Apr. 01, 2015
HARRISBURG — Sponsored by Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-Warren/Crawford/Forest), a measure condemning the global persecution of Christians unanimously passed the state House on Wednesday for the second consecutive year.
“Today, in 2015, hardly a day goes by where we don’t hear of horrible atrocities regarding persecution, and I acknowledge that it is not Christians alone, but people of all faiths, who are suffering the extreme atrocities of religious persecution,” said Rapp. “
House Resolution 182 not only condemns the widespread persecution of Christians, but more importantly, encourages world leaders to implement policies that protect the religious liberties for people of all other faiths within their borders.”
According to Open Doors USA, which released its annual World Watch List in early January, Christian persecution reached historic levels in 2014 with no less than 100 million Christians being persecuted. Christians face official discrimination in 139 countries—or more than 75 percent of existing countries today. On an average monthly basis, 322 Christians are killed, 214 churches and Christian properties are destroyed and 772 forms of violence are committed against Christians.
“I would like to thank each of my legislative colleagues for joining me in supporting the rights of Christians to freely practice their sincerely held religious beliefs regardless of their location on the globe,” said Rapp. “As we approach this holy of all weeks for all Christians, it is my prayer that we as American citizens never experience the religious persecution that Pennsylvania’s Founding Father William Penn endured that inspired him to write these words: ‘Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.’”
Also on Tuesday, Rapp joined her legislative colleagues in supporting House Resolution 190, which honors the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were recently beheaded by ISIS in Libya.
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Representative Kathy Rapp
65th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ty McCauslin
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