General

Clampdown on Sudan’s churches

December 4, 2014 Sudan Bahri, Churches, Khartoum, Omdurman, Sharia, Women

A building used as a church by Sudanese Christians is being torn down by police after worshippers fell into a dispute with a group that claims to own the building. The evangelical church community in Bahri, a suburb of Khartoum, had formed a human chain to prevent the building from . . . Read More

Dispatch from Aleppo

December 3, 2014 Syria Aleppo, Bashar al-Assad, Civil War

Free Syrian Army fight government forces, north of Aleppo 21 Aug 2012Photo: CC/ Christiaan Triebert From today World Watch Monitor will publish an occasional diary from a Christian pastor living in Aleppo, the Syrian city that has become a key battleground between rebels and President Assad’s government forces. After . . . Read More

Muslim and Christian leaders pledge to promote dialogue in Great Lakes region

December 3, 2014 Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda

Attendees of Interreligious Dialogue for Peace and Security in Great Lakes region; Nov 18World Watch Monitor Clerics from Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo have pledged to promote dialogue aimed at preventing sectarian conflict in their countries. Twenty-one Christian and Muslim leaders gathered Nov. 17-18 at Cyangugu, Rwanda, . . . Read More

Taliban murder four humanitarian aid workers in Kabul

December 2, 2014 Afghanistan Afghanistan, Kabul, Taliban

Werner and Hannelie Groenewald, October 2014INcontext Three armed Taliban insurgents swept into a Kabul guesthouse on Nov. 29, murdering three South Africans and two Afghans in the compound of an international aid agency in the Afghan capital. Werner Groenewald and his two teenage children were murdered in the guesthouse . . . Read More

Al-Shabaab kills 36 Kenyan Christians on Somali border

December 2, 2014 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Mandera, Mpeketoni, Nairobi, Wajir, Westgate

Al-Shabaab militants have slaughtered 36 quarry workers in northern Kenya – all of the victims are believed to be Christian. Local residents told the BBC that the militants separated the group from Muslim workers before shooting them dead. Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia, has claimed responsibility for . . . Read More

Pope Francis addresses plight of Christians in Turkish visit

December 1, 2014 Turkey Ankara, Greek Orthodox, Islamic State, Patriarch Bartholomew I, Pope Francis, Syria

Turkey’s tiny Christian population was grateful for Pope Francis’s Nov. 28-30 visit to their country, during which he called for an end to all forms of violent fundamentalism in the war-torn Middle East. In a Nov. 30 joint statement with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the Eastern Orthodox . . . Read More

Northern Christians accuse government of neglect as Boko Haram continue its killing spree

November 28, 2014 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Damasak, EYN, Gombe, IDPs, Islamic extremism, Jos, Nigeria, Yobe

Displaced Christians expressed their anger at the headquarters of the Church of the Brethren, or EYN Church, in Jos. Nov. 17World Watch Monitor Hundreds of Christians, displaced by the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria’s North, have been staging protests to express their anger over the government failure to protect them . . . Read More

Hundreds of Islamist extremists mob a Christian school

November 26, 2014 Bangladesh Bangladesh, Education, Islamic extremism, Madrassas

Hundreds of extremist Islamists attacked a Christian school in Bangladesh, which welcomes children of all faiths, in response to locals who were outraged by rumors stating the school was forcing Muslim children to convert to Christianity. On the morning of November 5, an Islamist mob attacked the South Korean funded . . . Read More

Peace prize awarded to Central African Republic top clerics

November 25, 2014 Central African Republic Bangui, Bozoum, Catherine Samba-Panza, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, Seleka

L to R: Rev. Nicolas Guérékoyamé Gbangou; Imam Omar Kobine Layama; Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga; at the Nov. 13 Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C..Courtesy of SFCG The three top religious leaders of the Central African Republic have been awarded a prize for their efforts for peace in the war-torn Central . . . Read More

Turkey plans new global Islamic university

November 25, 2014 Turkey Education, Greek Orthodox, Halki Seminary, Islamic extremism, Protestants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

In an aggressive move to position itself as the intellectual center of the Muslim world, Turkey has announced plans to open an Islamic university similar to Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the oldest and most respected center of Islamic learning. Ankara’s announcement comes amid years of legal stonewalling for Turkey’s Christian minorities to . . . Read More

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