Tag: Churches

Sudan detains 6 Christians, threatens to demolish 5 churches

October 12, 2016 Sudan African Union, Churches, Episcopal Church of Sudan, Gadaref, Hassan Taour, Kadugli, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, Sudan

Sudan has detained three church leaders and three church members, meanwhile warning five churches of impending demolition. The six, from the Evangelical Church in Wad Medani (200km southeast of the capital, Khartoum), were briefly arrested on Sunday (9 Oct.) after refusing an order to hand over to the government a . . . Read More

Kurds ‘expel Christians’ in Hassaka

September 23, 2016 Syria Aleppo, Churches, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

Christians are being targeted as Kurdish militia assert their control in Syria’s north-eastern city of Hassaka, a senior local Christian leader has said. “Whenever the Kurdish militia enter in action to reaffirm its military hegemony over the city, the epicentre of their raids and acts of force is always the . . . Read More

Despite human rights abuse, Sudan wants US talks

September 22, 2016 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Churches, Genocide, Hassan Taour, Kadugli, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Nuba Mountains, Omar al-Bashir, Petr Jašek, Religious freedom, Sanctions, Sharia, South Kordofan, South Sudan, Sudan, USA

Senior Sudanese and US officials are due to meet today (22 Sep.) in New York to discuss a possible partial lifting of sanctions on Khartoum, Sudanese media reports have said. The hint at possible “rapprochement” between Washington and Khartoum comes despite continued human rights violations by the latter; the Islamist . . . Read More

Egypt’s Christians ‘at breaking point’ says bishop

September 8, 2016 Egypt Anba Macarius, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Upper Egypt

Christians feel “under siege” in Egypt after a series of attacks this summer, and continued difficulties faced by the community in building churches, the New York Times reports. In Minya (Upper Egypt) alone, Copts continue to “suffer violence and humiliation”. Houses have been burned, Copts attacked on the streets and . . . Read More

Seven charges against Sudan’s pastors unlawfully detained for months

August 15, 2016 Sudan Churches, Hassan Taour, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Nuba Mountains, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ

After eight months of legal limbo, Sudan has finally accused two pastors of at least seven crimes, some punishable by death if proven. Hassan Abduraheem Taour and Kuwa Shamal, both pastors of the beleaguered Sudan Church of Christ, “are accused of complicity to execute a criminal agreement and waging war . . . Read More

Egypt parliament urged to ease church-building

August 8, 2016 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism

The Egyptian parliament should affirm equality and freedom of religion, a US-based Coptic group has said, urging Egypt to “abandon the historically systematic discrimination against Copts”. “Draconian stipulations, related to the historical condition of Dhimmitude, make construction or even renovation of a church in Egypt a near impossibility,” Coptic Solidarity . . . Read More

Unlawfully detained for months, Sudan church leaders finally in court

August 5, 2016 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Apostasy, Bahri, Churches, Hassan Taour, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Mariam Ibrahim, NISS, Nuba Mountains, Peter Yen, South Sudan, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ, Yat Michael

After nearly eight months of legal limbo, a Sudanese court has finally seen three detained Christian leaders, while charges against them remain officially “unknown”. Hassan Abduraheem Taour and Kuwa Shamal, both Sudan Church of Christ (SCC) pastors, and Abdulmonem Abdumawla Issa Abdumawla, appeared at the Bahri Criminal Court for a . . . Read More

Copts attacked, forced to settle for nothing, in absence of Egyptian justice

July 27, 2016 Egypt Al-Azhar, Anba Macarius, Bishop Angaelos, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Pope Tawadros II, Salafism, Sharia, Soad Thabet, Sunni

Eight Christian homes were attacked and an equal number of Copts were detained after Muslims in an Egyptian village went on a rampage following rumours of a house church being built. The attack last week in Saft el-Khirsa (180km south of Cairo) trails more than a dozen others that have, . . . Read More

Attack badly damages church in northeast Syria

July 22, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Churches, Islamic State, Qamishli, Syria

An Assyrian Orthodox church was attacked Monday in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, resulting in extensive damage to its interior, local sources said. “Anonymous gunmen stormed the St. Charnel Church for Assyrian Orthodox in the Watwatiyah district of Qamishli in the midnight on Monday, and destroyed its contents,” a . . . Read More

Mob attack damages Copt homes in Minya, Egypt

July 4, 2016 Egypt Alexandria, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy

Angry Muslims set fire to four Coptic homes in the Minya village of Koum al-Loufi, about 230km south of Cairo, suspecting a house would be turned into a church. According to Coptic news site Wataninet, two Copts, Ashraf Khalaf and his brother Ibrahim Khalaf, were in the process of building . . . Read More

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