General

UPDATE: CAR’s peace-making leader mourns loss of loved ones as 3,000 shelter inside church

May 18, 2017 Central African Republic Alindao, Anti-balaka, Bangassou, Basse-Kotto, Seleka, UPC

UPDATE (18 May): As more details emerge, it has been confirmed that it was Rev. Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou’s youngest brother and nephew, not his son and grandson, who were killed in the latest eruption of violence in the Central African Republic. A local church leader told World Watch Monitor they may . . . Read More

Returning Christian families urged to put down roots in northern Iraq

May 18, 2017 Iraq Bartella, Iraq, Islamic State, Karamles, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Tel Skuf

Three building sites have been consecrated in Iraqi territory liberated from Islamic State as part of an ambitious plan to facilitate the return of Christians eager to rebuild their homes. The first group of Christian families who were driven from their homes in the Nineveh Plains by Islamic State (IS) . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christian boy, 16, accused of Facebook blasphemy again refused bail

May 17, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Nadeem Masih

A Pakistani Christian boy accused of blasphemy for “liking” and “sharing” a Facebook post which “defamed and disrespected” the Kaaba in Mecca – the building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque – has again been refused bail. In February, 16-year-old Nabeel Masih was refused bail by a local . . . Read More

Egypt: small signs challenging religious intolerance

May 17, 2017 Egypt Al-Azhar, Copts, Pope Francis, Port Said, Sinai

Pope Francis visits with Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Photo: Getty Images

Recent developments in Egypt show that Pope Francis’ visit to its capital Cairo last month might have inspired a more vigilant approach to religious hate speech against Christians by religious leaders and the media alike. John L. Allen writes in the Catholic publication Crux that two recent signs suggest the . . . Read More

UPDATE: New video by Boko Haram claims some Chibok schoolgirls chose not to be rescued

May 15, 2017 Nigeria Abuja, Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Muhammadu Buhari

Fathers identify their kidnapped daughters. shown in a Nigerian newspaper, in September 2015. Photo courtesy Open Doors.

Boko Haram released a video on Friday (12 May) claiming to show Chibok schoolgirls who refused to be rescued as part of last week’s swap deal that saw 82 girls freed by the Nigerian government. In the three-minute video, a girl dressed in a veil and holding a gun says . . . Read More

Pakistan medical superintendent ‘orders Christian staff to recite Quran’

May 15, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Quran

An investigation was launched into the misconduct of the Medical Superintendent. Staff, including medical staff, want to see him being removed.

The medical superintendent of a hospital in Pakistan has been accused of forcing its Christian staff to memorise Quranic verses. Article 20 of the Pakistan Constitution guarantees that no-one can be forced into any religious practice or belief against his/her own faith. Dr. Muhammad Sarfaraz was appointed Medical Superintendent of . . . Read More

US Vice-President says Trump will protect Middle East Christians and flush out ‘terrorists’

May 12, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Donald Trump, Islamic State, Mike Pence, Taliban

US Vice-President Mike Pence has said that the Trump administration is committed “to defend[ing] Christians, and those of all faiths, whose freedom of religion is threatened”. He was speaking on the first day of the World Summit In Defence of Persecuted Christians in Washington DC, which has been organised by . . . Read More

UPDATE: Two Sudanese convicted of aiding Czech Christian ‘spy’ released

May 11, 2017 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Churches, Hassan Taour, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ

UPDATE [11 May 2017] – The two Sudanese men who were jailed with the Czech aid worker, Petr Jasek, were released from prison in Khartoum this afternoon after a presidential pardon. Abdumonem Abdumawla and Revd Hassan Abduraheem Taour were arrested in December 2015 for “aiding and abetting” Jasek in his alleged ‘spying’. In January this . . . Read More

Chibok parents relieved: ‘Grace is out!’

May 11, 2017 Nigeria Chibok girls, Gwoza, Muhammadu Buhari, Trauma, West Africa

Some of the girls who were released from Boko Haram captivity on Saturday. They are still being held in a centre in Abuja for screening and rehabilitation. Photo: Getty Images

The 82 Chibok girls who were released on 6 May by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, have not returned to their families yet, but are held in a centre in the capital Abuja for screening and rehabilitation. However, Peter Pogu, father of one of the girls, was overjoyed . . . Read More

Relatives of Coptic ‘martyrs’ join summit on persecuted Christians in US capital

May 11, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, Converts, Copts, Donald Trump, Egypt, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Mexico, Mike Pence, Pakistan, Refugees, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, USA

A “World Summit in Defence of Persecuted Christians” has started in Washington DC, and is expected to be addressed by the US Vice-President Mike Pence today (Thursday, 11 May). It has been organised by American evangelist Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 600 participants have come from 136 countries: including Egypt, . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye