General

Leaving home

October 7, 2013 Syria Assyrians, Free Syrian Army, Islamic extremism, Lebanon, Middle East, Raqqa, Sharia, Syria, Tabqa, Turkey

A couple of days after she fled Syria for Turkey, a colleague sent me a message. “Dear Nuri, this is a court that the extremists established in my city, Lattakia, in the [Syrian] village of Kansabba. This Islamic court issues the law according to the extremists’ religion. It started today. . . . Read More

Promised legal reforms disappoint Turkey’s religious minorities

October 3, 2013 Turkey Greek Orthodox, Halki Seminary, Kurds, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Patriarch Bartholomew I, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

An empty classroom in the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary near Istanbul, closed by the Turkish government since 1971.World Watch Monitor The Turkish government’s long-awaited “democratisation package” of reform laws announced this week has met with considerable disappointment among Turkey’s minority religious communities. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed on . . . Read More

‘Surprise’ release of Moroccan jailed for 30 months for evangelism

October 3, 2013 Morocco Aïn Aïcha, King Mohammed VI, Mohamed el Baldi, Morocco, Proselytism

New Life Church in Fes, Morocco.World Watch Monitor A Moroccan Christian man jailed for evangelism has been temporarily released after serving one month. Mohamed el Baldi, 34, from the town of Aïn Aïcha, near Fes, was given two-and-a-half years in prison, and ordered to pay 5000 dirhams ($600) for . . . Read More

Catholic clerics mugged at gunpoint in Central African Republic

October 3, 2013 Central African Republic Bangui, Bossangoa, Bozoum, Michel Djotodia, Seleka

Fr. Beniamino Gusmeroli was attacked by armed men on Friday.ACN Two Catholic clerics in the Central African Republic were bound and robbed by armed men on Friday, Sept. 27. Italian missionary Fr. Beniamino Gusmeroli, and Fr. Martial Mengue, a Central African deacon, were attacked by men believed to be . . . Read More

Bangladeshi Christians told to close church, convert to Islam

October 3, 2013 Bangladesh Apostasy, Awami League, Churches, Converts, Islamic extremism, Sheikh Hasina, Tangail

Construction of Tangail Evangelical Holiness Church, in Bilbathuagani village, was halted by local officials.World Watch Monitor A local government official in central Bangladesh has halted the construction of a church, forced Christians to worship at a mosque and threatened them with eviction from their village unless they renounce their . . . Read More

Missing Italian priest ‘still alive’

October 2, 2013 Syria Boulos Yazigi, Europe, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Sharia, Yohanna Ibrahim

An Italian Jesuit priest who went missing in Syria several months ago is still alive, according to an Assyrian priest speaking at the European Parliament on Tuesday (October 1). Archdeacon Emanuel Youkhana of the Assyrian Church in the East said the latest reports from inside Syria were that Father Paolo . . . Read More

After the bombs

October 2, 2013 Pakistan All Saints Church, Blasphemy, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Peshawar, Taliban

On Sept. 22, two bombs exploded at All Saints Anglican Church in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan. More than 80 people were killed, making it the deadliest attack ever on Pakistan’s Christians. In the days since, protests have been staged across the country. Condemnations . . . Read More

A renewed debate over blasphemy laws

October 2, 2013 Pakistan Blasphemy, Imran Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Ulema Council, Peshawar, PTI, Quetta, Shahbaz Bhatti, Taliban

Memorials for the victims of the bomb attacks at All Saints Church in Peshawar.Kamran Chaudhry for World Watch Monitor The Sept. 22 suicide bombings of a church in Pakistan have re-ignited political debate on the country’s controversial blasphemy laws. Only three days before the incident, the Council for Islamic . . . Read More

Anger turns into a riot

October 2, 2013 Pakistan All Saints Church, Karachi, Pentecostals, Peshawar, Taliban

An anti-Taliban protest outside the Karachi Press Club following the church bombing in Peshawar.Jahanzaib Khan via Twitter Last week, in the wake of the Peshawar church bombs, minority Pakistani Christians staged protests and demonstrations across the country, angry at the lack of protection given to them by their government. . . . Read More

A tragic homecoming

October 2, 2013 Pakistan All Saints Church, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar

A girl sobs quietly in a the compound of All Saints Church, in Peshawar, PakistanKamran Chaudhry for World Watch Monitor By Kamran Choudhry, communications officer, Caritas Pakistan News of the deadliest attack ever on Pakistani Christians last Sunday deeply depressed me. It was personal. TV video clips showed my . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye