General

UN urged to protect Syria’s civilians

September 25, 2014 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Islamic State, Syria, Trauma, UN

Open Doors International, a global charity serving Christians who are under pressure because of their faith, has joined 38 non-governmental organizations in a campaign demanding diplomatic action to protect civilians amid Syria’s civil war. The campaign, called ‘With Syria,’ intends to redouble pressure on United Nations members to live up . . . Read More

Nigerian Bishops: ‘Stop playing politics, protect innocent citizens’

September 24, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Catholics, Delta State, Islamic extremism, Maiduguri, Nigeria

Most Rev Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.World Watch Monitor Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have called on the government to protect the lives and property of its people, as militants intensified their killing spree across the country. In a statement ”While Nigeria bleeds and . . . Read More

New urgency for an old idea: Nineveh

September 17, 2014 Iraq Assyrians, Baghdad, Basra, Fallujah, Islamic State, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Saddam Hussein, Tel Kaif

An ancient Nineveh gate, east of Mosul.James Gordon / Flickr / Creative Commons The militant Islamist rampage across Iraq has intensified calls for a Christian “safe zone,” even as it has made the task of achieving it more difficult. The jihadists, who call their movement the “Islamic State,” have . . . Read More

Two pastors among 100s killed as UN takes over peacekeeping in CAR

September 17, 2014 Central African Republic African Union, Bambari, Bossangoa

Emergency food distribution to displaced people in Bangui; CAR. June 2014Courtesy of Open Doors International The UN has taken over peacekeeping in CAR amidst an upsurge of violence which has left scores dead, including two pastors. Pastors Thomas Ouanam, 60, and Pierre Bapteme, 46, were killed in two separate . . . Read More

Nigerian Christians: ‘We are on the run’

September 16, 2014 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, EYN, Maiduguri, Nigeria, Samuel Dali, Stephen Davis, Sunni, Yobe

What ISIS has done in Iraq, Boko Haram is doing in Nigeria, a Nigerian cleric says. ”The news is really bad. When they attacked our hometown, we decided to vacate the place. In Michika and surrounding areas, soldiers were running away. Some of them were killed or wounded and lot . . . Read More

Recently engaged man loses his fiancée, mother and nephew in IS Baghdad bombings

September 15, 2014 Iraq Baghdad, Islamic State, USA

Alghadeer shopping area after the bombing. Baghdad, IraqCourtesy of Ankawa.com The violent jihadist incursion into Iraq is suspected of attacks in Baghdad Sept. 10 that killed about 30 people and injured several others. Three car bombs exploded minutes apart in Alghadeer, a Shi’ite neighbourhood in eastern Baghdad. The bombings . . . Read More

Iraqi Erbil priest: “We aim to treat our refugees as guests”

September 15, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Catholics, Chaldeans, Erbil, Nineveh Plains

The so-far ‘safe’ city of Erbil in Kurdish-governed north-eastern Iraq has seen thousands of Christian refugees arrive over the last few months with many relying on the church for sanctuary. But how are local churches bearing up to the influx? In the Mar Elia Chaldean Catholic church in the suburb . . . Read More

Egyptian fire crew in no hurry to put out church fire

September 9, 2014 Egypt Cairo, Copts, Egypt

The pounding on the door shook Mina Hanna awake. A neighbour had urgent news: Fire at the church. It was 3 a.m. on Aug. 20. Hanna and his younger brother, Ibrahim Saber, ran to their church, Mar Girgis Coptic Orthodox, in the Sharara village in the centre of Abu Qurqas, . . . Read More

Cameroon’s churches struggle to cope with Boko Haram spillover

September 8, 2014 Cameroon Boko Haram, Far North, IDPs, Maroua, Refugees

The United Nations camp for Nigerian refugees in Mokolo, norhtern Cameroon, in July.World Watch Monitor Northern Cameroon is more than ever in the sights of Boko Haram, as details of atrocities committed by the radical Islamic sect from neighboring Nigeria continue to emerge. The militant sect, which now controls . . . Read More

An old story under India’s new government

September 7, 2014 India BJP, Converts, Elections, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi, Seventh-day Adventists, Uttar Pradesh

The Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, is the political home to India’s Hindu nationalist movement. Following rallies such as this one in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, in May, the BJP rolled to landslide victories in national parliamentary elections.Narendra Modi / Flickr / Creative Commons More than 600 attacks on minority . . . Read More

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