News

Anxiety high as rebels take over Central African Republic

  March 25, 2013 Central African Republic Bambari, Bangassou, Bangui, Gambo, Michel Djotodia, Seleka

A three-month-old rebel uprising in the Central African Republic swept into the country’s capital Sunday, ousting the president and leaving ransacked Christian homes and churches in its wake. A source close to the Episcopal Conference of the Central African Republic told World Watch Monitor that many Christians’ properties have been . . . Read More

Church walls go up, then torn down by local government

  March 25, 2013 Indonesia Bekasi, Bogor, Churches, HKBP Filadelfia, Java, Pentecostals, Sumatra

Cheers went up as a backhoe tore down the barely finished walls of the Batak Protestant Church near Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday. The pile of rubble that remained was only the latest setback to Christians trying to retain a toehold in the world’s most populous Muslim country. The church, in . . . Read More

Kano bus bomb prompts religious leaders to joint call for urgent measures

  March 22, 2013 Nigeria Ansaru, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kano, Nigeria, Sabon Gari, Sultan of Sokoto

A car bomb attack in a Christian enclave of Kano, the largest city in mainly-Muslim northern Nigeria, has heightened religious and ethnic tensions throughout the country. At least 25 people have been killed and at least 60 others injured, following the 18th March suicide bomb attack in a bus station . . . Read More

Libyan human-rights official flees country after death threats

  March 21, 2013 Libya Benghazi, Human rights, Libya, Minorities, Muammar Gaddafi, Proselytism, Religious freedom, Tripoli

The head of the Libyan Parliament’s Human Rights Committee has resigned and fled to London, saying he’s received death threats. Hassan Al-Amin, prominent for his long opposition to the Gaddafi regime, recently spoke out against armed gangs and militias in his Misrata area. His self-imposed exile comes as hostilities against . . . Read More

India: Persecution Briefs

  March 19, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Pentecostals, Raipur, Tamil Nadu

India ranks No. 31 on the 2013 World Watch List, a ranking of the 50 countries where living as a Christian is most difficult. The list is created annually by Open Doors International, a worldwide ministry to Christians who live under pressure because of their faith. Most Christians live openly . . . Read More

Kenyan religious groups ready to work with President-elect, despite his war crime indictment

  March 13, 2013 Kenya Elections, Kenya, Nairobi, Uhuru Kenyatta

Amongst their first formal meetings as President and Deputy President-elect of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto on Tuesday 12th March met senior religious leaders, even ahead of meeting outgoing President Mwai Kibaki. Kenyatta emerged the winner by garnering 6173,453 votes, meeting the threshold of the country’s Constitution which required . . . Read More

Warning against euphoria over reforms, as military targets minorities

  March 11, 2013 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Kachin, Mandalay, Minorities, Myanmar, Rakhine, Yangon

Christians around the world who’ve been praying for Myanmar have been warned against ‘euphoria’ over reform, while Christian and Muslim minorities remain under attack by the military. Sunday March 10 marked the 16th anniversary of the Global Day of Prayer for Burma, which celebrated some progress towards reform, but warned . . . Read More

Pakistan condemns attacks on Lahore Christians

  March 11, 2013 Pakistan Badami Bagh, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Joseph Colony, Karachi, Lahore, Pakistan, Punjab, Sweepers

Pakistan’s national assembly joined a chorus of condemnation Monday following Saturday’s rioting in Lahore by Muslims that prompted Christians to flee before scores of their houses were burned. “We fled for our lives, do not ask us where we are,” a Christian teacher sobbed to World Watch Monitor before her . . . Read More

Widest church grouping raises funds for Boko Haram’s almost 800 victims during 2012

  March 8, 2013 Nigeria Abuja, Bauchi, Boko Haram, Borno, Christian Association of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Sharia, West Africa, Yobe

The most dangerous country for a Christian to live during 2012 was, arguably, Nigeria. That’s what research for the 2013 edition of the World Watch List shows up: it’s produced by the global Christian organisation Open Doors, whose researchers monitor the persecution of Christians worldwide. “Between November 2011 and October . . . Read More

Two steps back?

  March 2, 2013 Vietnam Catholics, Central Highlands, Communism, Dien Bien, Hanoi, Hmong, Hoa Binh, Minorities, Nguyen Van Dai, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Vietnam

On Jan. 1, Vietnam updated its rules for enforcing its highest law regarding religion. Known as the Decree on Religion 92/2012 ND-CP, or simply ND-92, the new decree is meant to clarify rules written in 2005. On close inspection, ND-92 does appear to clarify one thing: Vietnam’s intent to control . . . Read More