Martin Himel's documentary "Persecuted Christians" will be shown on VisionTV Wednesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.

The film contains rare footage of locations where Himel, an award-winning filmmaker and veteran war correspondent, was able to shoot atrocities taking place. These include Our Lady of Deliverance Church in Baghdad, where a bloody attack on Iraqi Christians broke out in 2010.

Himel travelled with Cairo-born Muslim-turned-Christian Rev. Majed El Shafie to places in Iraq and Egypt where western media are normally barred from exposing the inhuman treatment suffered by the Christian population.

No stranger to risky situations, Himel, during his journalist career, has covered many Middle East uprisings, as well as Northern Ireland sectarian attacks and the revolution to overthrow Communist Romanian President Ceaucescau.

"Persecuted Christians" interviews political officials including Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Hussein al-Shahristani and Iraqi Vice President Tariq el Hashimi who, not long after, were forced to flee after being accused of murder and terrorism by Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Many Iraqi Christians have fled to northern Kurdish regions and to neighbouring countries, and many have come as refugees to Canada, including to the Vancouver archdiocese, where they have been sponsored by parishes.

In Egypt, Coptic Christians have suffered attacks including rape, murder, and having their churches burned, and they too, have come to this area.
More information on how to pressure governments and challenge world and spiritual leaders to fight religious persecution can be viewed at www.onefreeworldinternational.org.

lmcmahon@rcav.org