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DIVINE WORD COLLEGE OF LAOAG

SCHOOL OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION


LAOAG CITY
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 3-Church and Sacraments
Module 3: Persecutions of the Christian Communities

l. Introduction
The word persecution refers to the violent actions directed against the
early Christian Church by their enemies. In this module, we will recall the
sufferings experienced by the Christians during the first two centuries of
this common era. In so doing, we will get in touch with the heroism of our
forebears in faith as they established their identity as followers of Jesus.
Jesus had anticipated that his Church would be persecuted and would
meet many difficulties along the way.

ll. Learning Activity

Article Analysis
No cause is more worthy than the cause of human rights. Human rights
are more than legal concepts: they are the essence of man (woman).
They are what makes us human. That is why they are called human rights:
deny them and you deny your humanity.
We have the right to live in a manner that befits our human dignity and
enables us to bring our talents to full flower. From this right spring
countless other rights, such as the individual’s right to a descent
livelihood, and the people’s rights to determine their own future. None of
them should ever be compromised or sacrificed in any way. We cannot
have one without the others; or the others without the one.
For what is freedom when there is no food, or justice when there are no
jobs? A starving man (woman) does not have much freedom of choice and
there is no justice in poverty. Food without freedom, jobs without justice,
would be like leaves without a tree.
If we do not struggle with all that we have and do all that we can do to
vindicate our right, we cannot only condemn our rights to death; we also
condemn our hopes and dreams, our present, and our children’s future.
Of course, there is no guarantee that we will succeed. No one can give us
such a guarantee except God – and we have no right to demand
guarantees from Him. All we can do is fight he good fight and leave the
outcome in His hands, confident that we have done the best we could and
that He in turn, will do what is best for us.
And as we continue to press our efforts, there will be no doubt about times
when we will become weary and disheartened. None of us is a superman
(super-woman). When that happens, let us give in briefly to temptation;
and after indulging in self-pity, let us resume our task.
We will struggle on, no matter how long it takes or what it costs, until we
establish a just community of free men and women in our land, deciding
together, working and striving together, but also singing and dancing,
laughing and loving together.
Jose Diokno
(Excerpts from various
speeches on human
rights)

Guide Questions for Analysis:

1. Quote the phrase or statement from the article that can be related
to the persecution of the early Christians. Explain.

2. Can you say that violating human rights is a form of persecution?


Justify your answer.

3. As a young adult, what form/s of persecution have you


encountered? How did you cope with it?

lll. Abstraction/Deepening

16 “Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of


wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as
doves. 17 Watch out, for there will be those who will arrest you
and take you to court, and they will whip you in the synagogues.
18 For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings,
to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles. 19 When they
bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or
how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what
you will say. 20 For the words you will speak will not be yours;
they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 “People will hand over their own brothers to be put to death,
and fathers will do the same to their children; children will turn
against their parents and have them put to death. 22 Everyone will
hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be
saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, run away to
another one. I assure you that you will not finish your work in all
the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
In our Scripture passage from the gospel of St. Matthew, we hear Jesus
telling the disciples what would happen to them in the future. They will be
sent out into the world where they would move in constant danger, without
power to withstand the attacks of their enemies. They are advised to be
prepared for hostility, to be wise and yet remaining simple. They must
guard their integrity. With their sufferings, they will share in Jesus’ own
passion. Among the terrors awaiting the disciples are the anxiety in
connection with speaking at a public trial, disunity within families, hatred
and persecution.

The death and resurrection of Jesus became the starting point of the
Christian faith. The first Church at Jerusalem consisted of Judaeo-
Christians who continued to worship in the Temple and to fulfill the law of
Moses. Their faith in Jesus as the Christ led them to develop a new life
style of communal sharing of goods. In their daily celebration of the
breaking of bread they remembered the covenant love of God with His
people in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus (Read Acts
2:42-47).

Stephen, a Jewish deacon, full of faith and the Holy Spirit, was arrested
and stoned to death when his enemies could not refute his wisdom (Read
Acts 6:8-15). This triggered a general persecution in Jerusalem so that
Jesus’ followers sought refuge elsewhere, preaching the gospel wherever
they travelled.

Paul’s conversion (Read Acts 9:1-9) to faith in Jesus Christ and his
subsequent missionary journeys (Read Acts 13:1-28:31) to read the gospel
across Asia Minor and around the Mediterranean became a great turning
point in the history of the early Church. The Romans considered him as a
leader of a sect preaching a revolutionary form of Judaism, and as such a
threat to the social order.

During the first three centuries of the Christian era, the early communities
experienced series of persecutions from hands of the Roman civil
authorities. The Romans considered their emperors as divine and their
laws as sacred. The Christians were not convinced about it and did not
agree to follow the Roman laws, which were against the teachings of the
Christian faith. These behaviors displeased the Romans. Hence, the
outbreak of the persecution of Christians.

Christians underwent great sufferings. They were regarded as pagans or


atheist because of their non-worship of the emperor. They were accused
of being cannibals due to the hearsay that they were “eating the Body and
Blood of Christ” during their Eucharistic celebration rites which were
secretly done. Then, terrible disasters such as famines, or plagues were
ascribed to the Christians’ refusal to pay homage to the Roman gods.
The Roman emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) saw Christianity as a threat to
the emperor-cult. Suetonius, an ancient historian, stated that under this
emperor the Jews were expelled from Rome because of some riots that
took place “at the instigation of one Chrestus”. Also, at this time, Paul’s
closest friends, Aquila and Priscilla, were expelled from Rome (Tenney,
New Testament Survey).

In 64 AD, a great fire broke out in Rome which destroyed a large part of
the city. Emperor Nero (54-68) was suspected of deliberately setting it on
fire to make room for his new palace. In order to divert the blame for
himself, he accused Christians of having caused the disaster. Many
Christians were brought to trial and were tortured, c. 67 CE (Tenney, New
Testament Survey). Martyred during this time were St. Peter and St. Paul.

Other Christian persecutions occurred under the following emperors:


Domitian 81-96 AD: He commanded the lineage of David to be put to death.
During this time fabricated tales were made to injure the Christians; Famine,
pestilence, earthquakes or any calamities were just of the few. Among the
numerous martyrs that suffered during this persecution: Simeon, bishop of
Jerusalem (crucified), St. John, who was boiled in oil, Dionysius, the Areopagite-
astronomer ( he had a particular observation on the great and supernatural
eclipse which happened at the time of our savior’s crucifixion) His sanctity and
purity recommended him so strongly to the Christians that he was appointed
bishop of Athens, Nicodemus, benevolent Christian suffered from the rage of
Domitian, Protasius and Gervasius were martyred at Milan and Timothy disciple
of St. Paul, bishop of Ephesus. Trajan, 98-117 AD. Christians during this period
were slaughtered and were beaten by beast. The following suffered and were
martyred: Ignatius – Bishop of Antioch, Alexander – Bishop of Rome (together
with his two deacons), Quirinus and Hernes with their families, Zenon, a Roman
nobleman and ten thousand other Christians, Faustines and Jovita, Brothers and
citizens of Brescia and Calocerius, a pagan who was struck with admiration to
the Christians, suffered the same fate. Hadrian, 117-130, Antoninus Pius, 138-
161. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, 16161- 180 AD. Some Christian were forced to
pass with their already wounded feet over thorns, nails, sharp shells, etc. upon
their points others were scourged until their sinews and veins lay bare and after
suffering the most excruciating tortures that could be devised, they were
destroyed by the most terrible deaths. Those who were martyred were
Germanicus- delivered to the white beasts on account of his faith, but with
astonishing courage that several pagans became Christians, Polycarp -
venerable bishop of Smyrna, but prayed for the repentance of his guards and so
it did, Justin and many more. Christians at this point were tortured, burnt served
as torches at the empire. Septimus Severus, 193-211. Decius: 249 - 51 AD.
Ordered all inhabitants to offer pagan worship. Diocletian: 303 AD ordered the
burning of churches and all sacred books. He ordered the torture and execution
of all Christians. During these periods of the emperors considered Christianity as
a serious threat to the civil and political order. As an independent religious
movement, it challenged many of the pagan values and beliefs of Greco-Roman
culture. By the Christians’ refusal to participate in pagan worship and their
alternative way of life in community, they seen as an adherent of an illicit religion.
As such, they were guilty of a public crime and could be sentenced to cruel
death. Those Christians who gave their lives by refusing to deny their faith in
Jesus were called “martyrs” (in Greek, marturia or witness) while those who
endured under persecution and lived to tell about it were called “confessors”,
then the Lapsed were those who recanted under tortures but later returned and
lastly those who denied their faith were named “Apostates”. (McGonigle &
Quigley, A History of Christian Tradition)
Today, according to ACN research, almost 300 million Christians around the
world—or 1 out of every 7—live in a country where they suffer some form of
persecution, such as arbitrary arrest, violence, a full range of human rights
religious violations and even murder. The research examines conditions in 196
countries. Open Doors puts the number of Christians murdered for their faith in
2018 at more than 4,000 and reports that at least 11 Christians are killed every
single day in the 50 worst-offending countries. With the words of Pope Francis
during his Angelus Address on June 8, 2020 (Vatican Media/CNA), he
encouraged Christians to fear sin, not the hostility, violence, or persecution they
may face when sharing the Gospel with the world. He reminded them that “Jesus
advises these disciples of yesterday and today who suffer persecution: ‘do not
fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Speaking before the
Angelus prayer, he said, “there is no need to be frightened of those who seek to
extinguish the evangelizing force with arrogance and violence.” In his catechesis,
Francis reflected on the day’s Gospel, with Jesus’ exhortation to his disciples to
“not be afraid.” The pope also spoke about the many Christians persecuted
around the world even today. “They suffer for the Gospel with love, they are the
martyrs of our day,” he said. But those who persecute “can do nothing against
the soul,” he pointed out, emphasizing that no one can take away your union with
God. “The only fear which a disciple should have is to lose this divine gift, this
closeness to and friendship with God, to stop living according to the Gospel,
thereby experiencing moral death, which is the effect of sin,” he stated. Pope
Francis said in addition to persecution, another tangible situation a disciple of
Jesus may find him or herself facing is hostility toward the faith and the Word of
God. Jesus encourages his disciples, he noted, to proclaim the Gospel “from the
housetops” to counteract those “who would like to stifle the Word of God by
sugar-coating it, by watering it down or by silencing those who proclaim it.”
Francis said spiritual aridity is another trial Christians can face, but “we must not
be afraid of it. The Father takes care of us because we are greatly valued in His
eyes.” “What is important is the frankness, the courage of our witness, of our
witness of faith: ‘recognizing Jesus before others’ and continuing to do good,” he
underlined. (excerpts from the Angelus Address of Pope Francis, Catholic News
Agency June 8, 2020, Vatican)

“The Church of Christ was born from the sacrifice on the cross, and she
continues to grow and develop in virtue of the heroic love of her most
authentic sons and daughters. ‘The seed is the blood of Christians’
Tertullian, Apologeticus, 50). Like the shedding of Christ’s blood, so the
martyrs’ offering of their lives becomes in virtue of their union with Christ’s
sacrifice a source of life and spiritual fertility for the Church and the whole
world. The constitution Lumen Gentium (n 42) states the reason very
concisely “By martyrdom a disciple is transformed into an image of his
master, who freely accepted death on behalf of the world’s salvation; he
perfect that image even to the shedding of blood. The Church therefore,
considers martyrdom as an exceptional gift and as the highest proof of
love.” (Pope Paul Vl) “The Church of the first millennium was born of the
blood martyrs. At the end of the second millennium, the church has once
again become a church of martyrs.” (Pope John Paul ll)

The Church, “like a stranger in a foreign land, presses forward amid the
persecutions of the world and the consolations of God”, announcing the
cross and death of the Lord until He comes. But by the power of the risen
Lord she is given strength to overcome in patience and in love, her
sorrows and her

difficulties both those that are from within and those that are from without,
so that she may reveal in the world, faithfully, however darkly, the mystery
of her Lord until, in the consummation, it shall be manifested in full light.

Lumen
Gentium

V. Application
1. Watch the recorded mission stories of SVD Fathers presently
assigned at DWCL. After watching consider the following
questions:
What is the challenge of their mission story to you?
Do something at home as your way of fulfilling your mission
especially at this time of the pandemic.

2. Finding faith and spirituality meaningful during this COVID-19


crisis

Commit to a schedule of prayer, bible reading, reflection and


meditation. Consider the time of day that is best for you and the
amount of time you will commit to it. You can do it alone or with
family members or others (this can be virtual).

Vl. Resources

Bugnot, Julita J. et. Al., 1998. Becoming A Community of Disciples: Rex


Bookstore, Manila Philippines.
Ordoneez, Julius C. et. al. WITNESSING COMMUNITY THROUGH THE YEAR.

Pulvinar, Sonia et al. 1998 The Church and the Sacraments. Vibal Publishing
House, INC, Metro Manila

The Goodnews Bible in Today’s English Version


Catholic Faith Catechism
Catechism for Catholic Church

Damo, Zacarias, HANDOUT IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 003,


summer 2007

catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-to-catholics

college.holycross.edu./faculty.

thirdwell.org/Christian.Martyrdom.html. Mike Ervin: Christian Martyrdom

www.church innerd.org>Christian persecution

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for private use only

galatmarga2020

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