International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church | |
---|---|
Also called | IDOP |
Liturgical color | Red |
Type | Christian |
Observances | Church services, prayer, fundraising for persecuted Christians |
Date | First Sunday of November [1] |
2023 date | November 5 |
2024 date | November 3 |
2025 date | November 2 |
2026 date | November 1 |
Frequency | annual |
Related to |
The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (often abbreviated as IDOP) is an observance within the Christian calendar in which congregations pray for Christians who are persecuted for their faith. [1] It falls on the first Sunday of November, within the liturgical period of Allhallowtide, which is dedicated to remembering the martyrs and saints of Christianity. [2] [3] [4] The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is observed by many Christian denominations, with over 100,000 congregations honoring the holiday worldwide. [1] Congregations focus on "praying for individuals, families, churches, or countries where Christians are facing hard situations." [5] [6] Additionally, many congregations donate funds from their collection of tithes and offerings on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church to NGOs that support human rights of persecuted Christians, such as Voice of the Martyrs, International Christian Concern, and Open Doors. [7] [2]
The persecution of Christians has increased in the modern era. [8] According to a 2019 review chaired by the Church of England's Bishop of Truro, Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. [9]
The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church originated in the 20th century to raise awareness of the increasing violence, torture, death, "worship restrictions, public humiliation, and social isolation" that some Christians face in atheist states, such as in North Korea, as well as in South Asia and the Middle East; [2] [10] the observance was spearheaded by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the World Evangelical Alliance, and the Southern Baptist Convention. [1] [11] It has since been observed in many Christian denominations, such as the United Methodist Church and certain Catholic parishes. [1] [12] [11] The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church falls on the first Sunday of November, within the liturgical period of Allhallowtide, which is dedicated to remembering the martyrs and saints of Christianity. [3] [2] [4]
The November observance has been promulgated by many NGOs that champion human rights for Christians, including Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors, and International Christian Concern. [2] Victims of persecution, including believers and missionaries, have also advocated to spread the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. [13] [14]
All Souls' Day, also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by Christians on 2 November. Through prayer, intercessions, alms and visits to cemeteries, people commemorate the poor souls in purgatory and give the departed their favorite indulgences.
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, professing that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and is the Son of God, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and chronicled in the New Testament. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with over 2.4 billion followers, comprising around 31.2% of the world population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories.
The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of scripture are to be read.
Allhallowtide, Hallowtide, Allsaintstide, or the Hallowmas season is the Western Christian season encompassing the triduum of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, as well as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church and Remembrance Sunday in some traditions. The period begins on 31 October annually. Allhallowtide is a "time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians." The present date of Hallowmas and thus also of its vigil (Hallowe'en) was established for Rome perhaps by Pope Gregory III (731–741) and was made of obligation throughout the Frankish Empire by Louis the Pious in 835. Elsewhere, other dates were observed even later, with the date in Ireland being 20 April. In the early 11th century, the modern date of All Souls' Day was popularized, after Abbot Odilo established it as a day for the monks of Cluny and associated monasteries to pray for the dead.
The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend the human rights of persecuted Christians.
The communion of saints, when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead, but excluding the damned. They are all part of a single "mystical body", with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all.
A church service is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. Most Christian denominations hold church services on the Lord's Day ; a number of traditions have mid-week services, while some traditions worship on a Saturday. In some Christian denominations, church services are held daily, with these including those in which the seven canonical hours are prayed, as well as the offering of the Mass, among other forms of worship. In addition to this, many Christians attend services on holy days such as Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Ascension Thursday, among others depending on the Christian denomination.
The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against Catholics during the 19th century in Korea. Among them are 103 Saints and 124 Blesseds officially recognized by the Catholic Church.
P'ent'ay is an originally Amharic–Tigrinya language term for Pentecostal Christians. Today, the term refers to all Evangelical Protestant denominations and organisations in Ethiopian and Eritrean societies. Alternative terms include Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelicalism or the Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelical Church. Sometimes the denominations and organizations are known as Wenigēlawī.
In Christianity, a martyr is a person who was killed for their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In the years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake, or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word martyr comes from the Koine word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness" or "testimony".
Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis. The term liturgy comes from Greek and means "public work". Within Christianity, liturgies descending from the same region, denomination, or culture are described as ritual families.
In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is proskuneo which means to bow down to God or kings.
Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic pastoral aid organization, which yearly offers financial support to more than 5,000 projects worldwide.
The Catholic Church in North Korea retains a community of several hundred adherents who practice under the supervision of the state-established Korean Catholic Association (KCA) rather than the Catholic hierarchy. The dioceses of the Church have remained vacant since Christian persecutions in the late 1940s. The most prominent congregation is that of Pyongyang, which meets at Changchung Cathedral. According to a KCA official, two other congregations exist. The state ideology of Juche has largely displaced Catholic faith, and full services are provided only to people with a Catholic family background.
All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are known or unknown.
This page is an index of lists of people considered martyrs. A martyr is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a belief or cause as demanded by an external party. This refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of the martyr by the oppressor.
Christianity is the most prevalent religion in the United States. Estimates from 2021 suggest that of the entire U.S. population about 63% is Christian. The majority of Christian Americans are Protestant Christians, though there are also significant numbers of American Roman Catholics and other Christian denominations such as Latter Day Saints, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Oriental Orthodox Christians, and Jehovah's Witnesses. The United States has the largest Christian population in the world and, more specifically, the largest Protestant population in the world, with nearly 210 million Christians and, as of 2021, over 140 million people affiliated with Protestant churches, although other countries have higher percentages of Christians among their populations. The Public Religion Research Institute's "2020 Census of American Religion", carried out between 2014 and 2020, showed that 70% of Americans identified as Christian during this seven-year interval. In a 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center, 65% of adults in the United States identified themselves as Christians. They were 75% in 2015, 70.6% in 2014, 78% in 2012, 81.6% in 2001, and 85% in 1990. About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation.
Christianity was first introduced to Thailand by European missionaries. By 2021, it represented 1.2% of the predominantly Buddhist national population. Christians are numerically and organizationally concentrated in northern Thailand, where they make up an estimated 16% of the population in some lowland districts and up to very high percentages in tribal districts.
The Martyrs of Japan were Christian missionaries and followers who were persecuted and executed, mostly during the Tokugawa shogunate period in the 17th century. The Japanese saw the rituals of the Christians causing people to pray, close their eyes with the sign of the cross and lock their hands together – this was seen as psychological warfare against the Japanese and this was punished as such. More than 400 martyrs of Japan have been recognized with beatification by the Catholic Church, and 42 have been canonized as saints.
A Day of Prayer is a day allocated to prayer, either by leaders of religions or the general public, for a specific purpose. Such days are usually ecumenical in nature, and are usually are treated as commemorative in nature, rather than as actual liturgical feast days or memorials.
In Africa, North Korea, China, India, the Philippines, and other nations, Christians face worship restrictions, public humiliation, and social isolation. Many encounter violence; some face death. Church buildings are burned and vandalized. The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is charged with raising awareness of such circumstances and lifting the most pressing instances of global persecution up in prayer. Held annually in mid-November, traditionally a month devoted to remembering the saints and martyrs of the church, the event is supported by prominent evangelical and humanitarian organizations including the World Evangelical Alliance, Open Doors, and International Christian Concern.
Allhallowtide is the Western Christian season encompassing the triduum of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day (All Hallows') and All Souls' Day, as well as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (observed on the first Sunday of November).
Today, Nov. 4, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Christians in America and across the world will dedicate time in their services and personally to pray for those who are suffering persecution because of their faith.
The persecution and genocide of Christians across the world is worse today "than at any time in history," and Western governments are failing to stop it, a report from a Catholic organization said. The study by Aid to the Church in Need said the treatment of Christians has worsened substantially in the past two years compared with the two years prior, and has grown more violent than any other period in modern times. "Not only are Christians more persecuted than any other faith group, but ever-increasing numbers are experiencing the very worst forms of persecution," the report said.
The authoritarian regime of Kim Jong-un is an atheist state where religion is regarded as a threat and religious adherents suffer persecution. Religious groups including Korean shamanism, Chondoism, Buddhism and Christianity operate but members are arrested, tortured, imprisoned and sometimes executed (USCIRF 2017: 16). Christians fare particularly poorly, with their religion being regarded as Western or influenced by South Korea, where Christians make up 30 per cent of the population. Christians, when convicted, tend to be sentenced to political internment camps, where they experience torture, starvation, forced abortion, sexual violence and extrajudicial killing (ACN 2017: 35). There are between 50 and 70,000 Christians in these internment camps (Open Doors 2017). As religious prisoners they receive worse treatment in what are already harsh conditions (ACN 2017: 28).
The late IRD President Diane Knippers and I joined representatives of the World Evangelical Fellowship (now Alliance), the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention, the U.S. Catholic Conference, as well as tireless advocates like Nina Shea and Michael Horowitz, to create IDOP.
Han fed and sheltered thousands of North Koreans over the years – many of whom had fled the famine-stricken country in search of food and jobs. One of them, Sang-chul, shared his story in a short documentary from The Voice of the Martyrs, as a way to encourage believers around the world to participate in the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on Sunday, Nov. 3.
A coalition of Iranian church leaders and pastors have come together for the first time to ask for prayers for the re-emerging Church in Iran on Sunday's International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.