{"id":17521,"date":"2016-12-26T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T17:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pope-st-stephen-is-reflected-in-mideast-catholics-95448\/"},"modified":"2016-12-26T17:05:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T17:05:00","slug":"pope-mideast-christians-reflect-heroism-of-st-stephen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/12\/pope-mideast-christians-reflect-heroism-of-st-stephen\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope: MidEast Christians reflect heroism of St. Stephen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Dec 26, 2016 \/ 10:05 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Pope Francis has said the heroic martyrdom of St. Stephen is mirrored in the persecution of modern-day Christians, particularly in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we read the history of the early centuries, here in Rome, we read about so much cruelty towards Christians,\u201d the Pope said in a special Angelus address Dec. 26 for the feast of St. Stephen. \u201cI tell you, there is this same cruelty today, and in greater numbers with Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we want to think about them and to be close to them with our affection, our prayer and our tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Holy Father praised Catholics in the Middle East who gathered in the debris of a bombed out cathedral to celebrate Christmas Mass.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Theirs] is an example of fidelity to the Gospel,\u201d the Pope said of the Middle East Catholics. \u201cDespite the trials and the dangers, they bear witness with courage to their belonging to Christ and they live the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis reflected on the day\u2019s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus warns his disciples that they will face persecution and rejection because of their faith.<\/p>\n

The Pope said the world persecutes Christians for the same reason it persecutes Jesus; because Christians and Jesus bring the light of God and the world prefers darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a conflict between the mentality of the Gospel and that of the world,\u201d Pope Francis said. \u201cTo follow Jesus means to follow his light, which was lit on that Bethlehem night, and to abandon the darkness of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said St. Stephen was martyred because he chose to bring the light of Christ to every person.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy choosing the truth, he became at the same time, the victim of the mystery of evil present in the world,\u201d the Pope said. \u201cBut in Christ, Stephen triumphed!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis then encouraged Christians to greater conversion to God, who comes to us in total humility at Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn making space within our heart for the Son of God who gives himself to us at Christmas, we renew the joyous and courageous willingness to follow him faithfully as our only guide, persevering in living in accordance with the Gospel mentality and refusing the mentality of those who dominate this world,\u201d he said.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope also remembered St. Stephen\u2019s feast day on Twitter, tweeting \u201clet us remember the martyrs of today and yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Dec 26, 2016 \/ 10:05 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has said the heroic martyrdom of St. Stephen is mirrored in the persecution of modern-day Christians, particularly in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

“When we read the history of the early ce…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nPope: MidEast Christians reflect heroism of St. Stephen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Dec 26, 2016 \/ 10:05 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has said the heroic martyrdom of St. Stephen is mirrored in the persecution of modern-day Christians, particularly in the Middle East. “When we read the history of the early ce...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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