Genocide, Holocaust, and Religious Persecution

It is undoubtedly true that, at this very moment, there are millions of people around the world who are targeted for death simply because of who they are or what they believe. We do not need much more in the way of proof that the lessons of the unprecedented atrocity that was the Holocaust have not been heeded. 

~ Bishop Peter A. Libasci, 3/20/20

Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.

~ Catechism of the Catholic Church 2313

Testimony:

SB 727 - Holocaust and Genocide Education - March 2, 2020 

Background Information:

Pope Francis’ Solidarity with Beleaguered Christians in Iraq

Nicaragua Targets Catholics while Brazil Hosts a Ministerial on Religious Freedom

“Sinicization" - Bringing Religion Under Government Control in China

Myanmar: Religious Minorities Besieged

Local Majority Rule Threatens Minority Rights in Mexico

Christians in Egypt: Solidarity or Suffering?

Sectarian Violence and Religious Freedom in Indonesia

Central African Republic: Christian and Muslim Religious Leaders Work for Peace

Christian Presence Dwindling in the Middle East

Pakistan: Fear and Hope for Religious Minorities

Additional Resources:

USCCB Statement on Armenian Genocide

USCCB Resources on Religious Minorities in China

Address of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to a Symposium on the Roots of Anti-Judaism (1997)

Nostra Aetate (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (1965)

Mit Brennender Sorge (Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on the Church and the German Reich) (1937)