General

Indian Parliamentarians propose ban on conversions

October 6, 2015 India Anti-conversion law, Beef, BJP, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu nationalism, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand

Two cows, a sacred animal for Hindus, stand outside a church in Anjuna Flea Market in Goa.Eustaquio Santimano / Flickr / CC Two members of India’s ruling BJP party, one in the Lower and one in the Upper House of the national Parliament, plan to introduce a Private Members’ . . . Read More

Egyptian land dispute threatens inter-religious flashpoint

October 5, 2015 Egypt Alexandria, Churches, Copts

What in a normal setting is an everyday land dispute can quickly turn into a full-blown sectarian flashpoint with adverse effects on the wider community, when one side of the feud happens to belong to the wrong religion. This is what Hamdi Makanoti, his family, and local Coptic Christians are . . . Read More

Top pastor escapes death amidst renewed violence in CAR

October 1, 2015 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangui, Catherine Samba-Panza, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, Seleka

The President of CAR’s Evangelical Alliance, Rev. Nicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou, was targeted in an attack apparently triggered by the death of a young Muslim motorbike taxi driver.World Watch Monitor One of the top three religious leaders in the Central African Republic, who has won global recognition for his efforts to . . . Read More

Six churches torched in Tanzania

September 30, 2015 Tanzania Bukoba, Kagera, Katoro, Pentecostals

The Buyekera Pentecostal Assemblies of God church in Bukoba, after it was set on fire on 23 September.Courtesy Open Doors International Six churches have been burnt down in northwest Tanzania within the past week. First, on 23 September, three churches were torched – the Living Waters International Church, Buyekera . . . Read More

Three arrested after Nepal church bombings

September 29, 2015 Nepal Hindu Morcha Nepal, Jhapa, Kathmandu, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal

Three people have been arrested in connection with the recent bombing of two churches in Nepal’s easternmost Jhapa district. The bombings took place on 14 September, hours after Nepal’s Constituent Assembly had rejected calls to revert the country to a Hindu state. Both churches suffered structural damage, but nobody was . . . Read More

Pakistan: 23 unreported ‘blasphemy’ cases in 2 years

September 29, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Joseph Colony, Kasur, Pakistan, Pakistan Ulema Council, Punjab, Sheikhupura

Since 2013, the All Pakistan Ulema Council (APUC) has intervened in 23 incidents involving Christians accused of blasphemy, preventing them from becoming major incidents, according to Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, the APUC Chairman. (The APUC, a representative group of senior Muslim clerics, is very influential in Pakistani public life.) It . . . Read More

Argentinian pastor’s fight for religious freedom goes on

September 28, 2015 Argentina Argentina, Córdoba, Latin America, Marcelo Nieva, Río Tercero

Marcelo Nieva, pastor of the Pueblo Grande Baptist Church.World Watch Monitor It has been almost 12 months since Argentinian pastor Marcelo Nieva survived an assassination attempt. World Watch Monitor first met Nieva, 36, five months earlier, in May 2014, when he said that the introduction of a state law . . . Read More

Indonesian church holds 100th service outside Presidential palace

September 24, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Joko Widodo, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama

At the heart of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, in the megacity of Jakarta, Indonesia, a church this Sunday will hold its 100th open-air Sunday morning service next to a main road – because a city mayor is afraid to insist that a Supreme Court order is carried out. . . . Read More

Analysis: Latin American Christians need protection from organized crime

September 24, 2015 Colombia, Corruption, El Salvador, FARC, Juan Manuel Santos, Latin America, Los Zetas, Mexico, Michoacán, Organised crime

For three days last month, El Salvador was the deadliest country in the world. The 125 people killed in gang-related violence from 16-18 Aug. could not be matched even by the horrors in Syria and Iraq. Violence related to organized crime is perhaps the most significant threat to Latin America’s . . . Read More

Call to the European Church to stand with refugees

September 23, 2015 Europe, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Migrants, Muammar Gaddafi, Qatar, Refugees, Saudi Arabia, Syria

As Europe struggles to manage the migrant crisis, some church leaders in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are saying that some refugees are ‘fed up with Islam’ because Gulf countries aren’t offering them help. These leaders’ message to the European Church is ‘be prepared’ to welcome the many Muslims who are . . . Read More

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