--- title: President Obama: Pray for Persecuted Christians at Christmas description: He blamed ISIS for some of the atrocities committed against Christians in the Middle East. canonical: https://time.com/4160677/president-obama-says-pray-for-persecuted-christians-at-christmas/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-23T22:08:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:37:27.746Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Asks for Tolerance for Persecuted Christians at Christmas og:description: He blamed ISIS for some of the violence og:url: https://time.com/4160677/president-obama-says-pray-for-persecuted-christians-at-christmas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a1833c4aac8341/698876cd3c1639311745b562/gettyimages-501898980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Holds Press Conference At White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Asks for Tolerance for Persecuted Christians at Christmas twitter:description: He blamed ISIS for some of the violence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a1833c4aac8341/698876cd3c1639311745b562/gettyimages-501898980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Asks for Tolerance for Persecuted Christians at Christmas > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Dec 23, 2015 10:08 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks to the media during his year end press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House December 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. Later today President Obama will travel to San Bernardino, California, to meet with families of the 14 victims of the recent mass shooting, before heading to Hawaii for Christmas vacation and return on January 3, 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks to the media during his year end press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House December 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. Later today President Obama will travel to San Bernardino, California, to meet with families of the 14 victims of the recent mass shooting, before heading to Hawaii for Christmas vacation and return on January 3, 2016. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Dec 23, 2015 10:08 PM UTC As Christmas nears, the Obama family is offering prayers to Christians facing persecution around the world. In a statement released Wednesday, President Obama asked Americans to remember Christians outside of the United States, who may not be able to freely practice their religion. “Michelle and I are also ever-mindful that many of our fellow Christians do not enjoy that right, and hold especially close to our hearts and minds those who have been driven from their ancient homelands by unspeakable violence and persecution,” President Obama said in a statement. The President pointed the finger at those who are actively persecuting Christians in the Middle East—namely ISIS, also known as ISIL. “In some areas of the Middle East where church bells have rung for centuries on Christmas Day, this year they will be silent; this silence bears tragic witness to the brutal atrocities committed against these communities by ISIL,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4160677/president-obama-says-pray-for-persecuted-christians-at-christmas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4160677/president-obama-says-pray-for-persecuted-christians-at-christmas/"},"headline":"President Obama Asks for Tolerance for Persecuted Christians at Christmas","datePublished":"2015-12-23T22:08:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:37:27.746Z","description":"He blamed ISIS for some of the atrocities committed against Christians in the Middle East","url":"https://time.com/4160677/president-obama-says-pray-for-persecuted-christians-at-christmas/","keywords":["White House","christmas","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a1833c4aac8341/698876cd3c1639311745b562/gettyimages-501898980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a1833c4aac8341/698876cd3c1639311745b562/gettyimages-501898980.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Holds Press Conference At White House","caption":"President Obama Holds Press Conference At White House","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4160677/president-obama-says-pray-for-persecuted-christians-at-christmas/","name":"President Obama Asks for Tolerance for Persecuted Christians at Christmas"}}]}] ```