Oct. 28, A.D. 312 — the Battle of the Milvian Bridge ended three centuries of Christian persecution. Aid to the Church in Need’s new report says 220 million Christians face persecution right now.

Two hours, two halves of one story. At 4:14 ET, Edward Clancy, Director of Outreach for Aid to the Church in Need USA, walks through “Persecuted and Forgotten? 2024–2026” — the Yelewata massacre in Nigeria (200 killed in one night), girls abducted and forcibly married in Pakistan and Egypt, North Korea’s prison camps, China’s crackdown on the underground Church, and why 56% of the 18 countries surveyed got worse. At 4:30, on the 1,714th anniversary of the battle, Joe tells the story of Constantine: the sign in the sky, the Chi-Rho on the shields, the bridge that collapsed under Maxentius, the Edict of Milan, St. Helena, Nicaea, and a deathbed baptism — with a slideshow of public-domain art behind him. The same two Greek letters that went on those shields are on the Chi Rho Impact Media logo.

SCRIPTURE (Douay-Rheims):

• Matthew 5:10 — “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
• 2 Timothy 3:12 — “And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.”
• Hebrews 13:3 — “Remember them that are in bands, as if you were bound with them.”
• Matthew 16:18 — “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

REFERENCED:

• Aid to the Church in Need (USA) — “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for their Faith 2024–2026” — https://www.churchinneed.org/
• Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, Book I (the vision); Lactantius, On the Deaths of the Persecutors, ch. 44 (the dream and the shields)
• The Edict of Milan, A.D. 313 (Constantine and Licinius); First Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325
• Pope Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew at Nicaea, Nov. 28, 2025 - https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/though-nicaea-ruin-its-creed-stands-and-unites-christians-pope-says
• Slideshow art: Vatican Museums (Sala di Costantino), Piero della Francesca (Arezzo), Piranesi, Cima da Conegliano — all public domain, credited on screen.

A Catholic Take is sponsored by CatholicMatch — the sponsor of the Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network and the Joe McClane YouTube channel: https://www.catholicmatch.com/

#ACatholicTake #Catholic #Constantine #ChristianPersecution #AidToTheChurchInNeed #MilvianBridge #ChurchHistory #CatholicNews

LINKS:
Watch live weekdays 4pm ET - https://joemcclane.com/watch
He Is Coming (novel) - https://joemcclane.com/he-is-coming
Catholic by Design - https://joemcclane.com/books
Speaking - https://joemcclane.com/speaking
Pilgrimage - https://joemcclane.com/pilgrimage
Support the work - https://joemcclane.com/support
ACT Insiders email list - https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/gE04UwE/acatholictake
A Catholic Take on The Station of the Cross - https://thestationofthecross.com/act/
X - https://x.com/JoeDMcClane
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/ACatholicTake