News

12 nuns ‘abducted’ as rebels recapture Maaloula

  December 3, 2013 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Maaloula, Syria

Mar Takla, Maaloula.Richard / Flickr / Creative Commons The Vatican has reported that 12 nuns were abducted as opposition rebels captured Syria’s historically Christian town of Maaloula yesterday (December 2). The majority of the town’s Christian population is thought to have fled during clashes between government forces and rebels in . . . Read More

Chinese church protests against arrest of 23 members

  December 3, 2013 China Beijing, Henan, Nanle, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Zhang Shaojie

House church’ in Henan province, pictured in late 1980s/early 1990s.Open Doors International   A church in eastern China has written a letter to the Chinese government, demanding permission to stage a protest against the detention of 23 members of its congregation. The Nanle County Church in Puyang, Henan province, which . . . Read More

Pressure mounts on UN to refer Syria ‘war crimes’ to ICC

  December 2, 2013 Syria Free Syrian Army, International Criminal Court, Sadad, UN

The village of Sadad was the scene of one of the ‘most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two-and-a-half years’, according to one Syrian Archbishop.Hovic / Flickr / Creative Commons   A month on from the massacre in the Syrian village of Sadad, Human Rights . . . Read More

Vigilante group formed in Bangladesh to stop Christian activities

  November 29, 2013 Bangladesh Awami League, Bangladesh, Churches, Converts, Elections, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Sunni, Tangail

A vigilante committee has been formed in central Bangladesh to stop Christian activities in the local community, two months after the construction of a local church was halted. The committee is made up of political leaders, Muslim elders and an elected local government official. In September, the government official ordered . . . Read More

Dozens killed in fresh attacks in central Nigeria

  November 29, 2013 Nigeria Berom, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Church of Christ in Nigeria, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Plateau

Mass burials took place on Tuesday.World Watch Monitor   About 40 people were killed in coordinated attacks on Monday night in four Christian-dominated villages in the central Nigerian State of Plateau. Local sources contacted by World Watch Monitor report that the assailants, believed to be members of the Fulani tribe, . . . Read More

Kenyan bishop hurt in clash with local tribe

  November 27, 2013 Kenya Kenya, Meru

The bishop of a Pentecostal church in eastern Kenya was hurt on Saturday (Nov. 23) in a clash with elders from a local tribe after a member of his church was abducted. Three members of the bishop’s congregation were also injured during the clash in Meru, a region on the . . . Read More

Algerian church attacked again

  November 26, 2013 Algeria Protestant Church of Algeria

The pastor of a church in southern Algeria has reported the details of a fresh attack on his church – the third of its kind – which he says proves that some Algerians are against the presence of churches in their country. The pastor, who wishes to remain nameless, said . . . Read More

Rash of blasphemy accusations after Pakistan church bombings

  November 26, 2013 Pakistan Al-Qaeda, All Saints Church, Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Karachi, Lahore, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Pashtun, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Sunni Tehreek, Taliban, Youhanabad

The remains of a Munawar Masih’s belongings in Michael Town, Karachi, after they were taken from his home and set on fire.World Watch Monitor   Two months ago, on September 22, two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside All Saints Church in Peshawar when congregants were leaving the church after . . . Read More

UN consensus builds to send force to Central African Republic

  November 26, 2013 Central African Republic African Union, Seleka, UN

Consensus is emerging to begin “contingency planning” to send a UN peacekeeping force to the lawless Central African Republic, the UN’s No. 2 official said on Monday. Until a UN force, estimated at 6,000 soldiers and 1,700 police, can be deployed, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Liasson urged the UN Security Council . . . Read More

Jihadists could end Christianity in Syria if given power, says nun

  November 22, 2013 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Islamic extremism

An outspoken Catholic nun living in Syria has denied suggestions that she believes the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad would bring an end to Christianity in Syria. Instead, Mother Agnes-Mariam says that could be the consequence if religious extremists were to seize on a power vacuum left by his deposition. . . . Read More