General

Gunmen kill 12 Nigerian Christmas-Eve worshipers

December 25, 2012 Nigeria

UPDATE: In two separate attacks, gunmen shot and killed 12 worshippers who had gathered for Christmas-Eve services. One attack occurred in the northeaster Nigerian state of Yobe. Among the dead was the church’s pastor, according to news reports. The second attack occurred at a Baptist church in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. . . . Read More

Book review: ‘Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack’

December 21, 2012 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Qaeda, Arab Spring, China, Egypt, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Mao Zedong, Middle East, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Nigeria, Prophet Muhammad, Turkey

Jesus warned his followers that they would experience persecution, a prediction that was already coming true before the books of the New Testament were completed. Today, Rupert Shortt, author of Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack, argues, “the greatest curbs on religious freedoms take place in Muslim majority countries.” Take Egypt, . . . Read More

Finally, Istanbul gives Syriac Christians a place to build: a cemetery

December 18, 2012 Turkey Burial, Churches, Istanbul, Mardin, Midyat, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Turkey

Three years after a Syrian Orthodox foundation applied to build a church in Istanbul, the Greater Istanbul Municipality has granted them a large plot of land and a building permit. Banner headlines in the Turkish media praised the early-December decision as “a first in the history of the Republic,” declaring . . . Read More

Likely to lose constitution vote, Egyptian Christians gird for long struggle

December 14, 2012 Egypt Constitution, Hosni Mubarak

Politically connected Christians in Egypt give credit to the Muslim Brotherhood for one thing: they can win elections. The Brotherhood got 13 million ordinary Egyptians, many of them poor, rural and illiterate, to the polls in June to vote for their presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsi. Governing has been a different . . . Read More

China removes Shanghai Catholic bishop from state-run church post

December 14, 2012 China Mao Zedong, Shanghai

In a move characterised in Western media as a fresh challenge to Vatican authority, China’s state-run Catholic Church has revoked the title of the auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai. Thaddeus Ma Daqin, who is in his mid-forties, was ordained in July. His appointment had the rare approval of both Pope Benedict . . . Read More

Prosecutor yanked from Turkish Christian murder trials

December 7, 2012 Turkey Malatya

A High Council prosecutor probing links between the Malatya murders of three Christians in eastern Turkey and the earlier assassination of a Christian newspaper editor was abruptly transferred from his position last week and re-assigned prosecution duties in an Istanbul court. Prosecutor Hikmet Usta was preparing objections to the verdict . . . Read More

10 killed, four churches burned in Nigeria

December 6, 2012 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Christian Association of Nigeria, Church of Christ in Nigeria, EYN, Nigeria

Ten people were killed and four churches burned in two separate Dec. 1 attacks in northeast Nigeria by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamist group. The victims included nine Christians and one Muslim, who were killed in Kwaple village, Chibok Local Government Area of Borno state . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor released from Kazakhstan prison

December 5, 2012 Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan, Makset Djabbarbergenov, Protestants, Uzbekistan

Uzbek pastor Makset Djabbarbergenov has been released from prison in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He was released Dec. 4 and taken to the airport, where he was reunited with his wife and four children. According to the Norwegian religious-freedom watchdog agency Forum 18, they were flown to Germany. After arrival at Frankfurt . . . Read More

Algerian faces 5 years in prison for sharing Christian faith

December 2, 2012 Algeria Oran

Accusers who say an Algerian Christian insulted Islam provided no evidence to a judge hearing the Christian’s appeal of his original sentence. Karim Siaghi, a convert to Christianity, was sentenced in May 2011 to five years in prison and fined 200,000 Algerian Dinars, or about U.S. $2,500, even though prosecutors . . . Read More

Syrian Christians targeted for their politics or their faith?

November 30, 2012 Syria Aleppo, Bashar al-Assad, Civil War, Damascus, Free Syrian Army, Homs, Qatana, Refugees, Syria, UN

Wednesday 28th’s twin deadly car bombs in the Christian and Druze suburb of Jaramana in the Syrian capital Damascus appeared to target two communities which so far have not joined the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s government. State media said “terrorists” were behind the blasts, which killed at least 38 . . . Read More

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