Here's an interesting perspective on the state of the global church from a Jewish rabbi who asks, "Are Christians the new Jews?" He means that Christians have replaced Jews "as the numerically most persecuted people on the planet."

Rabbi Alderstein notes, "In a huge swath of territory from Nigeria east and north to Iran and Pakistan, millions of Christians live in fear of losing their property or their lives simply because they are Christians. In the Assyrian Triangle of Iraq, the campaign of church-burning, clergy-killing, and terror has all but decimated the historically oldest Christian communities."

The rabbi agrees with Pope Benedict's view that (quoting Benedict) "We might have to part with the notion of a popular church. It is possible that we are on the verge of a new era …. [in which the church] will continue only in the form of small and seemingly insignificant groups, which yet will oppose evil with all their strength and bring Good into this world."