August 12, 2010

EWTN’s New Series, ‘The Suffering Church,’ Reveals the Truth About
Catholic/Christian Persecution Around the World – And What You Can Do About It

The new series will air at 11 p.m. ET Sundays and 5:30 a.m. ET Tuesdays beginning in September on EWTN. For channel information, please go to www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – Imagine being thrown into a hole in the ground or a metal trailer for months on end – being baked in 120 degree heat -- and later becoming blind after being pulled from this darkness into bright light. Your crime? Reading the Bible. This is just one of many stories of Christian persecution relayed in “The Suffering Church,” a 13-part original series, which will begin airing in September exclusively on EWTN Global Catholic Network.

Most Catholics think religious persecution reached its zenith during the Roman Empire, when Nero set Christians ablaze and used them as torches or fed them to the lions. However, the truth is that more Christians have died for their faith in the 20th Century than in ALL the preceding centuries put together.

Watch “The Suffering Church” to learn the truth about Christian persecution in China, Burma, North Korea, Pakistan, Vietnam/Laos, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, Eritrea/Ethiopia, India, and Sri Lanka – and, most importantly, what you can do to help. This series is part of EWTN’s continuing commitment to shining the light on Catholic social justice concerns around the world.

The series is hosted by Lord David Alton, a member of the British Parliament, who launched “Jubilee Campaign UK” in 1987. That campaign has resulted in more than 150 members of Parliament “adopting” cases of religious discrimination around the world.

Lord Alton’s guests, who have dedicated their lives to intervening in such cases, include Ann Buwalda, an immigration attorney in Northern Virginia who founded the U.S. branch of the Jubilee Campaign in the early 90s, and top figures from Aid to the Church in Need, the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, American Center for Law & Justice, and many, many more.

Lord Alton also talks with natives such as Rev. John Chol Daau, a former “lost boy” and founder of the first Christian newspaper in Sudan, Professor Habtu Ghebre-Ab, President and Founder of “In Chains for Christ,” Bob Fu, President of the China Aid Association, and many others.

Viewers will also meet U.S. Congressmen concerned about the problem, who will talk about the places they have visited and what they’ve been able to do to put pressure on various governments.

The pain and suffering revealed in this series are almost unimaginable to Westerners. In Burma, a democratically-elected leader is imprisoned simply because she was freely elected by the people; in China, the bishop of Shanghai spent 30 years in Chinese prisons just for being Catholic; in Pakistan, “blasphemy laws” are often used by Muslims to justify violent and murderous acts of intolerance; in Sudan, non-Muslims are beaten, jailed, kidnapped and killed for meeting with people interested in coming to Christ; in Iraq, Christians are persecuted in the hopes of getting them to emigrate, but in Eritrea in Africa, Christians who are brutally treated are not allowed to leave.

These are just a few of the facts you will learn in this must-see series.

If you care about your persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, and want to help them, you will not want to miss, “The Suffering Church,” airing at 11 p.m. ET Sundays and 5:30 a.m. ET Tuesdays in September, exclusively on EWTN. For channel information, please go to www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

Media: Please go to www.ewtn.com/media/SufferingChurch for dramatic, high-resolution photos.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 29th year, is available in over 150 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website, www.ewtn.com, and publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.

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