Franklin Graham Announces Global Christian Persecution Summit

Evangelist Franklin Graham has announced that an international summit highlighting Christian persecution will take place later this year in Moscow, Russia.

"No church in modern history has suffered more than the church in Russia," Graham said.

He says The World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians will be held from October 28-30, according to Premier, a U.K.-based Christian publication.

"In the years under Communist rule, virtually all of the priests, pastors, and church leaders in Russia were imprisoned or executed by the Communists, and their graves are on the outskirts of Moscow and throughout the country serving as a reminder," Graham remarked.

"So, Moscow will be a fitting and meaningful location for this much-needed summit."

Graham met with Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, this past October as well as with evangelical leaders. They discussed persecution of the church worldwide.

However, this year's event will draw attention to the attacks on believers in the Middle East. It will bring Christians from different churches and denominations together to pray for those who are suffering.

"Britain's Prince Charles has warned that Christianity might be entirely erased from the land of its birth in the Middle East within five years," Graham said. "The World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians will shed a global spotlight on this crisis."

"We will bring delegates from around the world and will be able to join hands with people of other churches and denominations of the Christian faith to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ and to hear firsthand reports of the suffering that is taking place," he added.