Tag: Churches

Sudanese authorities demolish two churches

June 28, 2012 Sudan Catholics, Churches, Education, Khartoum, South Sudan, Sudan

Authorities in Khartoum demolished two church buildings last week, days after confiscating three Catholic schools, sources told World Watch Monitor. Officials from the Ministry of Planning and Housing of the local government authority on June 18 sent bulldozers that destroyed a church building belonging to the St. John Episcopal Church . . . Read More

Vietnamese officials destroy two new church buildings

June 27, 2012 Vietnam Churches, Dien Bien, Evangelical Church of Vietnam, Hmong, Vietnam

Vietnamese officials in Muong Cha district, Dien Bien Province, destroyed two new church buildings of ethnic minority Hmong Christians this month and threatened to tear down a third. The Ho He Church, erected in April by the unregistered Vietnam Good News Mission, was demolished on June 17. The Phan Ho . . . Read More

Appeals Judge in Azerbaijan to Decide Fate of Church

June 22, 2012 Azerbaijan Baku, Churches, Protestants

A Christian congregation in Azerbaijan is waiting pensively to see if a judge will uphold a court order that banned its right to meet and “liquidated” the church. “They are upset, but at the same time they continue coming out hoping for the best,” said Mechti Suleymanov, an elder at . . . Read More

Islamists bomb three churches in Kaduna, Nigeria

June 17, 2012 Nigeria Bauchi, Boko Haram, Churches, ECWA, Islamic extremism, Jos, Kaduna, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Sabon Gari, Sharia, Zaria

Suspected Islamic extremists bombed three churches in Kaduna state this morning, the third consecutive Sunday that worship services in Nigeria have ended in lethal bloodshed. In a predominantly Christian area of Zaria known as Wusasa, a suspected Islamic extremist crashed a car into a barricade at an Evangelical Church Winning . . . Read More

Iranian authorities shut church in Tehran

June 8, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Armenians, Assyrians, Behnam Irani, Churches, Farshid Fathi, Iran, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Tehran

Authorities in Iran this week ordered the closure of a church in the capital, Tehran, amid a government campaign to crack down on the few recognized churches offering Farsi-speaking services, according to a human rights group. The order came from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Intelligence branch on Tuesday (June 5). The . . . Read More

Uptick in church closures, attacks in Indonesia

June 5, 2012 Indonesia Aceh, Banten, Bekasi, Churches, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Pentecostals, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Tangerang

The number of violations of Christians’ religious rights in Indonesia reached 40 in the first five months of the year, nearly two-thirds the amount of anti-Christian actions in all of last year, according to the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum. The Christian minority in Indonesia faced 64 cases of violations of . . . Read More

Blast wreaks bloodshed on two churches in Bauchi, Nigeria

June 2, 2012 Nigeria Abuja, Bauchi, Boko Haram, Churches, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Sharia

A suicide bomber crashed the gate of a church compound in this northern Nigerian city this morning, killing himself and at least 10 others and leaving more than 30 injured, according to eyewitnesses and officials. The Islamic extremist Boko Haram group was suspected of detonating the bomb at the gate . . . Read More

Harsh era looms in Aceh, Indonesia

May 16, 2012 Indonesia Aceh, Bekasi, Churches, Indonesia

The election of a hard-line Islamic governor in Indonesia’s Aceh Province last month appears to have opened the way for a crack-down on the minority Christian community, which saw 17 churches sealed shut in early May. Emboldened by the April 9 election of Zaini Abdullah of the militant Aceh Party . . . Read More

Iranian officials heighten control on Farsi-speaking church

May 11, 2012 Iran Armenians, Assemblies of God, Assyrians, Churches, Iran, Tehran

Leaders of the Assemblies of God’s (AOG) Central Church of Tehran told their congregation on Sunday (May 6) that authorities have demanded a list of names and identification numbers of church members, a major risk to converts from Islam. Church leaders then asked members in attendance to volunteer their information. . . . Read More

Myanmar reforms offer no respite for ethnic Christians

May 4, 2012 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Baptists, Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Churches, IDPs, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Minorities, Myanmar, Shan

Amid global euphoria over reforms in Burman-majority parts of Myanmar, life has changed little for more than 3 million Christians and other minorities left to suffer from one of the world’s longest running civil wars. Headlines around the world hailed the induction on Wednesday (May 2) of opposition leader Aung . . . Read More

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