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2017 ‘one of the most traumatic years for Indian Christians’

February 19, 2018 India Alphons Kannanthanam, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sangh Parivar, Uttar Pradesh

Hindu radicals burn a dummy replica of local Jharkhand Archbishop, Cardinal Telephore Toppo of Ranchi. (Photo: Catholic Bishops' Conference of India)

The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has described 2017 as “one of the most traumatic” years for Indian Christians in a decade after it recorded 351 verified incidences of hate crimes against Christians during the year. The Religious Liberty Commission of the EFI, which brings together Christians from more than . . . Read More

Russia: ‘Extremist’ identified after five women killed in Dagestan church attack

February 19, 2018 Russia Caucasus, Central Asia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Islamic extremism, Patriarch Kirill, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Sufi, Women

Authorities in one of the least stable parts of Russia have identified the suspected gunman who killed five women at a church yesterday (18 February) before being shot dead by security forces. The mayoral office in Kizlyar, in the restive and ethnically diverse region of Dagestan, named the assailant as . . . Read More

Iranian Christian convert detained since before Christmas

February 16, 2018 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Converts, Ebrahim Firouzi, Hadi Asgari, Iran, Karaj, Kaviyan Fallah-Mohammadi, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Prisons, Tabriz, Victor Bet-Tamraz

An Iranian convert to Christianity arrested more than two months ago remains in prison in the conservative north-western city of Tabriz, according to rights group Article 18. Ali Amini, known by his friends as Philip, was arrested by revolutionary guards at his workshop in the city on 10 December. His . . . Read More

Asia Bibi central to trade deals, EU tells Pakistan

February 16, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Blasphemy, Education, Europe, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Sweepers

The EU’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Jan Figeľ, told Pakistani officials during a recent visit that the renewal of their export privileges to Europe depends on the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy since 2010. “The EU countries have started . . . Read More

Egypt’s Copts flock to see church opened in remembrance of beheaded Christians

February 15, 2018 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Libya, Minya, Upper Egypt

It is a special day for the Coptic community of Minya province, Upper Egypt, as a new church was inaugurated this morning in Al-Our village in remembrance of 20 Egyptian Copts and one Ghanaian Christian beheaded by IS on the Libyan coast three years ago today (15 February 2015). In . . . Read More

India: Catholic bishops warn against Hindu nationalism as religious hate crimes rise

February 15, 2018 India Bangalore, Baptists, BJP, Catholics, Digital India Day, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh

An acknowledgement by India’s BJP-led government that there has been a rise in religion-based hate crime has coincided with a warning from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) about the dangers to the country of a Hindu-nationalist agenda. Statistics revealed in India’s parliament on 6 February confirmed a long-standing . . . Read More

Indonesia church attacker acted alone, police say

February 15, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Bogor, Churches, GKI Yasmin, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Java, Joko Widodo, Nahdlatul Ulama, Protestants, Religious freedom, Sulawesi, Yogyakarta

Altar of the Stasi Kinali Catholic Church, West-Sumatra, Indonesia, which was attacked in May 2014. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The man accused of injuring four people in an attack on an Indonesian church on Sunday morning (11 February) acted alone and obtained the weapon – a one-metre-long sword – in exchange for his mobile phone, police say. The suspect, a 23-year-old student identified as Suliyono from Bayuwangi in East . . . Read More

Church built to honour beheaded Copts, but families still waiting for bodies’ return

February 14, 2018 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Libya, Minya, Pope Tawadros II, Tunisia, Upper Egypt

Tomorrow, 15 February, will mark the third anniversary of the beheading of 20 Egyptian Copts and a Ghanaian Christian, carried out by IS on the Libyan coast. In remembrance of the 21 Christians, a new church is to be inaugurated in Upper Egypt’s Minya province, where the Egyptians came from. As . . . Read More

US agency accuses Russia of abusing anti-extremism laws

February 14, 2018 Russia Churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Missionaries, Moscow, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet Union, Terrorism, USA, Yarovaya Law

Russia’s anti-extremism laws are being used to crack down on peaceful religious minorities such as Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hare Krishnas, the top US religious-freedom watchdog says. A report commissioned by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that “vague and problematic definitions of ‘extremism’ in Russian law . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian says daughter, 12, abducted, forced to convert to Islam and marry

February 13, 2018 Pakistan Children, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Marriage, Pakistan

A 12-year-old Pakistani Christian girl, who disappeared in November, was abducted, forced to convert to Islam and marry her abductor, according to her father. Elisha, daughter of Iqbal Masih, appeared in the High Court in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, on Thursday 8 February, where she introduced herself by a new Muslim . . . Read More

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