WASHINGTON – Although the North Korean government is doing everything it can to suppress Christianity, the faith continues to spread, said a defector and missionary who called for prayers and action to increase religious freedom in the country.

Perhaps the greatest Roman Catholic voice to oppose Jewish prejudice was Pope John Paul II. He, more than any other Church leader, continues to enjoy the favour of the Jews. It was Pope John Paul II who categorically instructed the faithful that anti-Semitism is a serious sin.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Most of Christianity's future growth is likely to be in the global South, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the Christian population is relatively young, according to a new analysis from the U.S.-based Pew Research Center.

MOSUL, IRAQ – Two years after the sound of church bells was replaced by the sound of explosives in Bashiqa, Iraq, just north of Mosul, Christians are again celebrating Mass after forcing the Islamic State out of their homeland.

Canada’s Catholic bishops have joined forces with the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox bishops in Canada to raise money for restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

VATICAN CITY – Meeting a pilgrimage of Catholics and Lutherans from Germany, Pope Francis said he does not like "the contradiction of those who want to defend Christianity in the West, and, on the other hand, are against refugees and other religions."

Oct. 31, 2017 will mark the 500th anniversary of the date Martin Luther posted his 95 proposals on the door of a Catholic church in Germany to launch the Protestant Reformation. Indeed, Luther’s imprint on Christianity has never faded over the centuries.

By the authors’ count, the Quran has been translated into English 212 times since the 17th century — but never like this.

Amid heightened tensions over Islamic State-fueled terror attacks and anti-Muslim rhetoric, a prominent American cardinal says Islam “wants to govern the world” and Americans must decide if they are going to reassert “the Christian origin of our own nation” in order to avoid that fate.

The words to describe Islamic State atrocities have been all but exhausted. The bloodcurdling images in the news of their attacks stir the deepest resentment and there appears to be no end in sight to their violent activities. All of society feels insecure and vulnerable.  

BEIRUT - Lebanon's Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim religious leaders affirmed the "essential role" of the Christian presence in the Middle East and called for terrorism in the region to be confronted "culturally, educationally and politically."

VATICAN CITY - In a joint statement, representatives of more than 50 countries have recognized that Christians are particularly endangered in the Middle East, and they called on the international community to reaffirm the human right to freedom of religion.

VATICAN CITY - The only word worthy of being heard in the throes of war is "peace," and there is nothing more scandalous than a nation made up of Christians engaged in conflict, Pope Francis said.

MONTREAL - The long-term survival of Christianity in the Middle East is threatened and “humanity in the region where Christianity was born will not be the same without it,” a spokesman for Aid to the Church in Need told a seminar in Montreal this week.