Scottish Catholic Observer

The Bishop of Paisley wants as many secondary school pupils ‘as possible’ to join him and Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) at a youth rally planned for June 11 at Carfin Grotto.

“I am calling on our young people to lead the way and show our country and politicians that they can no longer turn a blind eye or be indifferent to the issues faced by persecuted Christians,” Bishop Keenan told the SCO. “I hope our young people will come, pray, and be a new voice for the forgotten human rights issue of the day and I remind them of Pope Francis’ insistent call to us to do something when he says that, ‘We see today our persecuted brothers, beheaded and crucified because of their faith in (Jesus), before our eyes and often with our complicit silence.”

In the week ISIS released chilling footage of Ethiopian Christians being beheaded on a Libyan beach, Bishop Keenan said that ‘the violence and oppression experienced by Christians has become so severe that in parts of the world—notably in the Middle East and Nigeria—they are faced with wipe-out.’ According to the International Society for Human Rights, 80 percent of all acts of religious persecution in the world today are directed at Christians.

The planned ACN Scottish youth rally will include prayer, talks and action to raise the awareness of our young people as to the plight of people across the globe who face persecution just because of their religious beliefs.

Bishop Keenan said he hoped the event would ‘awaken the conscience of our Scottish youth as to their anguish.’

“Then they will be inspired to take up common cause and act to change this horrific climate which has taken hold of our world quite by surprise. Together they can say ‘enough is enough,’” the bishop said. “Then they will start to turn this awful tide in our world where fellow Christians are being persecuted just because of their belief in Christ and start to make a lasting difference.”

—www.acnuk.org

—[email protected]