Asia Bibi, the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, has called on the Prime Minister to help Christian girls in her country who are abducted, raped and forced to marry their captors.

During my detention, I held the hand of Christ. It is thanks to him that I have stayed standing, says Asia Bibi.

The Church faces many risks and her task is made more difficult by the fact of her being a minority.

“In recent years, faith schools have been poorly served, at times, by news media. Too often, there is a failure to ensure that hyperbole and opinion are counterbalanced with evidence-based facts.”

“The world is watching as we abandon our commitments to American values. These actions ... lower our estimation in the eyes of the many peoples who want to know America as a defender of human rights and religious liberty”.

Bishops concerned that process of taking in refugees seems to have slipped onto the back-burner of Irish politics.

“I renew the hope that the international community not remain silent and inert in front of these intolerable crimes."

Desperate attempts by thousands of refugees to cross the Mediterranean is a challenge to ‘Christian’ Europe, which demands a coordinated and compassionate response.

Ongoing persecution is an issue that unites all Christians Bishop McAreavey tells Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“That this deplorable attack on a child was triggered by a simple profession of faith is deeply worrying.”

Although root causes vary, the most important is an entrenched culture of impunity.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide highlights "spurious grounds of her case, unfair trial proceedings and unjustified solitary confinement she has endured in jail."

"Pakistani Christians are already persecuted and feel very vulnerable after so many false blasphemy cases against them.”

Gao Zhisheng twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for defending China's persecuted.