General

Chad: Sultan in Christian and Animist South is ‘threat for peace’

July 18, 2018 Chad Chad, Madrassas, Moyen-Chari, Sub-Saharan Africa

Chadian authorities have installed a sultan in the south Moyen-Chari region, increasing fears of further marginalisation among the Christian and Animist population. (Chad, like Nigeria, is roughly divided between a broadly Muslim north, and a broadly Christian and Animist south). A sultan traditionally holds spiritual authority over his subjects, as well . . . Read More

Hopes dashed for release of pastor Andrew Brunson as Turkish trial to continue in October

July 18, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Ankara, Binali Yildirim, Coup, Donald Trump, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sanctions, Turkey, USA

Hopes were dashed for the imminent release of an American pastor jailed in Turkey on terrorism charges as a Turkish court today ordered him to remain behind bars. The court scheduled Andrew Brunson’s next hearing for 12 October. Some observers had believed that Turkey might release Brunson, who has been . . . Read More

Egypt: Mob attack encouraged by police promise ‘No church will be allowed here’

July 17, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya

A mob attacked a church in Minya, Egypt, on 13 July protesting against its legalisation and received a police officer’s approval, World Watch Monitor has learnt from local sources. The only church in Ezbet Sultan Pasha village, where about 20 percent of the population is Christian, was built in September . . . Read More

Missionaries of Charity complain of ‘baseless innuendos’ as government orders probe

July 16, 2018 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Jharkhand, West Bengal

Roman Catholic nuns of the Missionaries of Charity order pray at the tomb of Mother Teresa at a service to commemorate the 20th death anniversary of Mother Teresa at the Missionaries of Charity house in Kolkata on September 5, 2017.

The order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa has moved to defend itself from “false news” and “baseless innuendos” after the government yesterday ordered all the country’s states to inspect all childcare homes run by the Kolkata-based order. The women and child development minister, Maneka Gandhi, made the announcement on Monday as criticism . . . Read More

Algerian government allows three churches to re-open in June, but now closes another

July 16, 2018 Algeria Aïn Turk, Algeria, Algiers, Bejaia, Mâatkas, Protestant Church of Algeria

In Algeria, the relief of the Protestant minority at the recent re-opening of three churches a month ago has been cut short, after another church was closed last week. On Wednesday (11 July), the building used by a Protestant church in the small town of Riki (8km from Akbou), in . . . Read More

Freed Czech charity worker recalls finding hell and heaven in Sudan’s jails

July 13, 2018 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Hassan Taour, Islamic State, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Nuba Mountains, Petr Jašek, Prisons, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ

The Czech aid worker who spent 14 ½ months behind bars in Sudan has said he counted his experience a “privilege” because it enabled him to share his Christian faith with Sudanese prisoners, and praised the country’s “very courageous” Christian minority. Petr Jašek also told World Watch Monitor that two . . . Read More

Families left confused after reported release of Burkina Faso Christians turns out to be false

July 13, 2018 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Soum, West Africa

A Burkina Faso pastor and seven other Christians reportedly released by their kidnappers one month ago are in fact still in captivity, World Watch Monitor has been told by the pastor’s eldest son. Pastor Pierre Boéna was kidnapped by armed men on 3 June – alongside his younger son, daughter-in-law, . . . Read More

Myanmar: Peace talks resume but ethnic autonomy not on the agenda

July 12, 2018 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Chin, China, Churches, Human rights, Kachin, Karen, Ma Ba Tha, Minorities, Myanmar, Myitkyina, Panglong, Rakhine, Rohingya, Sanctions, Tatmadaw

Myanmar's defacto leader Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the 2016 Panglong Conference. (Photo: AUNG HTET/AFP/Getty Images)

A third round of peace talks are taking place in Myanmar this week between armed ethnic groups and government forces, but the military has ruled out discussions on the autonomy that ethnic groups crave. The six-day meeting, which has been dubbed the 21st century ‘Panglong Conference’ after the historic 1947 . . . Read More

Egypt: Copts attacked after Facebook post ‘showing contempt of Islam’

July 11, 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)

An attack by a Muslim mob on Copts in a village in the Egyptian governorate of Minya on Monday (9 July) has left the Coptic community holed up in their houses, while security forces patrol the streets. A local source told World Watch Monitor the situation is still very tense . . . Read More

Algerian ‘happy to be free at last’ after jail sentence and fine for carrying Christian items

July 10, 2018 Algeria Aïn Turk, Algeria, Algiers, Idir Hamdad, Mâatkas, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

Algerian Christian Idir Hamdad (World Watch Monitor)

An Algerian Christian given a jail sentence and a fine for carrying a Bible and other Christian items has been acquitted. Idir Hamdad, 29, had been convicted in absentia on 28 September 2017 (though he only learned about this five months later) and given the maximum sentence of six months . . . Read More

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