Year: 2018

Saudi Arabia is modernising, but will this mean greater freedom for religious minorities?

February 23, 2018 Saudi Arabia Apostasy, Bibles, Churches, House churches, Houthis, Iran, Islamic extremism, King Salman, Minorities, Mohammad bin Salman, Muttawah, Religious freedom, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, Syria, Wahhabism, Yemen

The political landscape in the strict Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is changing, and quickly. A charismatic crown prince seems determined to modernise his country and even speaks of a shift towards a more “moderate” Islam. But will the changes taking place in Saudi also ease the situation for members . . . Read More

Turkish state blocks election of a new Armenian Patriarch

February 22, 2018 Turkey Armenians, Binali Yildirim, Greek Orthodox, Human rights, Istanbul, Minorities, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Religious freedom, Turkey

For the sixth time since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the government of constitutionally “secular” Turkey has openly intervened in the selection of a new Armenian Patriarch to lead the nation’s largest Christian community. Now estimated at less than 40,000, Turkey’s Armenian community – located primarily in . . . Read More

India: Videos show Hindu nationalists attacking Christians, burning Bibles

February 22, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, RSS, Telangana

Videos have emerged of Hindu extremists abusing Christians carrying religious literature. In one of the videos the extremists are seen setting alight a pile of Bibles. The two incidents, which were verified by Christians in the area, were filmed in southern India. They both show a mob of Hindu extremists . . . Read More

Kenya: engaged couple killed, together with fellow primary school teacher, by suspected Al-Shabaab attackers

February 21, 2018 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Boni, Catholics, East Africa, Education, Garissa, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Lamu, Mandera, Nairobi, Somalia, Wajir

After the coldblooded murder of three Christian teachers – including a couple soon to be married – in north-eastern Kenya by suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen, fear is growing that the Islamist militant group is targeting education, and its proponents, in the predominantly Muslim region. Seth Oluoch Odada and Kevin Shari were . . . Read More

Indonesia: Ahok asks Supreme Court to review his blasphemy sentence

February 21, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Java

Jakarta’s former governor 'Ahok' is scheduled to be released from prison on 24 January. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The Christian former Governor of Jakarta has appealed his blasphemy conviction to Indonesia’s Supreme Court A court spokesman said on 20 February that it had received a request for judicial review from Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who was sentenced in May 2017 in connection with a video in which he . . . Read More

Imam calls for radical reforms to end extremism and safeguard Eastern Christians

February 21, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Ansar al-Sharia, Ansar Dine, Boko Haram, France, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Paris, Yazidis

Sexual slavery practised by Islamic State (IS) jihadists is condoned in literature that is available at Islamic institutions and should be burnt, a leading imam in France has said. Hocine Drouiche, vice president of the Conference of Imams of France and an imam in Nimes, said that the ideology behind the . . . Read More

Pakistan: 800 Christian families flee neighbourhood after blasphemy accusation

February 20, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Pakistan, Pashtun, Patras Masih

Several Islamic clerics and a few Christian leaders held a press conference at a police station in Lahore, Pakistan, this evening (20 February) to send a message to at least 800 families who fled a Christian neighbourhood in the city after a 20-year-old Christian man was accused of posting blasphemous content on Facebook, . . . Read More

Iraq archbishop invites Muslim nations to rebuild Christian villages destroyed by IS

February 20, 2018 Iraq Bashar Warda, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State

The Archbishop of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan has called for Muslim nations to help rebuild the Christian and Yazidi villages destroyed by Islamic State (IS). Archbishop Bashar Warda said: “It is not enough to say ‘ISIS does not represent Islam’. We need more.” Helping to rebuild what IS destroyed would . . . Read More

Boko Haram strikes again in northern Cameroon, killing pregnant woman and setting church on fire

February 20, 2018 Cameroon Boko Haram, Cameroon, Far North, Mayo-Tsanaga

In Cameroon’s volatile Far North region, attacks by the radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, have resumed. The region had enjoyed a period of relative calm, with the last attack in 2017 taking place in August. Military campaigns by the Multinational Force – made up of forces from Nigeria, Niger, Chad . . . Read More

2017 ‘one of the most traumatic years for Indian Christians’

February 19, 2018 India Alphons Kannanthanam, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sangh Parivar, Uttar Pradesh

Hindu radicals burn a dummy replica of local Jharkhand Archbishop, Cardinal Telephore Toppo of Ranchi. (Photo: Catholic Bishops' Conference of India)

The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has described 2017 as “one of the most traumatic” years for Indian Christians in a decade after it recorded 351 verified incidences of hate crimes against Christians during the year. The Religious Liberty Commission of the EFI, which brings together Christians from more than . . . Read More

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