News

Nigeria churches urge global prayer for 187 missing girls

  April 28, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Goodluck Jonathan, Samuel Dali

Nigeria’s largest church network, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called for prayer and fasting for the safe release of 230 teenage school girls abducted last week. ”The CAN leadership, especially our President, has called that all Christians pray and fast [on Friday, 25th April] because of the security . . . Read More

How does Boko Haram justify kidnap of 230 Nigerian teenage girls?

  April 25, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Trauma

As the world vacillates between outrage and numb impotence in the face of Boko Haram’s recent kidnapping of about 230 teenage girls from the mainly Christian enclave of Chibok, northern Nigeria, the questions “Why these girls?” and “How much longer?” beg yet again for answers. But from whom? A timely . . . Read More

Church standoff a study in China’s complexity

  April 25, 2014 China Churches, Sanjiang, Three-Self Patriotic Movement

Crowds on the steps of Sanjiang Church. Government demolition equipment was poised nearby.Photo anonymously provided to World Watch Monitor   It had all the appearances of a brutal government crackdown. Bulldozers were stationed at the perimeter of the Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou, China. Hundreds of church members formed a protective . . . Read More

Easter killings in CAR

  April 24, 2014 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bossangoa, Central African Republic, Paoua, Seleka, UN

On April 8 radical Muslims set fire to the Baptist Church in Dombia, CAR. The chapel that can hold about 1,000 members was still burning the next day.World Watch Monitor   For many Christians in the Central African Republic, Easter was synonymous with tragedy, adding to their already difficult circumstances. . . . Read More

Christianity and genocide?

  April 20, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Angela Merkel, David Cameron, Genocide, Islamic extremism, Lord Alton, Shahbaz Bhatti, Syria, UN

In the lead-up to Easter, UK Prime Minister David Cameron committed his government to fighting the persecution of Christians abroad, saying no group is under more pressure for its faith. Cameron is not alone in making the claim. In February, US Congressman Chris Smith said “The global persecution of Christians . . . Read More

Exile

  April 18, 2014 Mexico Catholics, Chiapas, Converts, Exile, Mexico, Protestants

The document is signed. All parties have agreed that Fidencio Jiménez, his wife, Petrona Díaz, and their children can return to their home. The couple expects a cool welcome. Just the same, they said they will return to Santa Rosalía, and resume living the way that provoked neighbours to chase . . . Read More

Algeria’s potential ‘Arab Spring’

  April 15, 2014 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Oran, Tunisia

A small group of protesters pre-empts a rally planned for Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on April 5 in Bejaia.Special to World Watch Monitor   The so-called Arab Spring has seen the overthrow of several Presidents across North Africa: first in Tunisia, then Mubarak in Egypt, followed by Gaddafi in Libya . . . Read More

Malatya murder trial postponed again

  April 11, 2014 Turkey Churches, Malatya, Protestants, Turkey

Seven years after three Christians were tortured and killed in southeast Turkey, the Malatya trial’s 93rd hearing has been postponed for another 10 weeks, until June 23. Under judicial changes enacted last month, the murder trial set to resume on April 10 has been transferred to Malatya’s First High Criminal . . . Read More

Canadian nun and two priests abducted in Cameroon

  April 10, 2014 Cameroon Boko Haram, Catholics, Far North, Georges Vandenbeusch, Maroua, Nigeria

The two priests Giampaolo Marta, 47, and Gianantonio Allegri, 57, in a classroom.Courtesy of Vicenza Diocese, Italy   A Canadian nun and two Italian priests have been kidnapped by armed men in northern Cameroon, a region which serves as a base for Nigeria’s radical Islamist group Boko Haram. The Canadian . . . Read More

Christian couple sentenced to death for ‘blasphemous’ texts

  April 8, 2014 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gojra, Islamic extremism, Joseph Colony, Rawalpindi, Sawan Masih

Shaguftah Emmanuel, left, and her husband, Shafqat, in separate and undated photos.Contributed photos   A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Catholic couple convicted of blasphemy for insulting the Prophet Mohammed and the Qur’an. The sentence came a week after Sawan Masih, another Christian, was sentenced to death on . . . Read More