Jeff Fortenberry: “I had the extraordinary privilege of being in the room when Pope Francis was given a small cross, a crucifix. This…”

“I had the extraordinary privilege of being in the room when Pope Francis was given a small cross, a crucifix. This crucifix belonged to a young Syrian man who had been captured by the jihadis and then given a choice--convert or die--and he chose. He chose his ancient faith tradition. He chose Christ. And he was beheaded. His mother was able to recover his body and the crucifix that he wore and bury him, and then she subsequently made her way to Austria by which this cross came into the possession of the Holy Father. This type of incident--the killings, the beheadings, the crucifixions, the immolations--occurs day, after day, after day to the beleaguered religious minorities of the Middle East--the Christians, the Yazidis, and others--who have ancient faith traditions, who have every right to be in their ancient homelands as does anyone else. {time} 1515 This is a genocide. This is a deliberate attempt to exterminate an entire set of peoples based upon their faith. Mr. Speaker, in the year 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell came to the United States Congress and in a committee hearing--the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--he declared what was happening in Darfur in Sudan a genocide. In making that simple declaration, using that powerful word, he helped put an end to that grim reality.…”