Persecuted Christians Given a Voice Online

Web site launched to provide a window into the world of suffering and persecuted Christian communities around the world.

KOENIGSTEIN, GERMANY (Zenit.org) - A new Web site was launched to provide a window into the world of suffering and persecuted Christian communities around the world, and give ways of aiding them from afar.

Aid to the Church in Need created this site, "Where God Weeps," together with the Catholic Radio and Television Network.

The site offers radio and television features to highlight "the plight of Christians who suffer for their faith," the aid agency reported today.

Today's launch date, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, is significant because the "Apostle's transformation from persecutor of Christians to champion of their cause points to the essence of the Web site's aims and objectives," the director of the network, Mark Riedemann, explained.

He noted that "the media platform provides an important opportunity for people wanting to find out more about the suffering Church and how they get involved."

The site compiles interviews with clergy, missionaries and lay people who "live and work daily in areas of persecution around the world," the communiqué noted.

Every month it plans to focus on a particular country where Christians are undergoing hardships, with a documentary, statistics and facts, and an interview with a Church leader from that area.

It also includes news stories and a section titled "how to help" that presents various projects supported by the aid agency.

Riedemann reported that the site also "aims to reflect strong evidence that the persecution of Christians has increased."

Some 70% of the world's 6.8 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion, he said, referring to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Centre's Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The aid agency added that among all the oppressed religious groups, Christians are the most persecuted.

The multimedia site was designed to as a complement to the "Where God Weeps" series broadcast by the Eternal Word Television Network.