General

Iranian Christian Maryam Naghash Zargaran released after four years in prison

August 2, 2017 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Converts, Evin Prison, Iran, Islamic extremism, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Saeed Abedini, Tehran

After four years’ imprisonment for “violating national security”, Iranian Christian Maryam Naghash Zargaran was released from Tehran’s Evin prison last night (1 August). She was due to be released four days earlier, on 28 July, but, as Mohabat News reported, this was delayed without explanation. Naghash Zargaran, 39, a convert . . . Read More

Archbishop of Canterbury speaks ‘strongly’ to Sudan President of religious freedom for Christians

July 31, 2017 Sudan Apostasy, Episcopal Church of Sudan, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, Kadugli, Khartoum, Mariam Ibrahim, Omar al-Bashir, Pentecostals, Refugees, Sharia, South Sudan, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Uganda

Archbishop of Canterbury in Sudan, 29 July, 2017 (Credit: Archbishop of Canterbury)

The advent of the world’s newest country, South Sudan, in 2011 has not been without its impact. Not only has it spawned a civil war and one of the world’s biggest current humanitarian crises, but also the need for a new Province in the global Anglican Communion. This weekend, the . . . Read More

Ethiopian Christian attacked with machetes for evangelising

July 31, 2017 Ethiopia Converts, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Tigray

An Ethiopian Christian suffered deep wounds to the back of his head when he was attacked while alone in his home by a group of local Muslims with machetes The attack on 16 July left the 27-year-old man needing life-saving surgery. The man – who, for security reasons, cannot be . . . Read More

Copts in Kom El-Loufy still have no church in their village, and they’re not alone

July 31, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Islamic extremism, Kom El-Loufy, Minya, Pope Tawadros II, Religious freedom, Samalut

After 12 years of fierce opposition Coptic Christians in Kom El-Loufy, Minya, will soon again have a church. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The more than 1,600 Copts in the village of Kom El-Loufy in Minya, Upper Egypt are still waiting for a new church building, seven years after their previous building was closed the same month it was opened. Ever since the Copts started looking for a new venue, they have experienced fierce . . . Read More

First husband brutally killed a week after wedding; five years on, Kenyan re-marries

July 29, 2017 Kenya Baptists, Kenya, Mombasa

On Sat Jul 29 Damaris Kioko married Steve Kerage.

Five years after the brutal death of her first husband, Kenyan Damaris Kioko remarried in Mombasa today (29 July). Jackson Kioko was killed in May 2012 in the Jomvu area of Mombasa, only a week after their wedding in coastal Kenya. “We had a very colourful wedding. People said that . . . Read More

Bishop in C. African Republic wants more effective UN peacekeepers after ‘failure to protect’

July 28, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangassou, Bangui, Central African Republic, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, IDPs, Morocco, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, Seleka, UN

Bishop of Bangassou, (CAR), Juan José Aguirre Munoz (World Watch Monitor)

A bishop prevented by escalating violence from returning to his Central African Republic diocese has called for UN peacekeepers there to be replaced with a more effective defence force. Bishop Juan José Aguirre Munoz of Bangassou, who was speaking from the CAR capital, Bangui, also said the Moroccan troops are . . . Read More

India: Cross desecrations continue in Goa, despite arrest of Catholic ‘culprit’

July 28, 2017 India BJP, Crosses, Goa, Hindu nationalism, India

Crosses continue to be desecrated in the Indian state of Goa, despite the police claiming to have captured the ‘culprit’, a 50-year-old Catholic who, from what police say, appears to be mentally ill. Francis Pereira was arrested on 14 July, but the desecrations have continued, most recently on 27 July . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians fear Kurdish agenda behind removal of mayor

July 28, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Assyrians, Baghdad, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Syria

Assyrians protest in Alqosh against the removal of the Assyrian mayor by the Kurdish Regional Government. (Photo: AINA)

Iraqi Christians are increasingly fearful that the recent ousting of a Christian mayor by a pro-Kurdish council is evidence of a Kurdish agenda to usurp control of northern Christian-majority towns. Fayez Abed Jawahreh, the mayor of Alqosh, a Chaldean-majority town, was dismissed from office on 16 July by Bashar Al . . . Read More

Almost 500 Nigerian community leaders meet to resolve conflict, but Kaduna attacks continue

July 27, 2017 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Kafanchan

The largest meeting so far on the long-running conflict in Southern Kaduna, Nigeria has seen about 480 people, including Christian and Muslim community leaders, try to map out ways of ending the violent attacks in the so-called ‘Middle Belt’ state. Rev. Gideon Para-Mallam, who organized the one-day meeting in Kafanchan, . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian’s mother says son killed for asking for an end to his slavery

July 27, 2017 Pakistan Bonded labourers, Faisalabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Sheikhupura

The mother of a Pakistani Christian found dead last week says her son, who was 32, had to be on call 24 hours a day to serve local landlords (to reduce a big loan to his family) and was killed for expressing a desire to escape his “debt trap”. On . . . Read More

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