News

India: Recent incidents of persecution

  November 13, 2012 India Bangalore, Baptism, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

India is No. 32 on the World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian. “While most Indian Christians are relatively free, many parts of the country remain key battlegrounds between Hindu extremists and Christians,” according to the list. “Violence against pastors . . . Read More

Brief Salafi occupation of Coptic land part of larger problem, Copts say

  November 11, 2012 Egypt Al-Nour Party, Copts, Maspero

It was a quick skirmish and no one was hurt, but it was typical of what Egypt’s Coptic leaders say are increasing attempts to harass Christians since the country’s 2011 revolution. The latest incident occurred Monday, Nov. 5 in the Shoubra el Kheima district of northern Cairo, where a Coptic . . . Read More

Egypt’s Copts can’t rely on new pope to secure their rights

  November 5, 2012 Egypt Copts, Divorce, Hosni Mubarak, Pope Tawadros II

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church found its 118th pope on Sunday. During a televised mass rich in tradition and drama at Cairo’s St. Mark Cathedral, the fingers of a blindfolded boy reached into a crystal chalice, wrapped around one of three transparent spheres, and pulled it out. The small, clear globe . . . Read More

Uzbekistan increases charges against church leader in Kazakhstan jail

  November 2, 2012 Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan, Makset Djabbarbergenov, Uzbekistan

The legal ground continues to shift underneath Makset Djabbarbergenov, a house-church leader being held in a Kazakhstan jail at the request of his native Uzbekistan. Djabbarbergenov was arrested Sept. 5 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan wants him back to face charges that he practiced religion outside state regulation. His fate could . . . Read More

Indonesia – Supreme Court ‘pro’ ruling ignored by City authority, so church resists

  October 30, 2012 Indonesia Bogor, GKI Yasmin

Bogor City, 60 kilometres south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, is reported to be one of the world’s most densely populated areas. And, although not an Islamic state, Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, with 86.1% of Indonesians being Muslim, according to the 2000 census. In April 2010, . . . Read More

Nigerian Christians on frontline vow to stay despite 40 ‘barbaric’ student deaths

  October 17, 2012 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria, Sharia, Yola

President Goodluck Jonathan’s commiseration visit to relatives on Oct 15th, two weeks after the murder of about 40 students from three higher education institutions in Mubi, in Adamawa state, northern Nigeria, has failed to elucidate further the motive behind the deaths. What has become clear, however, is that the perpetrators . . . Read More

Nairobi church stands strong after grenade kills boy, injures others

  October 11, 2012 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Garissa, Kenya, Mombasa, Nairobi

“Every week we wondered ‘What if it’s this week?’ Yet every week we turned up for church.” Speaking to World Watch Monitor just after her Oct. 9 return from the funeral of 9-year-old John Ian Maina, Nairobi Sunday School teacher Sally Gatei was in reflective mood. “I told the team . . . Read More

Rimsha and family will stay in Pakistan, lawyer says

  October 10, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Mardan, Pakistan, Paul Bhatti, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Rawalpindi

Rimsha Masih and her family will remain in Pakistan after her legal ordeal is over, one of her lawyers says. The teen-aged Pakistani girl, whose arrest in August on suspicion of desecrating Islamic texts, is due to appear in an Islamabad juvenile court Oct. 17. Originally charged in regular court . . . Read More

‘I will never forget that day’

  October 5, 2012 Nigeria Boko Haram, Jos, Nigeria, Plateau

It has been nearly three months since Hannatu Dantong’s husband died. She has been surrounded by his colleagues and family during this time, but still is in a deep state of mourning. “I find the greatest comfort in Psalm 23,” Dantong said. “I am reminded that the Lord will always . . . Read More

India briefs: Recent incidents of persecution

  October 3, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh, Bajrang Dal, Bangalore, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, Hyderabad, India, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh

In towns across India, Hindu extremists continued to pressure Christian churches in September. The usual pattern: After the disruption of church or worship services, Christians were physically assaulted and sometimes arrested and jailed on suspicion of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity. Three of the Indian states included in this roundup . . . Read More