4.9 • 5.8K Ratings
🗓️ 25 May 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I'm Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. Although not widely reported in legacy media outlets, Christianity is, by far, the most persecuted religion in the world. From the Middle East and Africa to India, China, North Korea, and elsewhere, Christian communities regularly experience widespread humiliation, imprisonment, kidnappings, expulsions, and even murderous mob violence. While not as severe, Christians in parts of Europe and even right here at home, in the US, also often endure discrimination, exclusion, and ridicule. There is no ambiguity about who is carrying out these attacks or what motivates them. Like the martyrs of past centuries, millions of our Christian brothers and sisters are currently suffering because they profess faith in Jesus Christ. In response to this ongoing outrage, Bishop Robert Barron has released a new book called What Do Their Deaths Demand? Christian Persecution Today. Intended for widespread distribution, the book spotlights heartbreaking stories of the continued targeting of Christian communities throughout the world, offers a theological explanation for why Christianity has been under assault since its inception, and, most importantly, provides actionable ideas for what all of us can do to respond. Here to discuss the book—and why its message is more urgent than ever—is Bishop Robert Barron.
Topics Covered
00:00 | Introduction
01:38 | The final meeting of the Religious Liberty Commission
02:51 | Why this book, and why now?
05:16 | Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa's foreword
06:46 | Aid to the Church in Need
07:47 | Why Christian persecution is largely ignored
09:00 | Part 1: The Most Persecuted Religion
15:36 | Part 2: Why the Persecution of Christians?
22:41 | The fundamental quandary
25:09 | Part 3: So What Can We Do?
32:09 | Listener question: Should we present the crucifixion more positively?
34:38 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to The Word on Fire Show. I'm Matthew Petrusik, Senior Director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. |
| 0:05.9 | Thank you for joining us. Although not widely reported in legacy media outlets, Christianity is by far the most persecuted religion in the world. |
| 0:16.5 | From the Middle East to Africa, India, China, North Korea, and elsewhere, Christian communities regularly experience widespread humiliation, imprisonment, kidnappings, expulsions, and even murderous mob violence. |
| 0:30.2 | While not as severe, Christians in parts of Europe, and even right here at home in the United States also often endure discrimination, exclusion, and |
| 0:38.3 | ridicule. There is no ambiguity about who is carrying out these attacks or what their motives are. |
| 0:45.5 | Like the martyrs of past centuries, millions of our Christian brothers and sisters are |
| 0:50.0 | currently suffering because they profess faith in Jesus Christ. In response to this ongoing outrage, |
| 0:56.4 | Bishop Robert Barron has released a new book called What Do Their Deaths Demand, Christian |
| 1:01.4 | persecution today? Intended for widespread distribution, the book spotlights heartbreaking stories |
| 1:07.0 | of the continuing targeting of Christian communities throughout the world, offers a theological explanation for why Christianity has been under assault since its inception, |
| 1:16.7 | and most importantly, provides actionable ideas for what all of us can do to respond. |
| 1:22.2 | Here to discuss the book and why its message is more urgent than ever is Bishop Robert Barron. |
| 1:27.2 | Thank you. and why its message is more urgent than ever is Bishop Robert Barron. |
| 1:39.3 | Bishop, welcome back to the studio. |
| 1:40.1 | Thanks, Matt. |
| 1:41.0 | Always good to be with you. |
| 1:49.4 | So today we're looking at a very serious topic, the ongoing persecution of Christians throughout the world, just an ongoing problem. |
| 1:54.6 | And you've just produced a new book about the problem and very importantly how we can address it. |
| 1:57.7 | But before we get to that pressing topic, what have you been up to recently? |
| 2:01.8 | Well, I'm not sure when this show will air, but as we record, |
| 2:06.8 | I just am back from the last meeting of the presidential commission on religious liberty. |
| 2:11.7 | So for the past year, I've been attending these meetings pretty much once a month. And we had our last one. And now we're preparing the final report for the president. So having heard from witnesses, having done a lot |
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