News

Indian Church denies rumours it supports Hindu nationalist party

  January 7, 2016 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, Pune, RSS, Sangh Parivar

Indian church leaders have expressed shock and surprise after an article was published claiming dozens of bishops attended the launch of a Christian forum by a Hindu nationalist organisation. The church leaders dismissed the report as propaganda, saying four bishops attended a Christmas gathering they did not know was an . . . Read More

Egypt’s imams and priests confront sectarianism together

  December 29, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Cairo, Hosni Mubarak, Ismailia, Luxor, Mohamed Morsi, Port Said, Sohag

For three years, the Imam-Priest Exchange has brought Christian and Muslim leaders together to deepen religious unity.World Watch Monitor   Gathered at Cairo’s prestigious Dar al-Mudarra’at military complex in early December, 150 imams and priests heard some of Egypt’s highest religious authorities praise their participation in a three-year programme to . . . Read More

Pakistani Christians face eviction from Islamabad slums

  December 28, 2015 Pakistan Faisalabad, Gojra, Islamabad, Joseph Colony, Kasur, Katchi abadis, Narowal, Rimsha Masih, Sahiwal, Sheikhupura, Sialkot

Over 1000 “katchi abadi” residents gather outside the National Press Club in April 2014 to protest against plans to demolish 12 Islamabad slums.Dawn   Christians in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, are facing eviction from their homes, after the Capital Development Authority went to the country’s highest court to request the . . . Read More

Indonesian churches celebrate Christmas without building – or even tent

  December 27, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, Java, Papua, Tangerang

Ten churches were destroyed in Aceh in the month of October alone.World Watch Monitor   President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on 23rd Dec promised a safe Christmas celebration throughout Indonesia. It’s the world’s most populous Muslim nation, but only one of its provinces applies sharia. Ten churches were destroyed in this . . . Read More

Thinking of home this Christmas, displaced Iraqi Christians look ahead with hope

  December 24, 2015 Iraq Christmas, Dohuk, Erbil

This nativity picture hung inside Nissan’s caravan. The family wished to keep their own photos private.World Watch Monitor   Back at home in their Nineveh Plain town of Qaraqosh, the children learnt ‘Aboun Bashmayo‘, or ‘Our Father…,‘ in their original Syriac tongue. Now, as refugees, they were singing ‘Forgive us . . . Read More

Indian Christians frustrated by Good Governance Day ‘distraction’ at Christmas

  December 22, 2015 India BJP, Christmas, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Maharashtra, Pune

Thousands of Santa Clauses parade through the streets of Thrissur, Kerala state, in 2014.World Watch Monitor   Church leaders have joined critics of a controversial move by the government of India’s second-most populous state to hold “Good Governance Day” observances on Christmas Day. “Holding programmes to promote Good Governance is . . . Read More

Iranian pastor released after 5 years in jail

  December 22, 2015 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Church of Iran, Farshid Fathi, Hassan Rouhani

An Iranian pastor has been released early from prison, just six months after he failed to appeal a sentence to an extra year in jail and 74 lashes for allegedly possessing two litres of alcohol in his prison cell. Farshid Fathi was serving a six-year prison sentence – extended to . . . Read More

Christian women in Baghdad face intimidation to veil

  December 18, 2015 Iraq Baghdad, Basra, Hijab, Women

The offensive poster is aimed squarely at Christian women   The few Christians still holding out in Baghdad have found themselves on the receiving end of another barrage of intimidation. Posters appeared on the morning of 13 Dec. – a Sunday – near Christian places of worship with a message . . . Read More

Three killed outside ‘Christian’ radio station in Mali

  December 18, 2015 Mali Bamako, Gao, Timbuktu, Tuareg

The main entrance to Tahanint radio station in Timbuktu, Mali.World Watch Monitor   Three men were killed when an unidentified gunman opened fire outside a Christian radio station in Mali last night (17 December). Hamar Oumar Dicko and Samuel Dicko worked for the station; Abdal Malick Ag Alher was a . . . Read More

5 years on: what has the Arab Spring meant for Christians?

  December 17, 2015 Arab Spring, Copts, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Iraq, Islamic State, Libya, Middle East, Muammar Gaddafi, Muslim Brotherhood, North Africa, Ramadan, Syria, Tunisia

The Arab Spring, which began five years ago today (17th December) started with a wave of protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab countries. It was positively acclaimed as a social movement demanding an end to human rights violations, government corruption and poverty. Yet, so far, the outcome is largely contrary to . . . Read More