Tag: Churches

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

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 Communist Party is trying to suppress rapid growth among religions.(Photo: World Watch Monitor)

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

Thousands of churches closed in Rwanda, as Cameroon considers following suit

April 6, 2018 Rwanda Cameroon, Churches, Kigali, Pentecostals, Rwanda, Sub-Saharan Africa

Pentecostal churches, like this one in Ethopia's capital Addis Baba, are mushrooming in sub-Sahara Africa. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Rwanda has closed thousands churches in the country since February for alleged “noise pollution” and failing to comply with building regulations. Now Cameroon – another majority-Christian country – is considering following suit. The call to shut down some of Cameroon’s Pentecostal churches follows reports of gross misconduct by a number . . . Read More

Indian Christians charged with ‘hurting religious sentiments’ by handing out Easter tracts

April 5, 2018 India BJP, Churches, Easter, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Hyderabad, India, Police, Proselytism, RSS, Telangana, Women

Four Christians, including the wife of a church leader, have been charged with “hurting religious sentiments” after they handed out Christian tracts during an Easter procession in India’s southern Telangana state. Rayapuri Jyothi, 38, Meena Kumari, 52, Mahima Kumari, 35 and Bagadam Sudhakar, 45, were taken into custody by police . . . Read More

Iraq’s young people must lead its rebuilding, says archbishop

March 21, 2018 Iraq Baghdad, Churches, Iraq, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Minorities, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Shia, Sunni, USA, Youth

Army truck with Iraqi flag on its way in the direction of Mosul. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The rebuilding of Iraq should be guided by its young people, says an archbishop who took in 700 students from Mosul University after the occupation of the city by Islamic State in June 2014. Bishop Yousif Thoma Mirkis of Kirkuk, 170km southeast of Mosul, recently visited the university and reunited . . . Read More

Easter banner torn down from Pakistan church

March 20, 2018 Pakistan Burewala, Christmas, Churches, Easter, Pakistan, Punjab

Armed violence broke out in eastern Pakistan on Sunday, 18 March, over an Easter banner hung outside a church. The incident took place in a Christian colony in Burewala, Punjab province. Police intervened and arrested three Muslim suspects, while seven injured Christians were taken to a local hospital. The church’s . . . Read More

Kazakh ‘sting operation’ to catch out Christian backfires

March 19, 2018 Kazakhstan Bibles, Churches, Kazakhstan, Missionaries, Shymkent

A Kazakhstan court has acquitted a Christian women accused of “missionary activity” after she was caught in an “apparent sting operation”, reports regional news agency Forum 18. Police officers arrested Dilobarkhon Sultanova in January after she helped Elmira Inibekova download a Bible app to her mobile phone. The two women . . . Read More

Egypt’s elections and the man dividing the country’s Copts

March 14, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Arab Spring, Aswan, Asyut, Bahrain, Cairo, Catholics, Churches, Converts, Copts, Egypt, El-Ghad Party, Elections, Faiyum, Hosni Mubarak, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Pope Tawadros II, Protestants, Samalut, Sinai, Sohag, Sunni, Tanta, Terrorism, Upper Egypt

Walking around Cairo you would be forgiven for thinking that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was the only candidate running in the elections later this month. His is the only grandiose face bearing down on passers-by, while billboards of his rival, Mousa Mostafa Mousa, are nowhere to be seen. Egypt’s 26-28 March presidential elections have . . . Read More

Mosul still ‘extremely dangerous’, says returning Christian woman

March 13, 2018 Iraq Assyrians, Churches, Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul

Nadia Butti, a Christian woman from Mosul, found the churches of her city desecrated or demolished after returning home for the first time since the liberation of the city from the Islamic State group in July 2017, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports. She told ACN there were . . . Read More

Egypt: Copts’ cross tattoos lead to harassment, insults

March 13, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Crosses, Egypt

For Egypt’s Coptic Christians, cross tattoos emblazoned on the inside of a wrist are another form of ID. In an overwhelmingly Muslim society, these tattoos create a sense of belonging for Copts at a very young age – some children are taken to the tattoo artist at just a few . . . Read More

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