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132-442: The majority of the people in the camp were British, but the population also included American, Canadian, Australian, Italian, Dutch, Belgian, Russian, and other nationalities. Most of the internees were either Christian missionaries or businessmen and their families. More than 350 children were among the internees. The children included the students of Chefoo boarding school , of whom 100 were separated from their parents throughout

264-453: A Filipino guitar player, called "Pineapple," were among the internees. The Japanese garrison at Weihsien consisted of a commandant, his staff of five, and 30 to 40 guards. However, the Japanese were little present within the camp. The internees were autonomous on most matters with the Japanese issuing orders and fielding requests of the internees through the internee leaders. As the war wore on

396-632: A permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out of four years and meets specific requirements. Canada established its own nationality law in 1946, with the enactment of the Canadian Citizenship Act which took effect on January 1, 1947. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2001 as Bill C-11, which replaced the Immigration Act, 1976 as

528-593: A 2012 Pew Research Center survey, if current trends continue, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion by 2050. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. While Muslims have an average of 3.1 children per woman—the highest rate of all religious groups—Christians are second, with 2.7 children per woman. High birth rates and conversion were cited as the reason for Christian population growth . A 2015 study found that approximately 10.2 million Muslims converted to Christianity . Christianity

660-614: A 2012 Pew Research Center survey, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion in 2050, if current trends continue. In recent history, Christians have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in the Middle-East , North Africa, East Asia , and South Asia . The Greek word Χριστιανός ( Christianos ), meaning ' follower of Christ ' , comes from Χριστός ( Christos ), meaning ' anointed one ', with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership. In

792-643: A century or more before, the first group of permanent settlers were the French , who founded the New France settlements, in present-day Quebec and Ontario ; and Acadia , in present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick , during the early part of the 17th century. Approximately 100 Irish-born families would settle the Saint Lawrence Valley by 1700, assimilating into the Canadien population and culture. During

924-435: A cup of milk almost daily. A second source was a canteen where people with money could buy luxury items such as fresh fruit and peanut oil procured from local farmers. A monthly loan of 5 dollars called "comfort money" was provided to people of most nationalities among the internees by a Swiss diplomat who periodically visited Weihsien. A third source was the thriving black market (of which more later) and fourth

1056-801: A daily basis. Additionally, Canadians speak several sign languages ; the number of speakers is unknown of the most spoken ones, American Sign Language (ASL) and Quebec Sign Language (LSQ), as it is of Maritime Sign Language and Plains Sign Talk . There are only 47 speakers of the Inuit sign language Inuktitut . English and French are recognized by the Constitution of Canada as official languages. All federal government laws are thus enacted in both English and French, with government services available in both languages. Two of Canada's territories give official status to indigenous languages. In Nunavut , Inuktitut , and Inuinnaqtun are official languages, alongside

1188-408: A derisive element in the term Christian to refer to followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians , had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames. However Peter's apparent endorsement of the term led to its being preferred over "Nazarenes" and the term Christianoi from 1 Peter becomes the standard term in

1320-421: A large city block, slightly more than 6 acres (2.4 ha) in size. An internee described the dilapidated compound as "bare walls, bare floors, dim electric lights, no running water, primitive latrines, two houses with showers, three huge public kitchens, a desecrated church, and a dismantled hospital." The Japanese guards lived in an adjoining area of better houses, formerly the homes of missionaries. The compound

1452-528: A large influx of South Asians , who tended to settle in British Columbia . Immigrants of all backgrounds tend to settle in the major urban centres . The Canadian public, as well as the major political parties, are tolerant of immigrants. The majority of illegal immigrants come from the southern provinces of the People's Republic of China , with Asia as a whole, Eastern Europe , Caribbean , Africa , and

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1584-694: A large portion of whom settled in New Brunswick. After the War of 1812 , British (including British army regulars), Scottish, and Irish immigration was encouraged throughout Rupert's Land, Upper Canada and Lower Canada . Between 1815 and 1850, some 800,000 immigrants came to the colonies of British North America, mainly from the British Isles as part of the Great Migration of Canada . These new arrivals included some Gaelic-speaking Highland Scots displaced by

1716-812: A number of Jesuits dedicated to converting indigenous peoples; an effort that eventually proved successful. The first large Protestant communities were formed in the Maritimes after the British conquest of New France, followed by American Protestant settlers displaced by the American Revolution. The late nineteenth century saw the beginning of a substantive shift in Canadian immigration patterns. Large numbers of Irish and southern European immigrants were creating new Catholic communities in English Canada. The settlement of

1848-452: A political context, is Ṣalībī ( صليبي ' Crusader ' ) from ṣalīb ( صليب ' cross ' ), which refers to Crusaders and may have negative connotations. However, Ṣalībī is a modern term; historically, Muslim writers described European Christian Crusaders as al-Faranj or Alfranj ( الفرنج ) and Firinjīyah ( الفرنجيّة ) in Arabic. This word comes from the name of

1980-699: A proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Americas , about 26% live in Europe , 24% live in sub-Saharan Africa , about 13% live in Asia and the Pacific , and 1% live in the Middle East and North Africa . Christians make up

2112-788: A report commissioned by the United Kingdom's Secretary of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to investigate global persecution of Christians found religious persecution has increased, and is highest in the Middle East, North Africa, India, China, North Korea, and Latin America, among others, and that it is global and not limited to Islamic states. This investigation found that approximately 80% of persecuted believers worldwide are Christians. Etymology Canadians Canadians ( French : Canadiens ) are people identified with

2244-492: A review of the Nobel Prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. In 2017, Open Doors , a human rights NGO , estimated approximately 260 million Christians are subjected annually to "high, very high, or extreme persecution", with North Korea considered the most hazardous nation for Christians. In 2019,

2376-464: A sprinkling of scholars, artists, and White Russian refugees from the communist government of the Soviet Union . Although the U.S. and European governments recommended that their citizens leave China, many stayed on, although impacted by shortages of food and other essentials. On 8 December 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the Japanese began to seize the assets and register and monitor

2508-525: A third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world. Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's population for around 100 years. The largest Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church , with 1.3 billion adherents, representing half of all Christians. Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western World , where 70% are Christians. According to

2640-720: A unique significance." Michael Martin evaluated three historical Christian creeds (the Apostles' Creed , the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed ) to establish a set of basic Christian assumptions which include belief in theism , the historicity of Jesus , the Incarnation , salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as an ethical role model. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah

2772-514: A university degree in institutions of higher education (67%), followed by the Christians of Israel (63%), and the Christians of Georgia (57%). According to the study, Christians in North America , Europe , Middle East , North Africa and Asia Pacific regions are highly educated since many of the world's universities were built by the historic Christian denominations , in addition to

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2904-444: A week. The internees dug several cesspits where internees could deposit the contents of their chamber pots . Some of the more fortunate among the internees paid others, often with a can of coffee, to stand in for them for their shift in the latrines. The often inadequate water supply of the compound came from several wells. Food was the major concern of the internees. Three large kitchens cooked and served meals. The smallest of

3036-436: Is a product of its ethnicities , languages , religions , political , and legal system (s). Canada has been shaped by waves of migration that have combined to form a unique blend of art , cuisine , literature , humour , and music . Today, Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and constitutional protection for policies that promote multiculturalism rather than cultural assimilation . In Quebec, cultural identity

3168-499: Is an important part of Canada's political culture . With the role of Christianity in decline, it having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life, commentators have suggested that Canada has come to enter a post-Christian period in a secular state, with irreligion on the rise. The majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives, but still believe in God. The practice of religion

3300-620: Is considered the father of Canadian Jewry. The Islamic , Jains , Sikh , Hindu , and Buddhist communities—although small—are as old as the nation itself. The 1871 Canadian Census ( first "Canadian" national census ) indicated thirteen Muslims among the populace, while the Sikh population stood at approximately 5,000 by 1908. The first Canadian mosque was constructed in Edmonton , in 1938, when there were approximately 700 Muslims in Canada. Buddhism first arrived in Canada when Japanese immigrated during

3432-513: Is generally understood to be derived from Nazarenes , believers of Jesus of Nazareth through Syriac (Aramaic); Masīḥī ( مسيحي ) means followers of the Messiah. Where there is a distinction, Naṣrānī refers to people from a Christian culture and Masīḥī is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Naṣrānī tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners. Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in

3564-515: Is growing in Africa , Asia, Eastern Europe , Latin America , the Muslim world , and Oceania . According to a study from 2015, Christians hold the largest amount of wealth (55% of the total world wealth), followed by Muslims (5.8%), Hindus (3.3%) and Jews (1.1%). According to the same study it was found that adherents under the classification Irreligion or other religions hold about 34.8% of

3696-622: Is not accepted by Judaism. The term for a Christian in Hebrew is נוֹצְרִי ( Notzri ' Nazarene ' ), a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as יְהוּדִים מְשִׁיחִיִּים ( Yehudim Meshihi'im ' Messianic Jews ' ). In Arabic-speaking cultures , two words are commonly used for Christians: Naṣrānī ( نصراني ), plural Naṣārā ( نصارى )

3828-686: Is now generally considered a private matter throughout society and within the state. The 2011 Canadian census reported that 67.3% of Canadians identify as being Christians ; of this number, Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 38.7 percent of the population. The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (accounting for 6.1% of Canadians); followed by Anglicans (5.0%), and Baptists (1.9%). About 23.9% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, including agnostics , atheists , humanists , and other groups. The remaining are affiliated with non-Christian religions,

3960-469: Is strong, and many French-speaking commentators speak of a Quebec culture distinct from English Canadian culture. However, as a whole, Canada is a cultural mosaic : a collection of several regional, indigenous, and ethnic subcultures. Canadian government policies such as official bilingualism ; publicly funded health care ; higher and more progressive taxation ; outlawing capital punishment ; strong efforts to eliminate poverty ; strict gun control ;

4092-419: The 2021 Canadian census , over 450 " ethnic or cultural origins " were self-reported by Canadians. The major panethnic origin groups in Canada are: European ( 52.5%), North American ( 22.9%), Asian ( 19.3%), North American Indigenous ( 6.1%), African ( 3.8%), Latin, Central and South American ( 2.5%), Caribbean ( 2.1%), Oceanian ( 0.3%), and Other ( 6%). Statistics Canada reports that 35.5% of

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4224-578: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Religion in Canada (2011 National Household Survey) Canada as a nation is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of groups, beliefs and customs. The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms references "God", and the monarch carries the title of " Defender of the Faith ". However, Canada has no official religion , and support for religious pluralism ( Freedom of religion in Canada )

4356-495: The Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946 , took effect on January 1, 1947, and full sovereignty was achieved with the patriation of the constitution in 1982. Canada's nationality law closely mirrored that of the United Kingdom. Legislation since the mid-20th century represents Canadians' commitment to multilateralism and socioeconomic development . The word Canadian originally applied, in its French form, Canadien , to

4488-613: The Chefoo School , a Protestant missionary-supported boarding school. Initially, the Japanese expelled the students and staff from the school and interned them in the city of Chefoo. Later, they moved all the Chefoo internees by ship and train to Weihsien. Overall, in the countries occupied by Japan during World War II, approximately 125,000 enemy nationals were interned. Of those 125,000, ten percent were in China and Hong Kong . In China, Weihsien

4620-633: The Early Church Fathers from Ignatius and Polycarp onwards. The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus , referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan ; and Tacitus , writing near the end of the 1st century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" and identifies Christians as Nero 's scapegoats for

4752-574: The First World War and Second World War helped to foster Canadian nationalism , however, in 1917 and 1944, conscription crisis' highlighted the considerable rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and Francophones. As a result of the First and Second World Wars, the Government of Canada became more assertive and less deferential to British authority. With the gradual loosening of political ties to

4884-620: The Franks and can be seen in the Arab history text Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ali ibn al-Athir . The most common Persian word is Masīhī ( مسیحی ), from Arabic . Other words are Nasrānī ( نصرانی ), from Syriac for ' Nazarene ' , and Tarsā ( ترسا ), from the Middle Persian word Tarsāg , also meaning ' Christian ' , derived from tars , meaning ' fear, respect ' . An old Kurdish word for Christian frequently in usage

5016-699: The Great Fire of Rome . Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes . Jesus is named as a Nazarene in Matthew 2:23 , while Paul is said to be Nazarene in Acts 24:5 . The latter verse makes it clear that Nazarene also referred to the name of a sect or heresy, as well as the town called Nazareth. The term Nazarene was also used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus ( Against Marcion 4:8), who records

5148-674: The Greek Septuagint , christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ ( Mašíaḥ , ' messiah '), meaning "[one who is] anointed". In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as chrétien in French and cristiano in Spanish. The abbreviations Xian and Xtian (and similarly formed other parts of speech) have been used since at least

5280-612: The Highland Clearances to Nova Scotia. The Great Famine of Ireland of the 1840s significantly increased the pace of Irish immigration to Prince Edward Island and the Province of Canada , with over 35,000 distressed individuals landing in Toronto in 1847 and 1848. Descendants of Francophone and Anglophone northern Europeans who arrived in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries are often referred to as Old Stock Canadians . Beginning in

5412-608: The Koine Greek title Christós ( Χριστός ), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach ( מָשִׁיחַ ) (usually rendered as messiah in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term Christian used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches , or in

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5544-435: The Middle East . Estimates of numbers of illegal immigrants range between 35,000 and 120,000. Canadian citizenship is typically obtained by birth in Canada or by birth or adoption abroad when at least one biological parent or adoptive parent is a Canadian citizen who was born in Canada or naturalized in Canada (and did not receive citizenship by being born outside of Canada to a Canadian citizen). It can also be granted to

5676-585: The United Kingdom grew gradually over the course of many years following the formation of the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The First and Second World Wars , in particular, gave rise to a desire among Canadians to have their country recognized as a fully-fledged, sovereign state, with a distinct citizenship. Legislative independence was established with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, 1931 ,

5808-542: The allies . The Italians were housed in a separate section of Weihsien. The population from then until the camp was abolished was more than 1,500 internees. The largest number of internees were missionaries and businessmen and their families, but the internees were a diverse lot, coming from both the highest echelons of Western society in China and the lowest. Among rich businessmen and pious missionaries were prostitutes, alcoholics, and drug addicts. Several internees were of mixed-blood. A jazz band of four African-Americans and

5940-589: The education of women , which led to the eradication of illiteracy among females in Protestant communities. Christian culture describes the cultural practices common to Christian peoples. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Greco-Roman , Byzantine , Western culture , Middle Eastern , Slavic , Caucasian , and Indian cultures . Since

6072-597: The mother tongues of approximately 56% and 21% of Canadians, respectively. As of the 2016 Census, just over 7.3 million Canadians listed a non-official language as their mother tongue. Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (1,227,680 first-language speakers), Punjabi (501,680), Spanish (458,850), Tagalog (431,385), Arabic (419,895), German (384,040), and Italian (375,645). Less than one percent of Canadians (just over 250,000 individuals) can speak an indigenous language . About half this number (129,865) reported using an indigenous language on

6204-698: The 16th and 17th centuries before the religion was banned by the Tokugawa shogunate . Today, Christians are referred to in Standard Japanese as キリスト教徒 ( Kirisuto-kyōto ) or the English-derived term クリスチャン ( kurisuchan ). Korean still uses 기독교도 ( RR : Gidokkyodo ) for ' Christian ' , though the Portuguese loanword 그리스도 (RR: Geuriseudo ) now replaced the old Sino-Korean 기독 (RR: Gidok ), which refers to Christ himself. In Thailand,

6336-599: The 17th century: Oxford English Dictionary shows a 1634 use of Xtianity and Xian is seen in a 1634–38 diary. The word Xmas uses a similar contraction. The first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament , in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year. The text says that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" ( Acts 11:26 ). The second mention of

6468-634: The 18th and 19th century; immigration westward (to the area known as Rupert's Land ) was carried out by " Voyageurs "; French settlers working for the North West Company ; and by British settlers ( English and Scottish ) representing the Hudson's Bay Company , coupled with independent entrepreneurial woodsman called coureur des bois . This arrival of newcomers led to the creation of the Métis , an ethnic group of mixed European and First Nations parentage. In

6600-433: The 1960s, opening the doors to immigrants from all parts of the world. While the 1950s had still seen high levels of immigration by Europeans, by the 1970s immigrants were increasingly Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese , Jamaican , and Haitian . During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Canada received many American Vietnam War draft dissenters . Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Canada's growing Pacific trade brought with it

6732-500: The 200 Americans in the camp, and that each American should receive seven and one-half parcels. A bitter stand-off between the Americans and the other nationalities in the camp ensued until the Japanese decided that each person in the camp would receive one parcel. The incident created a lasting animosity in the camp between the Americans and others. Langdon Gilkey, an American, said that "Had there been no Japanese guns guaranteeing order in

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6864-413: The 2000s were not born in the country. Statistics Canada projects that, by 2031, nearly one-half of Canadians above the age of 15 will be foreign-born or have one foreign-born parent. Indigenous peoples , according to the 2016 Canadian census , numbered at 1,673,780 or 4.9% of the country's 35,151,728 population. While the first contact with Europeans and Indigenous peoples in Canada had occurred

6996-411: The 247,243 total immigrants to the country. Canada resettles over one in 10 of the world's refugees and has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world. As of a 2010 report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada , there were 2.8 million Canadian citizens abroad . This represents about 8% of the total Canadian population. Of those living abroad, the United States, Hong Kong,

7128-405: The 36.3 million people enumerated in 2021 approximately 24.5 million reported being " white ", representing 67.4 percent of the population. The indigenous population representing 5 percent or 1.8 million individuals, grew by 9.4 percent compared to the non-Indigenous population, which grew by 5.3 percent from 2016 to 2021. One out of every four Canadians or 26.5 percent of

7260-446: The American Red Cross arrived at the camp by donkey cart. About 1500 parcels arrived, each of them weighing about 20 kilograms (44 lb) and containing canned meat, butter, cigarettes, cheese, powdered milk, coffee, and chocolate. The number of parcels was sufficient to give one parcel to each person in the camp, but several Americans, including missionaries, protested that parcels from the American Red Cross should be distributed only to

7392-455: The Chinese and American governments. De Jaegher began by throwing bricks over the compound wall to the black marketing Chinese outside. The bricks had messages tied to them with money and instructions for delivery to the addressees. Later, as Japanese security tightened, de Jaeger volunteered to supervise the Chinese workers allowed inside Weihsien to empty the cesspools of night soil. The cesspool workers carried concealed messages in and out of

7524-489: The Japanese dictated two roll calls per day, each of which lasted up to an hour. On August 17, 1945, two days after the official Japanese surrender to the Allies, a small rescue team parachuted from the 'Armored Angel', an American B24 Bomber . The team included six Americans (Major Stanley Staiger, Ensign Jimmy Moore, Lt. Jim Hannon, Raymond Hanchulak, Sgt. Peter Orlich, Sgt. Tad Nagaki) and one Chinese interpreter ("Eddie" Wang Chenghan 王成汉). The 'Duck Mission', conducted under

7656-474: The Japanese in the Weihsien area were increasingly isolated and surrounded by communist and nationalist guerillas opposed to their occupation of China. After the war, the camp commandant, Mr. Izu, was charged with war crimes, but a former internee leader, Ted McLaren , testified in his defense and Izu was acquitted. Shortly after the arrival of most of the internees in March 1943, the Japanese commandant ordered them to create 9 committees for different functions in

7788-470: The Russian term крестьяне ( khrest'yane ) acquired the meaning ' peasants of Christian faith ' and later ' peasants ' (the main part of the population of the region), while the term Russian : христиане ( khristiane ) retained its religious meaning and the term Russian : русские ( russkie ) began to mean representatives of the heterogeneous Russian nation formed on the basis of common Christian faith and language, which strongly influenced

7920-401: The United Kingdom and the modernization of Canadian immigration policies, 20th-century immigrants with African , Caribbean and Asian nationalities have added to the Canadian identity and its culture. The multiple-origins immigration pattern continues today, with the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from non-British or non-French backgrounds. Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as

8052-507: The United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, and Australia have the largest Canadian diaspora. Canadians in the United States constitute the greatest single expatriate community at over 1 million in 2009, representing 35.8% of all Canadians abroad. Under current Canadian law , Canada does not restrict dual citizenship , but Passport Canada encourages its citizens to travel abroad on their Canadian passport so that they can access Canadian consular services . According to

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8184-453: The Western world, Christians has had an influence and contributed on various cultures, such as in Africa, the Near East, Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Christians have made noted contributions to a range of fields, including philosophy, science and technology , medicine , fine arts and architecture , politics , literatures , music , and business . According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes

8316-423: The activities of enemy nationals, mostly British and Americans, whose countries were at war with Japan. The enemy nationals living in Beijing were not interned until March 1943. Enemy nationals were ordered by the Japanese to assemble on 25 March at their embassies and were marched to the railroad station. A crowd of Chinese watched the spectacle of foreigners, laden with all the possessions they could carry, walk to

8448-439: The auspices of the OSS , successfully liberated 1,500 Allied civilian prisoners. Christian A Christian ( / ˈ k r ɪ s tʃ ən , - t i ə n / ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words Christ and Christian derive from

8580-421: The basis of a point system that accounts for age, health and labour-market skills required for cost effectively inducting the immigrants into Canada's labour market) and refugee class (those seeking protection by applying to remain in the country by way of the Canadian immigration and refugee law ). In 2008, there were 65,567 immigrants in the family class, 21,860 refugees, and 149,072 economic immigrants amongst

8712-402: The black market, fended off actual starvation. Early in the internment period, Catholics in Beijing sent food parcels to the Catholic priests and nuns in Weihsien. In July 1944, food parcels from the American Red Cross arrived in the camp and each American received a parcel. Later, in January 1945, as the food situation in the camp was becoming desperate, an enormous supply of food parcels from

8844-464: The camp for de Jaegher. Along with a British businessman, Laurence Tipton, de Jaegher made plans to escape Weihsien, but his superior discouraged him, fearing Japanese reprisals on the camp. An American, Arthur Hummel, Jr. , a scholar of Chinese, was recruited to take de Jaegher's place in the escape. With the assistance of Chinese-American Roy Tchoo and black-marketer Tommy Wade, on the night of 9/10 June 1944, Tipton and Hummel successfully escaped over

8976-411: The camp via the black marketers, whose most successful practitioners were Catholic priests and monks, was important for the nutrition of the internees. Children were given a tablespoon per day of crushed egg shells as a calcium supplement. A Belgian Jesuit priest, Fr. Raymond de Jaegher, fluent in Chinese, developed a system for establishing contact with the Chinese Nationalist guerilla forces and hence

9108-415: The camp, we might easily have faced real strife. Thus might our community have destroyed itself." Thirty-one people died during their internment at Weihsien, including Eric Liddell , a missionary and an Olympic gold medalist . Thirty-three children were born. When the internees began arriving at Weihsien in March 1943, the hospital had been wrecked and looted. Within ten days, the doctors and nurses had

9240-419: The central role of the Western world and Western culture . Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western Hemisphere can be described as practicing or nominal Christians. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom". Outside

9372-412: The classrooms, the number of people could range from around ten to thirty people. The length of the compound wall coupled with the paucity of Japanese guards facilitated extensive black marketing, especially for food and most especially for eggs. Chinese farmers brought their produce to the compound wall and internees paid them with money or valuables and smuggled the goods over the wall or though holes in

9504-635: The colonists residing in the northern part of New France — in Quebec , and Ontario —during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The French colonists in Maritime Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), were known as Acadians . When Prince Edward (a son of King George III ) addressed, in English and French, a group of rioters at a poll in Charlesbourg , Lower Canada (today Quebec), during

9636-417: The compound and the daily line to use them was long. A "Latrine patrol," mostly of Protestant and Catholic missionaries, was created to supervise the use of and to clean the latrines. Eventually Chinese farmers were allowed into the compound to haul away the " night soil " they valued to fertilize their crops. Latrine workers had the right to take a shower every day while most internees were limited to one shower

9768-446: The country and offer specialty television channels, newspapers, and other publications in many minority languages. In Canada, as elsewhere in the world of European colonies , the frontier of European exploration and settlement tended to be a linguistically diverse and fluid place, as cultures using different languages met and interacted. The need for a common means of communication between the indigenous inhabitants and new arrivals for

9900-455: The country of Canada . This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Canadian . Canada is a multilingual and multicultural society home to people of groups of many different ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of Old World immigrants and their descendants. Following

10032-515: The country's rich history of early Christianity during the Spanish colonial era . Some Protestants in the Philippines use the term Kristiyano (before the term born again became popular) to differentiate themselves from Catholics ( Katoliko ). The region of modern Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia has a long history of Christianity and Christian communities on its lands. In ancient times, in

10164-519: The creation and maintenance of a small civilization, but our life was sufficiently close to the margin of survival to reveal the vast difficulties of that task." In July 1937, Japan invaded China, triggering the Second Sino-Japanese War . The Japanese soon captured Beijing and most of the large cities of China. At that time tens of thousands of Europeans and Americans lived in China, mostly businessmen and Christian missionaries along with

10296-558: The drugs to the Swiss Consul, V.E. Egger, who visited Weihsien monthly. Through a subterfuge he managed to get the medicines past the Japanese guards and into the camp. The health of the internees was described by a U.S Embassy report (presumably with information provided by the Swiss Consul) as "surprisingly good" despite inadequate nutrition. At Weihsien, there were more housing units than most other Japanese internment camps. Each person

10428-602: The early 1900s led to the continuous journey regulation act of 1908 which indirectly halted Indian immigration to Canada, as later evidenced by the infamous 1914 Komagata Maru incident . The population of Canada has consistently risen, doubling approximately every 40 years, since the establishment of the Canadian Confederation in 1867. In the mid-to-late 19th century, Canada had a policy of assisting immigrants from Europe , including an estimated 100,000 unwanted " Home Children " from Britain. Block settlement communities were established throughout Western Canada between

10560-782: The election of the Legislative Assembly in June 1792, he stated, "I urge you to unanimity and concord. Let me hear no more of the odious distinction of English and French. You are all His Britannic Majesty's beloved Canadian subjects." It was the first-known use of the term Canadian to mean both French and English settlers in the Canadas . As of 2010, Canadians make up 0.5% of the world's total population , having relied upon immigration for population growth and social development. Approximately 41% of current Canadians are first- or second-generation immigrants, and 20% of Canadian residents in

10692-735: The first centuries after the birth of Christ, when this region was called Scythia, the geographical area of Scythians – Christians already lived there. Later the region saw the first states to adopt Christianity officially – initially Armenia (301 AD) and Georgia (337 AD), later Bulgaria ( c. 864) and Kyivan Rus ( c. 988 AD). In some areas, people came to denote themselves as Christians ( Russian : христиане, крестьяне ; Ukrainian : християни , romanized :  khrystyiany ) and as Russians ( Russian : русские ), Ruthenians ( Old East Slavic : русини, руснаки , romanized:  rusyny, rusnaky ), or Ukrainians ( Ukrainian : українці , romanized :  ukraintsi ). In time

10824-481: The highest numbers of years of schooling among Christians were found in Germany (13.6), New Zealand (13.5) and Estonia (13.1). Christians were also found to have the second highest number of graduate and post-graduate degrees per capita while in absolute numbers ranked in the first place (220 million). Between the various Christian communities , Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain

10956-515: The historical evidence that "Christian monks built libraries and, in the days before printing presses, preserved important earlier writings produced in Latin, Greek and Arabic". According to the same study, Christians have a significant amount of gender equality in educational attainment, and the study suggests that one of the reasons is the encouragement of the Protestant Reformers in promoting

11088-494: The history and development of the region. In the region, the term Orthodox faith ( Russian : православная вера , pravoslavnaia vera ) or Russian faith ( Russian : русская вера , russkaia vera ) from the earliest times became almost as common as the original Christian faith ( Russian : христианская, крестьянская вера khristianskaia, krestianskaia ). Also in some contexts the term cossack ( Old East Slavic : козак, казак , romanized:  kozak, kazak )

11220-612: The initial period of French and then the much larger British colonization , different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly two centuries and continue today. Elements of Indigenous, French, British, and more recent immigrant customs, languages, and religions have combined to form the culture of Canada , and thus a Canadian identity . Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic, and economic neighbour—the United States. Canadian independence from

11352-450: The internees created kitchens and a hospital, started a library, and educated their children without desks, chairs, or a classroom and with few books. Since the internment camp was in squalid condition, people from all walks of life came together to cook and help in the kitchens, stoke the ovens, clean the latrines, and perform other tasks. Sanitary facilities were inadequate for 1,500 internees. Only 23 pit toilets in four locations were in

11484-475: The internees, the Japanese set up a bakery in the compound and they provided flour. Two elderly Persian bakers were among the internees and they trained a corps of internee bakers to staff the bakery. In 1944 the Japanese reduced the supply of flour and rationing of bread began. Periodically, the Japanese captors permitted food to be sent by mail to internees by individuals and international organizations. The outside sources of food, including that obtained from

11616-526: The larger category as Christian. Most Baptists and fundamentalists ( Christian Fundamentalism ), for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian. In fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity. Linda Woodhead attempts to provide a common belief thread for Christians by noting that "Whatever else they might disagree about, Christians are at least united in believing that Jesus has

11748-525: The largest of which is Islam (3.2%), followed by Hinduism (1.5%), Sikhism (1.4%), Buddhism (1.1%), and Judaism (1.0%). Before the arrival of European colonists and explorers, First Nations followed a wide array of mostly animistic religions . During the colonial period, the French settled along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River , specifically Latin Church Catholics , including

11880-620: The late 1850s, the immigration of Chinese into the Colony of Vancouver Island and Colony of British Columbia peaked with the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 eventually placed a head tax on all Chinese immigrants, in hopes of discouraging Chinese immigration after completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway . Additionally, growing South Asian immigration into British Columbia during

12012-451: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were planned and others were spontaneously created by the settlers themselves. Canada received mainly European immigrants, predominantly Italians , Germans, Scandinavians , Dutch , Poles , and Ukrainians . Legislative restrictions on immigration (such as the continuous journey regulation and Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 ) that had favoured British and other European immigrants were amended in

12144-525: The late 19th century. The first Japanese Buddhist temple in Canada was built in Vancouver in 1905. The influx of immigrants in the late 20th century, with Sri Lankan , Japanese , Indian and Southeast Asian customs, has contributed to the recent expansion of the Jain, Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist communities. A multitude of languages are used by Canadians, with English and French (the official languages ) being

12276-442: The leadership. The Japanese did not allow the internees to select a single overall leader. At first the committee members were selected by the self-appointed leaders of the internees, but, after challenges to the legitimacy of their authority, they were selected by elections held every six months for committee chairmen. "While politically we became a democracy," Gilkey said, "economically our society remained completely socialist...all

12408-820: The legalizing of same-sex marriage , pregnancy terminations , euthanasia and cannabis are social indicators of Canada's political and cultural values . American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide. The Government of Canada has also influenced culture with programs, laws, and institutions. It has created Crown corporations to promote Canadian culture through media, and has also tried to protect Canadian culture by setting legal minimums on Canadian content . Canadian culture has historically been influenced by European culture and traditions, especially British and French , and by its own indigenous cultures . Most of Canada's territory

12540-404: The majority of the population in 158 countries and territories. 280 million Christians live as a minority . About half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic , while more than a third are Protestant (37%). Orthodox communions comprise 12% of the world's Christians. Other Christian groups make up the remainder. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. According to

12672-443: The management of the camp. A council of the chairmen of the 9 committees represented the camp in relations with the Japanese. The internees decided that each committee would have four members, representing the four groups of internees in the camp at that time: internees from Beijing , Qingdao , Tianjin , and Catholic clerics. Each committee selected a chairman. Businessmen heading large British and American companies in China dominated

12804-439: The means of production were managed by representatives of the community as a whole and not by private individuals." The two problems most encountered were "how do you get a lazy man to work?" and the conundrum of how to ensure that a scarce commodity (food) was distributed in a fair and equitable manner to all internees. The distribution of another scarce commodity (housing) was also fraught with difficulty and conflict. To survive,

12936-665: The mid-1700s brought a large Francophone population under British Imperial rule , creating a need for compromise and accommodation. The new British rulers left alone much of the religious, political, and social culture of the French-speaking habitants , guaranteeing through the Quebec Act of 1774 the right of the Canadiens to practise the Catholic faith and to use French civil law (now Quebec law ). The Constitution Act, 1867

13068-635: The most common terms are คนคริสต์ ( RTGS : khon khrit ) or ชาวคริสต์ (RTGS: chao khrit ) which literally means ' Christ person/people ' or ' Jesus person/people ' . The Thai word คริสต์ (RTGS: khrit ) is derived from Christ . In the Philippines , the most common terms are Kristiyano (for ' Christian ' ) and {{lang[fil|Kristiyanismo}} (for ' Christianity ' ) in most Philippine languages ; both derive from Spanish cristiano and cristianismo (also used in Chavacano ) due to

13200-547: The national languages of English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in territorial government. In the Northwest Territories , the Official Languages Act declares that there are eleven different languages: Chipewyan , Cree , English, French, Gwich'in , Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun , North Slavey , South Slavey , and Tłįchǫ . Multicultural media are widely accessible across

13332-571: The official policy of the government during the premiership of Pierre Trudeau in the 1970s and 1980s. The Canadian government has often been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology, because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration . Multiculturalism is administered by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and reflected in the law through the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and section 27 of

13464-646: The past, the Malays used to call Christians in Malay by the Portuguese loanword Serani (from Arabic Naṣrānī ), but the term now refers to the modern Kristang creoles of Malaysia . In the Indonesian language , the term Nasrani is also used alongside Kristen . The Chinese word is 基督 徒 ( jīdū tú ), literally ' Christ follower ' . The name Christ was originally phonetically written in Chinese as 基利斯督 , which

13596-524: The phrase "the Jews call us Nazarenes." While around 331 AD Eusebius records that Christ was called a Nazoraean from the name Nazareth , and that in earlier centuries "Christians" were once called "Nazarenes". The Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes , Notzrim , occurs in the Babylonian Talmud , and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. A wide range of beliefs and practices are found across

13728-598: The place functioning with an operating room, a laboratory, pharmacy, and a diet center. One patient with appendicitis was sent to a hospital in Tianjin by train before the operating room was available. He died en route. The most important problem of the hospital was a lack of drugs. In 1944, two escapees from Weihsien reported to the American Army that medicines were desperately needed. The Army dropped four large boxes of sulfa and other drugs to guerrilla forces. The guerillas gave

13860-554: The population belonged to a non-White and non-Indigenous visible minority , the largest of which in 2021 were South Asian (2.6 million people; 7.1 percent), Chinese (1.7 million; 4.7 percent) and Black (1.5 million; 4.3 percent). Between 2011 and 2016, the visible minority population rose by 18.4 percent. In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) were members of visible minority groups. The 2021 Census indicated that 8.3 million people, or almost one-quarter (23.0 percent) of

13992-547: The population reported multiple ethnic origins, thus the overall total is greater than 100%. The country's ten largest self-reported specific ethnic or cultural origins in 2021 were Canadian (accounting for 15.6 percent of the population), followed by English (14.7 percent), Irish (12.1 percent), Scottish (12.1 percent), French (11.0 percent), German (8.1 percent), Indian (5.1 percent), Chinese (4.7 percent), Italian (4.3 percent), and Ukrainian (3.5 percent). Of

14124-455: The population reported themselves as being or having been a landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada—above the 1921 Census previous record of 22.3 percent. In 2021 India, China, and the Philippines were the top three countries of origin for immigrants moving to Canada. Canadian culture is primarily a Western culture , with influences by First Nations and other cultures. It

14256-487: The primary federal legislation regulating immigration. Prior to the conferring of legal status on Canadian citizenship, Canada's naturalization laws consisted of a multitude of Acts beginning with the Immigration Act of 1910. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada , there are three main classifications for immigrants: family class (persons closely related to Canadian residents), economic class (admitted on

14388-645: The prisoners were exchanged for Japanese civilian prisoners of the United States. The Wiehsien repatriates were sent by railroad to Shanghai , where they were loaded aboard the Japanese ship Teia Maru . They departed Shanghai on 19 September and sailed to Goa , a Portuguese colony in India. There, they boarded the Swedish Mercy Ship, Gripsholm , on 19 October and, after several stops to release repatriates, arrived in New York City on 1 December. People chosen for

14520-470: The purposes of trade, and (in some cases) intermarriage, led to the development of mixed languages . Languages like Michif , Chinook Jargon , and Bungi creole tended to be highly localized and were often spoken by only a small number of individuals who were frequently capable of speaking another language. Plains Sign Talk —which functioned originally as a trade language used to communicate internationally and across linguistic borders—reached across Canada,

14652-570: The repatriation voyage were on a list compiled by the U.S. and other governments of priority individuals for repatriation. The majority of those repatriated were missionaries and businessmen working for large American companies. After the transfers and repatriation, the population in Weihsien consisted of 1,093 British, 202 Americans, 42 Belgians, 28 Dutch, and 58 of other nationalities, of whom 358 were children. They were joined on 30 December 1943 by 107 Italians who were interned after Italy's surrender to

14784-502: The spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa and Horn of Africa during the early Roman Empire , Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West . Consequently, different versions of the Christian cultures arose with their own rites and practices, centered around the cities such as Rome ( Western Christianity ) and Carthage , whose communities

14916-657: The station, a symbol that "the era of Western dominance" in China was over. A twenty-four hour train ride without food and water carried them to Weihsien where most of them were interned until the end of World War II. When the group of Beijing internees arrived at Weihsien, internees from Qingdao (Tsingtao) and Tianjin (Tientsin) were already there to greet them, as well as a large contingent of Roman Catholic priests and nuns. A large number of internees arrived from Chefoo (Yantai) in September 1943. They numbered 371 persons, mostly British and including 118 students, ages 6 to 18, of

15048-544: The term follows in Acts 26 , where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle , "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." ( Acts 26:28 ). The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4 , which exhorts believers: "Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." ( 1 Peter 4:16 ). Kenneth Samuel Wuest holds that all three original New Testament verses' usages reflect

15180-481: The three kitchens was allocated to the Italians, and the other two served the remainder of the internees. A small "diet kitchen" fed people with special needs or in the hospital. The internees had four sources of food. The most important was the issue by the Japanese of a small amount of locally procured meat and a more plentiful supply of vegetables such as cabbage, greens, radishes, and eggplants. Each small child received

15312-410: The total global wealth. A study done by the nonpartisan wealth research firm New World Wealth found that 56.2% of the 13.1 million millionaires in the world were Christians. A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that Christians ranked as the second most educated religious group around in the world after Jews with an average of 9.3 years of schooling, and

15444-725: The wake of the British Conquest of New France in 1760 and the Expulsion of the Acadians , many families from the British colonies in New England moved over into Nova Scotia and other colonies in Canada, where the British made farmland available to British settlers on easy terms. More settlers arrived during and after the American Revolutionary War , when approximately 60,000 United Empire Loyalists fled to British North America ,

15576-403: The wall and joined Nationalist Chinese guerrillas in the region. Through continued contact with de Jaegher, Tipton and Hummel were able to keep the internees up to date on events outside Weihsien camp and stimulate the Americans to send Red Cross food parcels to the people in the camp who were near starvation. Prior to the escape the morning roll call of internees had been perfunctory. Afterwards,

15708-483: The wall created by removing bricks. Gilkey calculated that early in their imprisonment 1,300 eggs per day were being smuggled into the compound. Efforts by the Japanese to halt the black marketing included executing two Chinese farmers. After a hiatus, the black market started up again in July 1944 and, this time, the Japanese guards became the middlemen, facilitating the trade in exchange for a commission. The produce brought into

15840-400: The war. Weihsien remained in operation until American paratroopers liberated the camp without opposition on 17 August 1945, although the last internee did not leave until October 1945. Theologian Langdon Gilkey described the experience of an internee at Weihsien. "We suffered no extreme hardships of limb, stomach, or spirit...we were secure and comfortable enough to accomplish in large part

15972-501: The west brought significant Eastern Orthodox immigrants from Eastern Europe and Mormon and Pentecostal immigrants from the United States. The earliest documentation of Jewish presence in Canada occurs in the 1754 British Army records from the French and Indian War . In 1760, General Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst attacked and won Montreal for the British. In his regiment there were several Jews, including four among his officer corps, most notably Lieutenant Aaron Hart who

16104-444: The world among those who call themselves Christian. Denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of "Christianity". For example, Timothy Beal notes the disparity of beliefs among those who identify as Christians in the United States as follows: Although all of them have their historical roots in Christian theology and tradition, and although most would identify themselves as Christian, many would not identify others within

16236-516: Was felle ( فەڵە ), coming from the root word meaning ' to be saved, attain salvation ' . The Syriac term Nasrani ( ' Nazarene ' ) has also been attached to the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala , India. In northern India and Pakistan , Christians are referred to ʿĪsāʾī ( Hindi : ईसाई , Urdu : عیسائی ). Masīhī ( Hindi : मसीही , Urdu : مسیحی ) is a term Christians use to refer to themselves as well. In

16368-526: Was allowed to have around forty-five square feet of space. Single women and men were separated on different sides of the buildings; women on one side and men on the other. The internees were placed in the basements of rooms of the hospital, school buildings, and previous Chinese dormitories. Family housing was set up in compounds, with long rows of rooms that usually held a family of two to four people each. The rooms were approximately nine by twelve feet. Some internees were placed into classrooms for sleeping. In

16500-571: Was called Western or Latin Christendom , and Constantinople ( Eastern Christianity ), Antioch ( Syriac Christianity ), Kerala ( Indian Christianity ) and Alexandria , among others, whose communities were called Eastern or Oriental Christendom. The Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization . From the 11th to 13th centuries, Latin Christendom rose to

16632-520: Was designed to meet the growing calls of Canadians for autonomy from British rule, while avoiding the overly strong decentralization that contributed to the Civil War in the United States. The compromises made by the Fathers of Confederation set Canadians on a path to bilingualism , and this in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity. The Canadian Armed Forces and overall civilian participation in

16764-618: Was inhabited and developed later than other European colonies in the Americas, with the result that themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders were important in the early development of the Canadian identity . First Nations played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada , particularly for their role in assisting exploration of the continent during the North American fur trade . The British conquest of New France in

16896-569: Was later abbreviated as 基督 . The term is Kî-tuk in the southern Hakka dialect ; the two characters are pronounced Jīdū in Mandarin Chinese. In Vietnam, the same two characters read Cơ đốc , and a "follower of Christianity" is a tín đồ Cơ đốc giáo . In Japan, the term kirishitan (written in Edo period documents 吉利支丹 , 切支丹 , and in modern Japanese histories as キリシタン ), from Portuguese cristão , referred to Roman Catholics in

17028-462: Was one of the largest internment camps, called "Civilian Assembly Centers" by the Japanese. Internees at Weihsien were housed in a former Presbyterian mission compound that was called the "Courtyard of the Happy Way" ( Chinese : 乐道院 ; pinyin : Lè dào yuàn ). The walled compound where the internees lived was 5 km (3.1 miles) from the city of Weihsien. The compound was about the size of

17160-664: Was surrounded by farmland. Not all of the internees sent to Weihsien remained there. The largest group to leave Weihsien were 438 Roman Catholic priests and nuns who, on 16 August 1943, were transferred out of Weihsien and sent to Beijing where they were confined in their religious houses. A few Catholics elected to stay in Weihsien and would become the cleverest of the camp's black marketers. In September 1943, 1,525 Americans, Canadians , and Latin Americans were repatriated from Japanese-controlled civilian internment camps in East Asia, including 395 from Weihsien. By agreement with Japan,

17292-471: Was the arrival and distribution in the camp of food parcels from the American Red Cross (also more later). All these sources dwindled as the war continued and, although there was no starvation, some men lost 50 or more pounds. The most important item in the diet of the internees was bread which along with tea and vegetable soup, sometimes with a bit of meat, comprised every meal. Prior to the arrival of

17424-543: Was used to denote "free" Christians of steppe origin and East Slavic language. Nominally "Christian" societies made "Christian" a default label for citizenship or for "people like us". In this context, religious or ethnic minorities can use "Christians" or "you Christians" loosely as a shorthand term for mainstream members of society who do not belong to their group – even in a thoroughly secular (though formerly Christian) society. As of 2020, Christianity has approximately 2.4 billion adherents. The faith represents about

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