General

Indian state’s ‘anti-conversion law’ to be repealed

June 29, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Arunachal Pradesh, Baptism, BJP, Catholics, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Minorities, Missionaries, Narendra Modi, Proselytism, Pune

Christian groups have welcomed a surprise announcement by a nationalist chief minister of a state in north-east India that he will ensure that a law preventing conversions from one faith to another is repealed. Pema Khandu, a Buddhist who heads the nationalist BJP-led state government in Arunachal Pradesh, told an . . . Read More

Nigerian Christians refute claims herdsmen killings were retaliatory, as Plateau violence reaches new peak

June 28, 2018 Nigeria APC, Berom, Christian Association of Nigeria, Church of Christ in Nigeria, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Jos, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau

In central Nigeria, clashes between predominantly Christian farmers and mainly Muslim Fulani herdsmen reached another peak in Plateau over the weekend, as suspected herdsmen went on a killing spree in a dozen villages, leaving scores dead. Early reports suggested that 86 people were killed, but local sources contacted by World . . . Read More

Mexican pastor killed, nine years on from son’s murder

June 28, 2018 Mexico Chihuahua, Corruption, Juarez, Kidnapping, Latin America, Mexico, Organised crime, Youth

A Mexican pastor interviewed last year by World Watch Monitor was shot dead earlier this month in another exhibition of lawlessness in the troubled city of Juarez, which is just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Garcia was shot at least six times on 8 June, as . . . Read More

70,000 Syrian Armenians have fled during the war, and few will return

June 27, 2018 Syria Aleppo, Armenians, Bashar al-Assad, Children, Civil War, Deir Ezzor, Education, Europe, Lebanon, Middle East, Refugees, Syria

The fragrance of Middle Eastern cuisine wafts into your nostrils, even before you open the door of the café opposite the central railway station in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. Nerses Kevo, the café’s owner, is one of thousands of Armenian Christians who fled the Syrian civil war and moved to . . . Read More

Iranian Christian woman pleads with UN to help family overturn ‘false and unjust’ spy charges

June 27, 2018 Iran Assyrians, Converts, Iran, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, Tehran, Victor Bet-Tamraz

An Iranian Christian woman pleaded with the UN’s Human Rights Council today to urge Iran to overturn “false and baseless charges” imposed on her father, mother and brother. Dabrina Bet-Tamraz’s parents and brother are appealing against lengthy jail sentences they have received for church-related activities. The appeal by her father, . . . Read More

Ethiopian Evangelical sent back to prison for ‘causing outrage to religious feeling’

June 27, 2018 Ethiopia Arba Minch, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Protestants

Women sitting in front of the Holy Saviour Orthodox Church in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An Ethiopian court of cassation has rejected an appeal by an Evangelical Christian sentenced to seven months in prison for “causing outrage to religious peace and feeling”. Temesgen Mitiku Mezemir, 24, the leader of an Evangelical fellowship group, was taken back to prison in the southern city of Arba Minch, . . . Read More

Copt’s fields torched after rumours he was turning his house into a church

June 26, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Children, Churches, Copts, Egypt

A Coptic Christian from Beni Suef governorate in Egypt saw his wheat fields set on fire, just four days after he was accused of planning to turn his house into a church. On 2 June, Ibrahim Sadeq Ayad from Ezbed Ragy village, near the city of El-Fashn, informed the police . . . Read More

What does conviction of five Christian youths to hang for death of one Fulani herder show about the farmer–herdsmen conflict in N. Nigeria?

June 25, 2018 Nigeria Adamawa, Enugu, Fulani herdsmen, Nigeria, Yola

Five Christian youths were recently sentenced to death by hanging for killing a Fulani herder, himself alleged to have killed 48 people. The five are from Adamawa state in north-east Nigeria, one of the three states most severely hit by the Boko Haram insurgency. Many fled Boko Haram, only to . . . Read More

Increase in religious harassment globally – Pew

June 22, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Bangladesh, China, Hindu nationalism, India, Sinicisation

Restrictions on religion around the world continued to climb in 2016, as more governments tightened controls on religious practices, populist parties increasingly used rhetoric to attack religious minorities, and the harassment of religious groups increased. A 138-page report by the Washington-based Pew Research Center into global restrictions on religion in . . . Read More

China’s ‘underground’ churches told to seek ‘guidance’ from state-approved bodies

June 22, 2018 China Catholics, China, Communism, Henan, House churches, Jiangxi, Religious freedom, Sinicisation, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Xi Jinping, Zhejiang

A house church meeting in China in 2005. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A newly implemented directive from the Chinese government forces Protestant ‘house churches’ and Catholic ‘underground’ communities to seek “guidance” from recognised religious organisations. A notification from the State Administration for Religious Affairs, issued earlier this month, requires organisers of religious activities at temporary sites to also apply for a permit . . . Read More

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