News

Sudan government demolishes church despite pending appeal

  February 12, 2018 Sudan Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Sudanese Church of Christ

A church belonging to the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) denomination in the Khartoum suburb of Haj Yousif was demolished yesterday (11 February). The police arrived with three lorries shortly after the Sunday morning service and confiscated furniture, Bibles and musical instruments, before knocking down the 29-year-old building. The demolition . . . Read More

Nigeria: 9 churches burnt down and Christian students attacked as violence continues

  February 9, 2018 ECWA

In Nigeria, a new wave of attacks has seen dozens killed in Christian communities across the country. The violence has hit the north-eastern state of Adamawa, one of the most affected by Boko Haram, and also the Middle Belt states of Nasarawa and Benue, where Fulani herdsmen have caused havoc . . . Read More

Nigerian bishops accuse government of failing to protect citizens from ‘terrorist’ herdsmen

  February 9, 2018 Nigeria Adamawa, Benue, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Taraba, Terrorism

Nigeria’s Catholic bishops have told President Muhammadu Buhari that attacks attributed to members of the Fulani pastoralist tribe have been carried out by “terrorists masquerading as herdsmen” and accused the government of being “incapable or unwilling” to protect citizens from them. A delegation of 11 bishops delivered a strongly worded . . . Read More

Otto Warmbier’s father joins Pence at Olympics to highlight North Korean abuses

  February 9, 2018 Kim Jong-Un, Mike Pence, North Korea, Otto Warmbier, Pyongyang, South Korea

As the Winter Olympics kick off in Pyeongchang, US Vice-President Mike Pence has arrived in South Korea with a guest – the father of Otto Warmbier, the American student who died shortly after being sent home from a North Korea prison in June last year. But, as the BBC reports, Mr. . . . Read More

UN denies complicity in Central African Republic massacres, but questions remain

  February 9, 2018 Central African Republic Alindao, Bangassou, Bangui, Basse-Kotto, Bocaranga, Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Gambo, Kaga Bandoro, Paoua, Seleka, UN, UPC, Zemio

The UN has rejected allegations of complicity with armed groups in a string of massacres last year in the Central African Republic. A UN Special Investigation team, led by Brigadier General (rtd) Fernand Amoussou and including legal, political and human-rights experts, looked into attacks between 1 May and 31 August . . . Read More

Ethiopian Evangelical sent to prison for ‘insulting’ Orthodox Church

  February 9, 2018 Ethiopia Arba Minch, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Mahibere Kidusan, Protestants

A judge in southern Ethiopia has sentenced an Evangelical Christian to seven months in prison for “causing outrage to religious peace and feeling” following accusations believed to come from members of the predominant Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC). The judge in the city of Arba Minch handed down the sentence on . . . Read More

Malaysia’s reputation as moderate Muslim nation hangs by a thread

  February 9, 2018 Malaysia Children, Churches, Converts, Donald Trump, Hudud, Islamic extremism, Joshua Hilmy, Kidnapping, Malaysia, Minorities, Najib Razak, PAS, Raymond Koh, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, UMNO, USA, Wahhabism

Malaysia is seen by most Western countries as one of the moderate Muslim nations, an ally to be cultivated and befriended in the battle against militant Islam. The country’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was among one of the leaders to visit US President Donald Trump in his first year of . . . Read More

Two priests murdered in Mexico as gang attacks against religious leaders continue

  February 8, 2018 Mexico Coahuila, Guerrero, Juarez, Latin America, Mexico, Nayarit, Veracruz

In the early morning of Monday 5 February, two priests were shot dead while travelling on the Iguala-Taxco highway of Mexico’s notorious Guerrero state. Fr. Germain Muñiz Garcia and Fr. Iván Añorve Jaimes, from a church in Veracruz state, were reported killed by the Catholic News Agency. Their attackers fled . . . Read More

Syria’s second city begins long road to recovery

  February 8, 2018 Syria Aleppo, Bashar al-Assad, Boulos Yazigi, Churches, Civil War, Greek Orthodox, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

Since the battle for Aleppo ended over a year ago, Syria’s historic second city has fallen out of the headlines. The rebuilding of shattered, impoverished lives is a slow process, but it has presented the churches there with opportunities, says one aid worker with the Christian charity Open Doors. On . . . Read More

Sudanese church leaders back in court

  February 7, 2018 Sudan Atbara, Bahri, Churches, Kadugli, Khartoum, Kosti, Port Sudan, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Sudanese Church of Christ

There have been new developments in two ongoing court cases against Sudan’s two main church denominations. On 5 February, a court fined seven leaders from the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) for their “objection to the authorities”. Yohanna Tia, a church elder, was fined 5,000 Sudanese Pounds ($275). Rev. Dawoud . . . Read More