It is well-known that persecutions have been inseparable from the Christian history since the beginning of Christianity until now. The first mass persecutions, traced throughout the historical period of the absolute power of the Roman Empire, have transpired in several stages: a) during the reign of Emperor Nero (64-68) (the apostles Peter and Paul were among the martyrs), b) Diocletian’s persecutions (284-311), c) the persecutions of Julian the Apostate when the latter attempted to restore the previous influence of the pagan worship.
Persecutions of Christians also took place in medieval Europe, particularly in England, by local pagans and Muslim Arabs when they conquered the Christian Spain (8th-9th cc.). Christians, both in the past and today, were persecuted and are continuously persecuted across the so-called cradle of world religions, i.e. across the Middle East.
Due to the Muslim-Christian contradiction, Christian nations were persecuted in the Ottoman Empire throughout the fourteenth-twentieth centuries. The consequences of religious clashes were the Armenian Genocide as well as genocides of other Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Christians’ persecutions continued not only in the Ottoman Empire but also in the Turkish Republic. Striving to preserve their local national values, thousands of Christians were executed in Japan (17th c.) and China (19th c.) where persecution of Christians is hitherto an on-going process due to the country’s atheistic regime. In the twentieth century the persecutions and genocidal policy, especially towards Christians, were organized and carried out by the communist regimes (USSR, China, Vietnam, Cuba, etc.).
“TheoLab” Center for Science and Analysis considers publicity, study and prevention of Christians’ persecutions as one of the essential goals of its activity. “TheoLab” pays special attention to the theme and will research the topic not only within historical, but also within contemporary context.