General

Church head in unprecedented meeting with Turkish MPs

February 27, 2012 Turkey Ankara, Greek Orthodox, Halki Seminary, Patriarch Bartholomew I, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

In an unprecedented meeting, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Turkey last week expressed his concerns and hopes for the country’s Christian minority to members of the Turkish Parliament. The visit took place in Ankara after Speaker of the Parliament Cemil Cicek invited Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to . . . Read More

Suicide bombers attack worship service in Jos, Nigeria

February 26, 2012 Nigeria Bauchi, Boko Haram, Borno, Church of Christ in Nigeria, Islamic extremism, Jos, Maiduguri, Niger, Nigeria, Potiskum, Sharia, Yobe

Two suicide bombers from the Boko Haram Islamist sect drove a car laden with bombs into the worship service of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation here this morning, killing at least one Christian and injuring dozens of other church members, sources said. A man claiming to be . . . Read More

Rumors of imminent execution of Iranian pastor unconfirmed

February 24, 2012 Iran Iran, Rasht, Youcef Nadarkhani

Lawyers for an Iranian pastor awaiting a final decision on his death sentence have not received communication from authorities that their client will be executed, despite reports that his death is imminent. Rumors of an imminent execution of Yousef Nadarkhani were leaked this week after a source close to one . . . Read More

President sidesteps church controversy

February 23, 2012 Indonesia Bogor, Churches, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Java, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

In a defeat for the rule of law in Indonesia, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has declined to enforce a Supreme Court ruling that a local government allow a West Java church to worship in its building. The Bogor city government revoked the building permit of the Christian Church of Indonesia . . . Read More

Two churches targeted in bomb attack in Nigeria

February 21, 2012 Nigeria Boko Haram, Churches, Enugu, Goodluck Jonathan, Kano, Lagos, Nigeria, Zaria

Suspected Islamic extremists detonated a bomb outside a church building here on Sunday (Feb. 19), two months after Boko Haram Islamists killed 44 Christians and blinded seven in a church bombing in nearby Madalla. Sunday’s blast in Suleja, in front of Christ Embassy church during their morning worship, injured five . . . Read More

Churches forced to stop Farsi worship in Tehran, Iran

February 17, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Armenians, Assemblies of God, Assyrians, Behnam Irani, Farshid Fathi, Iran, Shiraz, Tehran

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has ordered the last two officially registered churches holding Friday Farsi-language services in Tehran to discontinue them. Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter’s Evangelical Church were the last two official churches offering Farsi-language services on Fridays in Tehran, according to Middle East Concern (MEC). Officials issued . . . Read More

Accused pastor in Kashmir, India given reprieve

February 16, 2012 India Baptism, Converts, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Sharia

A court has ordered the Jammu and Kashmir state government to temporarily halt criminal proceedings against a pastor accused of bribing Muslim youths to convert to Christianity. The state’s High Court on Saturday (Feb. 11) halted proceedings in the police complaint of “promotion of religious enmity by conversions” against the . . . Read More

Priests released amid wave of abductions in Sudan

February 15, 2012 Sudan Episcopal Church of Sudan, Khartoum, Omar al-Bashir, Sharia, South Kordofan, South Sudan, Sudan

Two Catholic priests abducted at gunpoint in Rabak, Sudan last month have been released amid a wave of forcible conscriptions into rebel southern militias. Their captors – South Sudanese militiamen loyal to (north) Sudan’s Islamic government – accused the Rev. Joseph Makwey and the Rev. Sylvester Mogga of ties to . . . Read More

Turkish Christians subject to discrimination, attacks, report says

February 14, 2012 Turkey Education, Malatya, Protestants, Turkey

Despite some promising developments, Christians in Turkey continue to suffer attacks from private citizens, discrimination by lower-level government officials and vilification in both school textbooks and news media, according to a study by a Protestant group. In its annual “Report on Human Rights Violations,” released in January, the country’s Association . . . Read More

Authorities raid house church in Shiraz

February 10, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Behnam Irani, Farshid Fathi, House churches, Iran, Khuzestan, Shiraz

Iranian authorities this week arrested Christian converts from Islam while they were meeting for worship at a home in the southern city of Shiraz, according to sources. Officials are holding the Christians at an unknown location, they said. The sources put the number of the arrested Christians, who belong to . . . Read More

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