News

Erdogan demands Gulen extradition for US pastor’s release

  April 23, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Religious freedom, Turkey, USA

Responding over the weekend to public pressure from both US President Donald Trump and 66 members of the US Senate, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeated his demand that US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen must be extradited back to Turkey if Washington expects Ankara to release jailed US pastor Andrew . . . Read More

Egypt: Protestant leader rejects community reconciliation system

  April 20, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Andrea Zaki, Arab Spring, Cairo, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Protestants, Samaan Shehata

The head of Egypt’s Protestant Church has said he urges clergy not to take part in “reconciliation sessions” that aim to resolve community conflicts without the involvement of the police and legal system. Rev. Dr. Andrea Zaki said he “strongly” opposed the scheme because it renders the law “absent”. The reconciliation . . . Read More

Iran: do non-Muslims have the right to hold elected public office or not?

  April 20, 2018 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Ayatollah Khomeini, Elections, Iran, Minorities, Sepanta Niknam, Sharia, Yazd, Zoroastrians

In Iran, which is 90-95 per cent Shia Muslim, the passing of a date set for a decision over whether a non-Muslim can hold an elected public office is significant for the country’s religious minorities and their rights. The date, April 5, passed without that decision being made for a . . . Read More

Egypt church application triggers attack

  April 19, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Qena

…ƒEgypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has called for the process of legalising unlicensed churches to be “speeded up” after granting a second batch of church buildings official status this week. The government has legalised 219 churches and church-affiliated buildings this year, but 3,511 others remain on the waiting list. The . . . Read More

Sudan: Four Christians charged, 36 others to stand trial

  April 19, 2018 Sudan Bahri, Omdurman, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Younan Abdulla

New charges have been brought against four members of one of the country’s major Protestant denominations. Thirty-six others will appear in court next week on unspecified charges; five others have been acquitted. Azhari Tambra, Mina Mata, George Adem and Kodi Abdulraheem were charged on 11 April with “causing physical harm . . . Read More

Cuba’s new leader ‘not a reformer’

  April 19, 2018 Cuba Catholics, Churches, Communism, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Human rights, Latin America, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Protestants, Raúl Castro, Religious freedom

Raúl Castro, who replaced his brother Fidel as Cuba’s president in 2006, stepped down from the post this week, ending a decades-long rule by his family. His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel – who up until now was the country’s first vice-president – takes on an historic leadership role by becoming the . . . Read More

Indian police play down mob attack on Christian meeting

  April 18, 2018 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India, Narendra Modi, Pentecostals, Police

Christian families have fled their homes in eastern India after telling police a Hindu nationalist mob had attacked a church fellowship meal, only to be met with attempts to silence them. Pastor Kasi Ram told World Watch Monitor that only three Christian families remained in the village of Bakel – . . . Read More

Turkish court puts trial of US pastor on hold for three weeks

  April 16, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Ankara, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, Protestants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Andrew Brunson got his first day in a Turkish court today (16 April) to answer espionage charges. It will be three weeks until he gets his second. The American-born Brunson, pastor of a small Protestant church, told the court he denies any wrongdoing. He is accused of supporting the attempted . . . Read More

China: ‘For Christians, the “grey” area is shrinking’

  April 16, 2018 China Beijing, Bibles, China, Churches, Communism, Nanjing, Three-Self Patriotic Movement, Xi Jinping

China’s Christians may not be surprised by recent tighter government control of religious affairs, including a ban on online Bible sales. But they are unsure what comes next. Following this month’s announcement that Bibles could no longer be made available online, large websites like Taobao, Jingdong, Weidian, Dangdang and Amazon . . . Read More

97 missing Chibok girls feared dead

  April 16, 2018 Nigeria Borno, Chibok girls, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

  After relatives and activists commemorated on Saturday the 4th anniversary of the Chibok girls’ kidnapping, there are now fears that many of over 100 girls still missing will never return home. Of the 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram on 14 April 2014, 57 escaped, 107 were rescued or . . . Read More