News

Colombian Church sceptical over FARC deal

  July 4, 2016 Colombia ELN, FARC

La Catedral Primada, Bogota, Colombia.World Watch Monitor   Thursday 23 June, 2016 was an historic day in Colombia. After four years of peace talks and more than 50 years of armed confrontation, a bilateral ceasefire was agreed between the Colombian government and representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), . . . Read More

Colombia: How will FARC deal impact the Church?

  July 4, 2016 Colombia ELN, FARC, Juan Manuel Santos, Latin America, Russ Stendal

Colombians are celebrating after more than half a century of civil war was brought to an end on 23 June with the signing of a ceasefire between the government and the largest rebel group – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. But what will the anticipated confirmation of . . . Read More

Human rights must not ‘go down’ because ‘EU has other priorities’

  July 1, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Europe, Jan Figel, Religious freedom, UN

The report was launched on 30 June at the European Parliament in Brussels.European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief / Facebook   The European Parliament *Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance (FoRB & RT) launched yesterday (30 June) its third annual report on the . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian who sought police help instead faces death for ‘blasphemy’

  July 1, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Islamic extremism, Police, Shahbaz Bhatti

The Science Locus School of Science & Arts in Gujranwala, Pakistan.www.sciencelocusschool.edu.pk   An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced a Christian man to death for committing blasphemy against the prophet of Islam. Anjum Sandhu, 60, had initially sought police protection in May 2015, after alleging he was the victim of . . . Read More

5 Pakistani Christians released, 2 jailed for ‘blasphemy’ of calling pastor a ‘prophet’

  June 30, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujrat, Islamic extremism, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Nawaz Sharif, Prophet Muhammad

Pastor Fazal Masih, who died 20 years ago, was hailed as a ‘prophet’ on a flyer inviting Christians to a memorial ceremony.World Watch Monitor   UPDATE (1 July, 2016):  Five Pakistani Christians charged with blasphemy last year in the religiously conservative city of Gujrat have been acquitted, but two others have been . . . Read More

‘House church’ prompts Muslims to attack Christian homes in Alexandria

  June 28, 2016 Egypt Alexandria, Copts, House churches

The anti-Christian crowd welcomed the arrival of the police to their slum village of al-Bayda-1World Watch Monitor   Although the number of casualties may not cross the world-attention threshold, the story of what happened in al-Bayda-1, a settlement outside Alexandria, is indicative of a pattern faced by minority Christians in . . . Read More

Attempt on Syriac Patriarch commemorating genocide

  June 23, 2016 Syria Armenians, Assyrians, Genocide, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

As Christians were celebrating Pentecost in Qamishli, Syria, a suicide bomber disguised as a priest struck, killing three Assyrians and wounding five others. The Sunday attack on 19 June was apparently targeting Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, and was reminiscent of another nearly a century ago which killed the . . . Read More

Al-Azhar: to leave Islam is ‘treason’

  June 22, 2016 Al-Azhar, Apostasy, Cairo, Converts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Mohammed Hegazy, Ramadan, Sharia, Sunni

To convert away from Islam is “treason” that should carry the death penalty, according to Sunni Islam’s topmost religious authority. “The penalty for an open apostate, departing from the community, is well stipulated in Sharia,” Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayyib declared on Egypt television last week. “An apostate must be . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian shot, family attacked after he asks for pay

  June 22, 2016 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Kasur

The Pakistani district of Kasur became infamous in late 2014 when a young Christian couple were brutally attacked by a mob and burned alive. The trial of their attackers is still going on. Now a Christian peasant in a remote village in the same area has been beaten up after . . . Read More

Swiss missionary kidnapped in Mali ‘still alive’

  June 17, 2016 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Beatrice Stockly, left, in Timbuktu 2000. She was first kidnapped in 2012World Watch Monitor UPDATE (17 June): Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released a video, purporting to show that a Swiss nun kidnapped in Mali in January is alive and in good health. The three-minute video, posted on . . . Read More