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Iranian convert marries in Sweden but still waiting on asylum claim

August 15, 2018 Aideen Strandsson, Asylum seekers, Converts, Iran, Sweden

The marriage of an Iranian Christian asylum-seeker to a Swedish pastor last month will not have any impact on her case for the next two years, reports CBN News. Aideen Strandsson, 37, married Cai Berger on 10 July, but though the marriage is legally recognised, under Swedish law the couple . . . Read More

China: Christian summer camps closed down, priests dismissed

August 15, 2018 China Catholics, Children, China, Gansu, Religious freedom, Xi Jinping, Youth

Authorities make holding summer youth camps like this one held in 2008, increasingly difficult. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China has closed several Christian summer camps for children and dismissed two priests for holding a camp, reports Catholic news agency UCAN. The two priests belonged to one of the only two unregistered Catholic churches in Tianshui diocese, in China’s northwest Gansu province. After their dismissal, the Tianshui Municipal Ethnic . . . Read More

Non-state actors behind most religious freedom violations in Indonesia – report

August 14, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Minorities, Religious freedom

Young people join protests against the former Christian Jakarta governor Ahok who was convicted of blasphemy in May last year. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The number of religious freedom violations in Indonesia grew again in 2017 and for the first time non-state actors were the worst offenders, reports the Jakarta Globe. Last year 213 incidents were reported, 4% more than the year before, according to the annual report of the human rights group Wahid . . . Read More

Egypt: Suicide attack on Coptic church foiled

August 13, 2018 Egypt Alexandria, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Tanta

Dome of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Cairo's Mostorod district where a suicide bomber tried to get inside. (Photo: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

A suicide attack on a Coptic church in north Cairo, Egypt, was thwarted on Saturday, 12 August, reports Coptic news site Watani. A man wearing a suicide vest detonated the bomb about 250 metres from the Church of the Holy Virgin in the Mostorod district. He was killed instantly, as . . . Read More

Historic Syrian monastery to reopen following restoration

August 13, 2018 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, Maaloula, Minorities, Syria

Nuns are returning to the Orthodox Monastery of St. Tekla which was severely damaged in Syria's civil war. (Photo: Sergio & Gabriella via Flickr; CC 2.0)

A monastery in Syria, which was freed from occupation by rebel forces in 2014, is to re-open its doors to pilgrims and visitors following its restoration, reports Catholic news agency Fides. Some of the nuns have already started to return to the Orthodox Monastery of St. Tekla in the historic Christian . . . Read More

Raids on ‘illegal’ worship meetings in rebel-held Ukraine

August 9, 2018 Ukraine Baptists, Churches, Crimea, Kiev, Luhansk, Orthodox, Pentecostals, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin

In the battle for Luhansk between Ukrainian forces and rebels in 2014, churches like this one in Pervomaisk, some 50 km west of Luhansk, were also attacked. (Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)

A Pentecostal church in the rebel-held Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine was raided by armed men on 6 August, the latest in a series of raids on religious communities, reports Oslo-based news service Forum 18. The raid took place during a worship meeting at the Grace Church of God Pentecostal . . . Read More

China’s worship places face obligation to fly national flag

August 9, 2018 China China, Churches, Henan, Religious freedom, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

China's national flag should not only fly at tourist sites like the Great Wall, but also at religious venues, say state-sanctioned religious groups. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

All places of worship in China will have to fly the national flag on national and religious holidays if a proposal by state-sanctioned religious institutions is implemented, reports Radio Free Asia (RFA). “All religious venues should raise China’s national flag to strengthen awareness of respect to the flag and preserve . . . Read More

Nineveh Plains Christians ‘slowly returning to normal’

August 8, 2018 Iraq Assyrians, Baghdad, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Karamles, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

Four years since IS seized the town of Karamles in northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, the local Christian community are “returning, albeit slowly, to normal”, AsiaNews reports. Hundreds of Christians joined in a procession following a Mass at the weekend, holding candles and chanting psalms, to celebrate their return and the new life . . . Read More

Indian Christians protest after part of church demolished to make road wider

August 7, 2018 India Chennai, Churches, India, Protestants, Tamil Nadu

Part of a Protestant church in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, has been demolished to make way for a wider road, despite the local court being yet to announce its verdict on the proposal, AsiaNews reports. A wing of the Emmanuel Church, which belongs to the Church of South India, and some . . . Read More

‘Is it necessary for the government to do this?’ asks Chinese Christian after church demolition

August 6, 2018 China Catholics, China, Churches, Jinan, Shandong

Chinese authorities have demolished a church in Jinan, Shandong province, to make way for further development of the area, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. Liangwang Catholic Church was legally registered with the religious administration. So was Shilihe Church, of the same diocese, demolished earlier this year. A third church, Wangun . . . Read More

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Catching Our Eye

Catching Our Eye

Iranian convert marries in Sweden but still waiting on asylum claim

China: Christian summer camps closed down, priests dismissed

Non-state actors behind most religious freedom violations in Indonesia – report

Egypt: Suicide attack on Coptic church foiled

Historic Syrian monastery to reopen following restoration

Raids on ‘illegal’ worship meetings in rebel-held Ukraine

China’s worship places face obligation to fly national flag

Nineveh Plains Christians ‘slowly returning to normal’

Indian Christians protest after part of church demolished to make road wider

‘Is it necessary for the government to do this?’ asks Chinese Christian after church demolition

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