New York City, N.Y., Apr 26, 2016 / 15:51 pm
This week's #WeAreN2016 Congress aims to call on the world to stop the persecution of Christians and other minorities. Victims of persecution and leaders from around the world will speak about the need for action in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and elsewhere.
"Christians account for 80 percent of persecuted minorities," the congress website said. "They are victims of the deliberate infliction of conditions of life that are calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part. They are being murdered, beheaded, crucified, beaten, extorted, abducted, and tortured."
The congress cited other atrocities like enslavement, forcible conversion to Islam, and sexual violence against women and girls.
The congress' events will take place April 28-30 at several New York City venues. The Holy See's permanent observer mission to the United Nations is among the conference sponsors, as is the group In Defense of Christians. The congress was organized by the citizen activism website CitizenGo and the Spain-based religious liberty advocacy group MasLibres.