News

Second Christian leader in two weeks kidnapped in Burkina Faso

  June 5, 2018 Burkina Faso Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Assemblies of God, Burkina Faso, Children, Djibo, Education, Islamic extremism, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Ouagadougou, Sahel, Soum, West Africa

A Christian pastor and three members of his family have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum, two weeks after the kidnapping of another Christian leader and his wife. Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped during the evening of Sunday 3 June . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christians told they can’t have a church in Muslim-majority village

  June 4, 2018 Pakistan Churches, Crosses, Faisalabad, Minorities, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab, Terrorism

Christians in a village in Pakistan’s Punjab province have been told to remove every visible sign of Christianity from their church, six months after being forced to sign a form pledging they would no longer hold services. The 40 Christian families in Nayya Sarabah (Chak 336) village, part of Toba . . . Read More

CAR’s clerics warn against attempts to divide Christians and Muslims

  June 1, 2018 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Antonio Guterres, Bambari, Bangui, Central African Republic, Chad, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, IDPs, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, PK5, Seleka, Sudan, UN, UPC

The three top faith leaders of the Central African Republic (CAR), who have won international recognition for their efforts to end conflict in the country, have blamed foreign mercenaries for a recent upsurge in violence. One month ago today, the relative calm enjoyed by the capital, Bangui, was shattered when . . . Read More

Turkey returns confiscated Syriac church property deeds

  June 1, 2018 Turkey Istanbul, Kurds, Mardin, Midyat, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syriacs, Turkey

Syriac Orthodox Christians have welcomed the Turkish government’s return of 55 title deeds, representing nearly half of their ancient church properties in southeast Turkey, which had been confiscated by the state in recent years. Fifty of the official property deeds were delivered to the Syriacs’ 4th century Mor Gabriel Monastery . . . Read More

Closure of India’s Emmanuel Mission office halts education of 74 children

  May 31, 2018 India Bangalore, BJP, Children, Education, Hindu nationalism, India, Jaipur, Rajasthan, RSS

Seventy-four children have had to leave their Christian-run hostel in India’s north-western state of Rajasthan, after the high court dismissed a petition challenging the child welfare committee’s seizure of the central office of Emmanuel Mission India. Emmanuel Mission International (EMI), founded in 1960 by Archbishop M.A. Thomas, is well-known in . . . Read More

India: 2017 saw 20% increase in atrocities against Christians, says lawyer

  May 30, 2018 India BJP, Catholics, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Karnataka, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Odisha

Amid growing extreme Hindu nationalism in India, dozens of speakers have called for concerted action to uphold the country’s constitution and fundamental rights, at a conference to mark four years of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “There is a grave threat to plurality,” Professor Ganesh Narayan Devy, a . . . Read More

Copts persuaded to drop charges against mob who attacked their church

  May 30, 2018 Egypt Alexandria, Beheira, Beni Suef, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism

Copts in a village near the Egyptian city of Alexandria have been persuaded to waive the charges against an extremist mob who pelted their church with Molotov cocktails, in order to retain the use of the building for worship, World Watch Monitor has learnt. Seven Copts were injured when a mob . . . Read More

Algeria: two more Protestant churches closed down by government

  May 29, 2018 Algeria Algeria, Mâatkas, Protestant Church of Algeria

The authorities in Algeria have closed down two more Protestant churches, amidst growing pressure on the country’s Christian minority. Over the past weekend, police sealed off two churches in the north-eastern province of Kabylie, where much of the growth in the Church is happening. One church is in Ait-Mellikeche, a . . . Read More

Two Pakistani Christian sewerage workers die from poisonous gases

  May 29, 2018 Pakistan Caste, Karachi, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Sweepers

Two more Christian sewerage workers have died in Pakistan while opening a clogged sewerage line without protective gear. Data collected by World Watch Monitor in 2013 showed that, despite Pakistani Christians comprising only 1.5 per cent of the population, they account for more than 80 per cent of the sewerage . . . Read More

Fulani violence against Nigeria Christians hits record high

  May 25, 2018 Nigeria Benue, Catholics, Children, Dapchi, Education, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Lagos, Leah Sharibu, Nasarawa, Nigeria, Plateau, Taraba

Violence attributed to militant Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria has reached a record high this year. The Governor of the central state of Benue said this week that 492 people have been killed in his state alone so far this year. Governor Samuel Ortom was speaking 22 May at the mass . . . Read More