General

Algeria’s potential ‘Arab Spring’

April 15, 2014 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Oran, Tunisia

A small group of protesters pre-empts a rally planned for Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on April 5 in Bejaia.Special to World Watch Monitor The so-called Arab Spring has seen the overthrow of several Presidents across North Africa: first in Tunisia, then Mubarak in Egypt, followed by Gaddafi in Libya . . . Read More

Malatya murder trial postponed again

April 11, 2014 Turkey Churches, Malatya, Protestants, Turkey

Seven years after three Christians were tortured and killed in southeast Turkey, the Malatya trial’s 93rd hearing has been postponed for another 10 weeks, until June 23. Under judicial changes enacted last month, the murder trial set to resume on April 10 has been transferred to Malatya’s First High Criminal . . . Read More

Canadian nun and two priests abducted in Cameroon

April 10, 2014 Cameroon Boko Haram, Catholics, Far North, Georges Vandenbeusch, Maroua, Nigeria

The two priests Giampaolo Marta, 47, and Gianantonio Allegri, 57, in a classroom.Courtesy of Vicenza Diocese, Italy A Canadian nun and two Italian priests have been kidnapped by armed men in northern Cameroon, a region which serves as a base for Nigeria’s radical Islamist group Boko Haram. The Canadian . . . Read More

Christian couple sentenced to death for ‘blasphemous’ texts

April 8, 2014 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gojra, Islamic extremism, Joseph Colony, Rawalpindi, Sawan Masih

Shaguftah Emmanuel, left, and her husband, Shafqat, in separate and undated photos.Contributed photos A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Catholic couple convicted of blasphemy for insulting the Prophet Mohammed and the Qur’an. The sentence came a week after Sawan Masih, another Christian, was sentenced to death on . . . Read More

Homs priest killed by assassins

April 7, 2014 Syria Arab Spring, Civil War, Homs, Syria

Frans van der Lugt, a Jesuit priest who refused to leave the embattled city of Homs, Syria, in solidarity with the few Christians still living there, was killed by assassins Monday in his garden. Known among the people as Abouna Francis, the native Dutchman had worked in Syria for more . . . Read More

Indian elections: what could they mean for minority Christians?

April 4, 2014 India Catholics, Goa, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi

India is gearing up for the largest show of democracy on earth. Ahead of national elections, the silent Christian community in India -reportedly 2.3 percent of its 1.2 billion people in 2001, though experts say this was an underestimate – has become restive and alert. An electorate of 814 million – much . . . Read More

UN chief calls for immediate international action to halt ‘deplorable atrocities’

April 4, 2014 Central African Republic African Union, Anti-balaka, Catherine Samba-Panza, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Seleka

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon says that immediate action is needed to stop the killing in the Central African Republic (CAR), citing “grave and deplorable atrocities”, and “to prevent the further separation of communities that have lived together for centuries”. Its Human Rights chief said that, on a recent . . . Read More

Happy New Year, Iran?

April 3, 2014 Iran Hassan Rouhani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

14th-Century Armenian Church of St. Stephanos;near Jolfa, Iran.Adam Jones / Flickr / Creative Commons It’s officially the first week of a New Year for the Persian-speaking world who have just finished celebrating Nowruz. With the Iranian new year some ‘new’ things have already happened for the Islamic Republic. Most . . . Read More

New US-based Syriac Patriarch says he’ll return to Syria

April 1, 2014 Syria Aleppo, Damascus, Syria, Syriacs, Yohanna Ibrahim

The Syriac Orthodox Church, one of the oldest churches in the world and seated in the heart of war-ravaged Syria, has selected a US-based archbishop as its next patriarch. Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Karim, a native of Syria, has been Metropolitan and Patriarchal Vicar to the Archdiocese of the Syriac . . . Read More

20 Nigerian churches destroyed during violent March

March 31, 2014 Nigeria Benue, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen

More than 20 churches have been destroyed by Fulani herdsmen during attacks on communities in Benue State, Nigeria. The attacks in Nigeria’s “Middle Belt” started early in March but resumed March 23 in the town of Gbajimba, in the Guma Local Government Area. The attacks have claimed more than 100 . . . Read More

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