News

Global Church meets to seek unity in face of persecution

  November 6, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Albania, Aleppo, Algeria, Catholics, Churches, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, India, Iraq, Islamic State, Kenya, Kidnapping, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nigeria, Nineveh Plains, Orthodox, Pakistan, Pentecostals, Protestants, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yohanna Ibrahim

Twenty-five years ago, on 4 Nov. 1990, a priest risked his life to hold a mass in a cemetery in Albania. In 1967 his president, Enver Hoxha, had declared that he had “abolished” the Christian faith, and that his country was henceforth the world’s first atheist state. On 4 Nov. . . . Read More

UN report focuses on children’s rights

  November 5, 2015 Iraq Children, Converts, Divorce, Minorities, Religious freedom, UN

This little girl and her family were forced out of their home in Iraq by the Islamic State.Courtesy Open Doors International   States must pay more attention to violations of the rights of children and their parents, particularly minorities and converts, according to the latest report from the United Nations’ . . . Read More

Pakistan NGO tackles demeaning low-caste word for ‘Christians’

  November 2, 2015 Pakistan Caste, Constitution, Dalits, Pakistan, Sweepers, Youhanabad

A program organised by Bargad, Pakistan’s biggest NGO for youth development, is attempting to tackle the social stigma Christians face from the word used in the Constitution for them. The Urdu “Isai” (derived from “Isa“, the Arabic word for “Jesus” used in the Qur’an) now carries strong overtones – from . . . Read More

Christian lawyers call for Chinese colleagues’ release

  October 29, 2015 China China, Human rights, Zhang Kai, Zhejiang

Justice Michael F. Saldanha speaking at the Advocates Asia conference in New Delhi on 22 October.World Watch Monitor   Advocates Asia, a forum of Christian lawyers in 20 Asian countries, has urged the Chinese government to release “immediately and unconditionally” human rights lawyers and activists detained since early July. The . . . Read More

Two Sudan churches destroyed, one for a ‘marketplace’

  October 29, 2015 Blue Nile, Churches, Darfur, Gadaref, Lutheran Church of Sudan, Omdurman, South Kordofan, Sudan

Two churches were destroyed in two separate incidents earlier this month in Sudan, local sources told World Watch Monitor. On Oct 22, authorities demolished the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sudan (LCS) in Omdurman, citing re-development reasons, after first giving the church only 72 hours’ notice. Word about the impending action . . . Read More

Asia Bibi ‘healthy and safe,’ says her lawyer

  October 26, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Multan, Salmaan Taseer

The lawyer of the only Pakistani Christian woman to be given the death penalty for alleged blasphemy met her in prison last week, reporting that she is safe and in good health. The final appeal for Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, is pending before Pakistan’s top court, after the . . . Read More

No charges for attackers of Pakistani headmaster

  October 25, 2015 Pakistan Dalits, Education, Kasur

Siddique Azam, headmaster of eight schools in Pakistan’s Kasur district, after release from the hospital following a 5 Oct. beating.Courtesy Pakistan Christian Post   A Christian headmaster hospitalized from a severe beating by four primary-school colleagues has been blocked from pressing criminal charges against his attackers. The incident in Pakistan’s . . . Read More

Indian court provides ‘minor relief’ from ban on Christianity

  October 21, 2015 India Chhattisgarh, Human rights, India, Raipur, Religious freedom, Vishva Hindu Parishad

The high court of Chhattisgarh state in central India has asked the state government to ensure that anti-Christian resolutions passed by village councils will not infringe religious freedom. A Christian organization challenging the local resolutions said the court order is “only a minor relief.” In July 2014, the village of . . . Read More

Church attack routs thousands of Indonesian Christians

  October 20, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Papua, Sharia, Sumatra

Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh region have started to tear down churches following last week’s religious violence that left at least one person dead and forced thousands of Christians to flee. Clashes broke out after Islamic hardliners burned down a church in Aceh Singkil on 13 Oct. According to local church . . . Read More

Report: Christianity contracting in MidEast, Africa

  October 16, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Belarus, Boko Haram, China, David Cameron, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, London, Middle East, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pope Francis, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UK, Ukraine, Vietnam

Christianity is fast disappearing from entire regions, most notably a huge chunk of the Middle East, and could vanish from Iraq within five years, according to a new report by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. Released in the UK’s House of Lords on Tuesday, the report, “Persecuted and . . . Read More