerevan as acquiescence, and as licence in Baku, Ankara and Tehran.
History teaches that attacks on faith rarely stop at the church door. A government that imprisons priests and philanthropists today will muzzle journalists and judges tomorrow. Armenia’s Western allies should make clear that persecution of Christian believers is incompatible with friendship, aid or association with the democratic world.
Samvel Karapetyan’s imprisonment and the intimidation of Catholicos Karekin II are a test of Western principle. If we look away now, we abandon not only a brave philanthropist and a venerable Church, but the very idea that the West still cares for freedom of conscience. Christianity’s oldest nation deserves better than to be ruled by fear. CT.
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Nigeria Update.
Nigerian president. declares national security emergency amid rash of kidnappings, priest dying in captivity.
A signboard for St Mary's Private Catholic Secondary School stands at the entrance of the school in Papiri, Agwarra local government, Niger state, on Nov. 23, 2025. Fifty of the more than 300 children snatched by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria have escaped their captors, a Christian group said in a statement on Nov. 23. "We have received some good news as fifty pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents," said the Christian Association of Nigeria in a statement, adding they escaped between Nov. 21-22. Gunmen raided early Nov. 21 St Mary's co-education school in Niger state in western Nigeria, taking 303 children and 12 teachers in one of the largest mass kidnappings in Nigeria. | Ifeanyi Immanuel Bakwenye / AFP via Getty ImagesThe Nigerian government is scrambling to respond following a wave of abductions and attacks, including one in which more than 300 schoolchildren were seized. This, along with the announcement that a priest who was kidnapped along with his wife was confirmed dead, has led President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a national emergency.
In a statement issued this week, Tinubu ordered the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers, in addition to the 30,000 previously approved, and called for their rapid deployment to areas plagued by armed violence, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.
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He also approved the recruitment of forest guards under the Department of State Services and said state-run security outfits would receive federal support.
The president instructed police personnel to be withdrawn from VIP duties and reassigned to operational roles. He also called for a ban on open cattle grazing and said herders must surrender illegal arms.
Places of worship were urged to seek security protection, and state governments were advised against placing boarding schools in remote, unsecured areas.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Edwin Achi of the Anglican Diocese of Kaduna was confirmed dead on Wednesday, a month after being abducted from his home in Nissi, Kaduna State, along with his wife, Sarah. Church of Nigeria officials announced his death in a press statement, saying, “His transition is a painful loss to the entire Diocese, the clergy, the church family and all who were blessed by his faithful ministry.”
The priest and his wife were kidnapped on Oct. 28, and a photo showing them seated among other hostages was released shortly before Achi’s death. Their captors had demanded a ransom of 600 million naira ($415,000), Morning Star News reported.
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The couple’s daughter was also abducted but wasn't shown in the proof-of-life image. According to the latest updates, Sarah Achi remains in captivity.
Tinubu’s declaration followed a heated Senate debate on the growing insecurity, in which lawmakers described kidnapping as a form of terrorism and recommended capital punishment for perpetrators. Legislators also raised concerns over inadequate equipment, insufficient intelligence support and troubling infiltration of the armed forces.
Former Deputy Speaker Idris Wase told the Senate that North-Central Nigeria bore over half of the country’s violence, and warned that names of known Boko Haram militants and criminals had been found on lists of army and police recruits.
Among the cases cited during the debates was the Nov. 21 abduction of 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in the Papiri community of Niger State. Most of the victims were children between the ages of 9 and 14. Armed men on motorcycles stormed the dormitories before dawn.
CSW reported that 253 students remain missing.
Three days after the mass kidnapping, a man identified as Anthony Musa, father to three of the abducted children, died of a heart attack that might have been sparked by the trauma.
Other abductions reported in the last two weeks include the Nov. 17 kidnapping of 26 girls from a government school in Maga, Kebbi State. President Tinubu announced on Nov. 25 that 24 of them had been released, though no terms were disclosed. Two of the girls had escaped in the hours after the attack.
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On Nov. 21, gunmen attacked a church service in Eruku, Kwara State, killing two worshipers and kidnapping 38. Officials confirmed on Nov. 23 that the hostages had been freed, again without elaborating on the conditions of their release.
On Wednesday evening, armed men raided two homes in Gidan-Bijimi, a community in the capital’s Bwari Area Council, and kidnapped six girls and a 16-year-old boy. In a separate incident that day, about 20 farmers, including four pregnant women and several children, were abducted in Unguwan-Kawo, Niger State.
Security analysts and rights groups attribute the rise in kidnappings to a mix of extremist groups, criminal gangs and armed Fulani militias.
The U.K. Parliament’s All-Party Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief stated that militants in Nigeria’s North regularly attack Christian communities, with Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani extremists among the key actors.
A new group known as Lakurawa has also emerged in the northwest. The World Watch List 2025 report from Open Doors noted that the group, which is linked to al-Qaeda’s Sahel-based affiliate JNIM, is armed with advanced weaponry and adheres to a radical Islamist ideology. Of the 4,476 Christians reported killed for their faith worldwide during the reporting period, 3,100 were in Nigeria. CP.
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'Passion' Sequel.
Mel Gibson's screenwriter says 'Passion' sequel emerged from talk about Protestantism.
(Photo: Lionsgate)ScreScreenwriter Randall Wallace, who has worked with actor and director Mel Gibson on some of his major films, including "The Passion of the Christ," revealed during a recent interview that Gibson's upcoming two-part movie about the Resurrection emerged from a conversation the two had about the Protestant emphasis on Christ conquering death.
"We were having dinner one night, just the two of us in Dallas, and I said, 'You know, the thing we need to do is the Resurrection,'" Wallace said on the "Verité Vision" podcast that aired Tuesday.
"It's an interesting thing. Catholic friends have said, and I don't want to over-characterize anyone's particular practice, but in Catholicism, there's much more emphasis on the Crucifixion, on the Passion. One Catholic friend of mine said we almost never talk about the Resurrection," he said.
Wallace, a Baptist, contrasted the important symbolism of the crucifix in Roman Catholicism, which shows Jesus still on the cross, compared to the common Protestant depiction of the cross as empty.
"We need to tell that story," Wallace remembered telling Gibson as they were promoting their 2016 film "Hacksaw Ridge," which recounted the life of Desmond Doss, a devout Seventh-day Adventist from Virginia who served as a combat medic in World War II and survived, despite never firing a shot because he was a conscientious objector.
Wallace said Gibson "got really quiet for a moment" when he raised the topic of a film focusing on the Resurrection.
"Mel is absolutely brilliant, and I knew he was listening really intently," he said, adding that he offered to start working on the screenplay for the film, which he described as tackling "the Mount Everest of all stories."
Wallace said Gibson told him that he would have a Catholic mass said for Wallace after he floated the idea, and warned that he would be subject to spiritual attack if he decided to write about the subject.
Both Gibson and actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus Christ in the original film, have claimed that strange spiritual activity took place on set and that Caviezel briefly died after being struck by lightning on the cross.
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"Satan's going to come after you," Wallace said, quoting Gibson. "And I said, 'Mel, Satan has so many Baptists, he doesn't even care about them.'" Wallace said he instead emphasized to Gibson that he would likely be the main target for spiritual attack, and told him he needed to be covered in prayer.
"It's beautiful when somebody wants to have a mass said for you, but he knew that it was the greatest challenge to really take on," said Wallace, who went on to explain that Gibson realized the importance of approaching the film with the right spiritual attitude.
"One of the things [Gibson] said to me was, 'This can't be for the money, it can't be to prove anything to anybody. [With] this, our hearts have to be pure,'" Wallace said.
"I knew, at that moment, how dedicated he was, and that this was really going to be a ride," he added.
"The Resurrection of the Christ," a two-part film slated for release in 2027 that Gibson co-wrote with Wallace, has been described by Gibson as "an acid trip" that will depict warfare in the spiritual realm. He has claimed he has "never read anything like" the scripts they wrote together. While plot details remain under wraps, the story will focus on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and its immediate aftermath.
"It's going to be unlike anything anyone has ever seen," Wallace said. "It will be a movie that will be mind-blowing. It may be something that is disturbing and haunting, but it will be unforgettable."
Filming on the project began in October, with Caviezel being replaced as Jesus by 36-year-old Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen.
In addition to Cinecittà 's new Studio 22 in Rome, filming is also taking place in the ancient southern Italian city of Matera and other nearby locations, including Ginosa, Gravina, Laterza and Altamura. The 2004 original film grossed $610 million worldwide and became one of the highest-earning independent films in cinematic history.
Good Grief!
Working families, on average, are £18,000 worse off than benefits payments after the Budget.
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She denied lying about the state of the public finances to justify tax rises that were not necessary. Ms Reeves still has questions to answer about the manipulation of opinion in the run-up to last Wednesday’s statement.
All the times Reeves falsely claimed there was a Budget black hole
Chancellor said Britain faced a £30bn shortfall in finances. Here is what was really happening
The central lie at the heart of this exercise is not whether there was sufficient “headroom” as defined by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
It is the refusal to acknowledge that we cannot go on increasing the size of the welfare state and encourage economic growth at the same time.
Without higher revenues, if we want to spend more on welfare the money has to come from taxes or borrowing. Since we spend more than £100bn a year just servicing the debt already accumulated, taxes have to rise instead. The other option, cutting spending, has been rejected by this Government.
Indeed, Ms Reeves is unapologetic about that. Her choices – “Labour choices” as Sir Keir Starmer called them – involve spending £16bn more on benefits by the end of the decade than expected.
Just a few months ago, the Government was adamant that the welfare bill was unsustainable, yet it is doing nothing to lower it. All we have been promised is another review, to be carried out by former minister Alan Milburn. Sir Keir will make yet another speech on Monday about fixing welfare yet everyone knows the parliamentary party will not allow any cuts, as was seen with the rebellion over personal independence payments. Facing threats from the Greens, Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party and Reform, there is simply no way Labour will seriously get to grips with this spending.
It’s Your Party – and if they have their way we’ll soon all want to cry
The Corbynistas may have fallen out with the Sultanas, but that up to 12 per cent back this crew is frightening ...
A courageous government would acknowledge that the levels of spending are too high and devise a plan to bring them down. But yet again we have seen Labour opt for the easy route to placate its own client state and impoverish the rest of us.
Ms Reeves may be proud of her Budget. The country will deliver a far more brutal verdict when next given the chance. DT.