General

Chinese churches ‘more careful who they allow in’, as raids increase

July 26, 2018 China China, Churches, Guangdong, Guangzhou, House churches, Sinicisation

People leaving the church after a service in Shenyang, north-eastern Dongguang province. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Churches in China are becoming more careful over who they let in to their buildings, as government pressure increases following the implementation of new religious regulations earlier this year. Local authorities have been pressured to take action. In Guangzhou, for example, the capital of the southern province Guangdong, a local . . . Read More

US pastor Andrew Brunson to be moved from prison to house arrest, but can’t leave Turkey

July 25, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Binali Yildirim, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

A photo of the Rev. Andrew Brunson during his time in prison. Photo courtesy of World Witness

The US pastor Andrew Brunson is being moved from Kiriklar prison to house arrest in Turkey after a court ruling today, 25 July, a leader of the Turkish Protestant Church has confirmed direct to World Watch Monitor. The same source confirmed that Brunson’s wife is on her way to the . . . Read More

Iranian pastor taken to Evin Prison after violent raid on home

July 24, 2018 Iran Church of Iran, Evin Prison, Exile, Iran, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Rasht, Saheb Fadaie, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been taken to Evin Prison in the capital, Tehran, after a violent raid on his home in the northern city of Rasht on Sunday (22 July). The pastor was sentenced to ten years in prison in July of last year, alongside three members of his congregation, and had . . . Read More

Egypt: Copt in court for ‘blasphemous’ Facebook post that led to riot

July 24, 2018 Egypt Blasphemy, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya, Prophet Muhammad

Following Adel's facebook post in July an attempt by a mob to attack the Coptic Saint Tadros Church in Menbal village was prevented by security guards. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A Coptic Christian whose allegedly blasphemous Facebook post caused riots in his Egyptian village earlier this month is scheduled to appear in court today (24 July) on charges of contempt of religion.* Abdo Adel, 43, from Menbal village in Minya governorate, has been in detention since his arrest on 6 July . . . Read More

Coptic barber dies after ‘fainting’ at police station; family say he was killed

July 24, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Police

The family of a Coptic barber, who died at a police station where he had gone to report threats, say they believe he was beaten to death. Maher Girgis Tawfiq, a 43-year-old father-of-four from the city of Beni Suef, had gone to the local police station on Friday 20 July . . . Read More

Egypt: Copts celebrate first Mass in new church, seven years since closure of previous building

July 23, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy, Minya

Copts in Kom El-Loufy celebrate the first mass in their new church. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Seven years after their previous church was closed by local authorities because of “security reasons”, the Coptic community in the Egyptian village of Kom El-Loufy, 250km south of Cairo, held a first Mass in their new church yesterday, 22 July. The 1,600 Copts from the village in Minya governorate were marking the completion of the first stage . . . Read More

China: Xinjiang’s children in orphanages as their parents held in re-education camps

July 20, 2018 China Children, China, Religious freedom, Uyghurs, Women, Xinjiang

As a rally in support of China’s prisoners of conscience took place in the streets of Washington DC last week, an ongoing Chinese government crackdown on its Uyghur-people in Xinjiang province is tearing both Muslim and Christian families and communities apart. The rally, hosted by five rights groups in the . . . Read More

Anti-Christian violence in India’s Uttar Pradesh ‘part of the state machinery’

July 20, 2018 India Beef, BJP, Hindu nationalism, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Hindutva, India, RSS, Uttar Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

The northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, one of several to be ruled by the governing BJP party, is emerging as a new centre of anti-Christian violence as politicians use a fundamentalist form of Hinduism to intimidate minority communities. According to the religious freedom NGO ADF-India, Uttar Pradesh experienced the . . . Read More

Archbishop of Canterbury raises profile of Nigeria attacks as new humanitarian crisis looms

July 19, 2018 Nigeria Adamawa, Benue, Berom, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Kogi, Muhammadu Buhari, Nasarawa, Nigeria, Plateau, Sahel, Taraba, West Africa

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has challenged the British government on how much it is doing to help end violent attacks on Christians in Nigeria. His comments, made in a House of Lords debate on Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram on Tuesday (17 July), follow the publication of a . . . Read More

Jail for Iranian pastor’s son found guilty of ‘acting against national security’

July 18, 2018 Iran Assyrians, Converts, Iran, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Victor Bet-Tamraz

Ramil Bet-Tamraz was one of the Christians arrested during a picnic in the Alborz Mountains north of Tehran last August. His father, Victor, was arrested on 26 December 2014 for celebrating Christmas.

The son of an influential pastor silenced by the Iranian government has been handed a four-month jail sentence for his involvement with illegal house churches, World Watch Monitor has learnt. Ramil Bet Tamraz’s lawyers were informed of the sentence for “acting against national security” on 8 July. One of the . . . Read More

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