Ted Poe: “Soon Pope Francis will deliver a historical address to this Congress. During this year, he has addressed a form of…”

“Soon Pope Francis will deliver a historical address to this Congress. During this year, he has addressed a form of genocide happening in the world. Globally, Christians are being imprisoned, tortured, and killed because they are Christians. In 2013, Christians faced persecution in 102 out of 190-plus countries. In Iran, American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini has been languishing in jail for the last 2\1/2\ years because he is a Christian. According to the 2015 Open Doors' World Watch List, North Korea is the worst persecutor of Christians in the whole world. There, Christians are often sent to prison camps for possession of Bibles, sometimes even executed because they are Christians. The State Department estimates that 80,000 to 120,000 North Koreans are imprisoned in labor camps because of their religious beliefs. In November of 2013, 80 North Korean Christians were reportedly executed for possession of Bibles and possessing South Korean religious films. In Pakistan, in one city, Christian churches have been bombed. A 14- year-old Christian boy was beaten and set on fire because he was a Christian. Burns now cover more than 55 percent of his body. In Egypt, over a 3-day period in 2013, Coptic Christians experienced the worst single attack against their churches in 700 years, with 40 Christian churches destroyed and over 100 others severely damaged. Thousands of Coptic Christians have fled Egypt to other countries.…”