News

Turkey rejects initial appeal to release jailed US pastor

  January 4, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir

Andrew Brunson has been held since early October.The Brunson family   A Turkish court denied an initial appeal last week for the release of Rev. Andrew Brunson, an American Protestant pastor kept under arrest for the past three months over alleged links to a terrorist organisation. In the wake of . . . Read More

Sudanese pastor released, but others still face serious charges

  January 3, 2017 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Apostasy, Hassan Taour, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, NISS, Petr Jašek

UPDATE (3 Jan): One of four men detained in Sudan since December 2015 has been released, but three others continue to face charges which could lead to the death penalty or life imprisonment if found guilty. Kuwa Shamal, a Sudanese church leader, was released after a hearing in Khartoum yesterday . . . Read More

Iraqi clergy say Prince’s solidarity message needs political backing

  December 22, 2016 Egypt, Iraq, London, Prince Charles, Shia, Sunni, Syria

Prince Charles speaking at London’s St Thomas Cathedral Syriac Orthodox Church, UK, October 2016The Prince of Wales   Iraqi church leaders in Britain have welcomed a radio message by Prince Charles, the future King of England highlighting the persecution of religious minorities, but said that it must be followed by . . . Read More

Nepali church leaders found guilty of ‘witchcraft’ and ‘violence’ for helping mentally ill woman

  December 22, 2016 Nepal Charikot, Hindu nationalism, Minorities, Nepal, Proselytism, Salyan, Trauma

A Nepali court has found four Christians guilty of ‘violence’ and ‘witchcraft’ against a severely mentally ill woman whom they sought to heal, even though she testified in court in their favour, saying she was now better. The four are sentenced to five years in prison. A fifth Christian, Rupa . . . Read More

Nigerian churches criticised for not helping persecuted north

  December 21, 2016 Nigeria Agatu, Boko Haram, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Nigeria

Baroness Cox: there’s ‘a disconnect at every level’ between southern and northern Nigerian churchesBaptist Assembly 2009   Christians in the south of Nigeria are failing to help their persecuted compatriots in the north, according to a veteran humanitarian campaigner. British peer, Baroness Caroline Cox, who has made numerous aid missions . . . Read More

Manipur Christians warned off celebrating Christmas

  December 20, 2016 India Christmas, Manipur, Naga

Christians in Manipur, north-east India, have been warned off celebrating Christmas, sources told World Watch Monitor. The threats were made after vandals attacked Manipur Baptist Church on 17 Dec. The men and women pelted the church with stones, broke windows and damaged a gate and the church sign. They then . . . Read More

Indian Catholic bishops vow to end marginalisation of Dalits in Church

  December 20, 2016 India Catholics, Dalits, Manipur

People threshing in a Dalit village near Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 2006Creative Commons   Christian Dalits, who make up two-thirds of India’s Christians, are discriminated against twice over in India – firstly for being from the caste known as ‘untouchable’, and secondly for not being Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. Christian and . . . Read More

‘No Christmas or carol singing’ orders in Santa Claus’ homeland Turkey

  December 20, 2016 Turkey Christmas, Coup, Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Istanbul Erkek Lisesi, also known as Istanbul High School, Istanbul 2011© Guillaume Piolle / CC “No more Christmas celebration and/or lessons on Christmas including carol singing is permitted, effective immediately”. An email on 13 December sent to about 35 German-funded teachers at Istanbul Erkek Lisesi (also known as Istanbul High . . . Read More

6 years on: what has the Arab Spring meant for Christians?

  December 20, 2016 Arab Spring, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Iraq, Libya, Middle East, Muammar Gaddafi, Syria, Tunisia

Demonstrators on the streets of Cairo, Egypt in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, November 2012. World Watch Monitor   The Arab Spring, which began 17 December, 2010, started with a wave of protests in Tunisia, followed by other Arab countries. It was positively acclaimed as a social movement demanding an . . . Read More

UPDATE: Five months after killing of female Nigerian preacher, suspects yet to be named

  December 20, 2016 Nigeria Abuja, Agatu, Bauchi, Boko Haram, Church of Christ in Nigeria, ECWA, Eunice Elisha, Fulani herdsmen, Gombe, Joseph Kurah, Nasarawa, Pentecostals

Mother of seven, Eunice Elisha, was murdered close to Nigeria’s capital, AbujaWorld Watch Monitor   Five months after the brutal murder of a 42-year-old female preacher in Kubwa, a suburb of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the police are yet to name the perpetrators. Eunice Elisha, an indigene of Nigeria’s southern State . . . Read More