General

Three attacks on Pakistani Christians mark New Year

January 15, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Kasur, Lahore, Sialkot

The Apostolic Church in Baath was attacked on 7 Jan.British Pakistani Christian Association For Christians in Pakistan, the New Year has begun with attacks on their worship places, with three separate incidents in less than a week, including a church being set on fire. On 7 January, items on . . . Read More

Another Egyptian Christian conscript dies in ‘mysterious’ circumstances

January 14, 2016 Egypt Aswan, Conscripts, Copts, Egypt, Suez

Bishoy Kamel was supposed to walk free from his military service in February. Instead, his family collected his body three months earlier. The corpse bore “signs of torture”, the family said. “When we reached the hospital that afternoon, we saw Bishoy’s body reposed like an angel,” said Natei Kamel, the . . . Read More

2016 World Watch List drawn from world headlines

January 13, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Bibles, BJP, Boko Haram, Central Asia, Charlie Hebdo, Churches, Egypt, Hindu nationalism, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kenya, Libya, Middle East, Mosul, Niger, Nigeria, Nineveh Plains, North Korea, Paris, Sub-Saharan Africa

Some of the most urgent headlines of the past 12 months, from the global spread of jihadist violence to North Korea’s test of a putative atomic weapon, intersect with an updated list of the most difficult places to live as a Christian. For the 14th straight year, North Korea is . . . Read More

Dare Egypt’s new Parliament amend or even abolish its blasphemy law?

January 8, 2016 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Blasphemy, Gad Younan

Egypt’s Secular Party has called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to support legislation which cancels the blasphemy law, because, in the words of lawyer Hamdi al-Assyouti, it has “become a tool in the hands of extremists against minorities, thinkers, and the creative impulse”. And, in his experience as a defence . . . Read More

Indian Church denies rumours it supports Hindu nationalist party

January 7, 2016 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, Pune, RSS, Sangh Parivar

Indian church leaders have expressed shock and surprise after an article was published claiming dozens of bishops attended the launch of a Christian forum by a Hindu nationalist organisation. The church leaders dismissed the report as propaganda, saying four bishops attended a Christmas gathering they did not know was an . . . Read More

Egypt’s imams and priests confront sectarianism together

December 29, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Cairo, Hosni Mubarak, Ismailia, Luxor, Mohamed Morsi, Port Said, Sohag

For three years, the Imam-Priest Exchange has brought Christian and Muslim leaders together to deepen religious unity.World Watch Monitor Gathered at Cairo’s prestigious Dar al-Mudarra’at military complex in early December, 150 imams and priests heard some of Egypt’s highest religious authorities praise their participation in a three-year programme to . . . Read More

Pakistani Christians face eviction from Islamabad slums

December 28, 2015 Pakistan Faisalabad, Gojra, Islamabad, Joseph Colony, Kasur, Katchi abadis, Narowal, Rimsha Masih, Sahiwal, Sheikhupura, Sialkot

Over 1000 “katchi abadi” residents gather outside the National Press Club in April 2014 to protest against plans to demolish 12 Islamabad slums.Dawn Christians in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, are facing eviction from their homes, after the Capital Development Authority went to the country’s highest court to request the . . . Read More

Indonesian churches celebrate Christmas without building – or even tent

December 27, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, Java, Papua, Tangerang

Ten churches were destroyed in Aceh in the month of October alone.World Watch Monitor President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on 23rd Dec promised a safe Christmas celebration throughout Indonesia. It’s the world’s most populous Muslim nation, but only one of its provinces applies sharia. Ten churches were destroyed in this . . . Read More

Thinking of home this Christmas, displaced Iraqi Christians look ahead with hope

December 24, 2015 Iraq Christmas, Dohuk, Erbil

This nativity picture hung inside Nissan’s caravan. The family wished to keep their own photos private.World Watch Monitor Back at home in their Nineveh Plain town of Qaraqosh, the children learnt ‘Aboun Bashmayo‘, or ‘Our Father…,‘ in their original Syriac tongue. Now, as refugees, they were singing ‘Forgive us . . . Read More

Indian Christians frustrated by Good Governance Day ‘distraction’ at Christmas

December 22, 2015 India BJP, Christmas, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Maharashtra, Pune

Thousands of Santa Clauses parade through the streets of Thrissur, Kerala state, in 2014.World Watch Monitor Church leaders have joined critics of a controversial move by the government of India’s second-most populous state to hold “Good Governance Day” observances on Christmas Day. “Holding programmes to promote Good Governance is . . . Read More

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