Tag: Churches

China: Protestant pastor found guilty of ‘intentionally divulging state secrets’

May 17, 2018 China China, Churches, Guizhou, Huoshi Church, Religious freedom, Su Tianfu, Yang Hua

The pastor of a high-profile church in China has been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, with a further six months’ residential surveillance, for “intentionally divulging state secrets”. Pastor Su Tianfu of Huoshi (Living Stone) Church in the south-western province of Guizhou had already been under . . . Read More

Sudan: ‘Put brakes on’ normalising relations, rights groups tell US

May 16, 2018 Sudan Churches, Human rights, Religious freedom, Sahel, Sanctions, Sudan, Terrorism, UK, USA

A Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel soldier in South Kordofan state where thousands of people fled the Nuba Mountains in 2012 to escape fighting between the rebel group and the government's armed forces. (Photo: ADRIANE OHANESIAN/AFP/GettyImages)

Rights groups have urged the United States to refrain from removing Sudan from its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. “New circumstances have emerged in Sudan that make US efforts at full normalisation dramatically ill-timed,” said the Washington DC-based Enough Project in a recent report. The NGO, which focuses on . . . Read More

Myanmar: 7,000 Kachin displaced as violence escalates

May 15, 2018 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, China, Churches, Human rights, IDPs, Kachin, Myanmar, Myitkyina, Pope Francis, Rakhine, Rohingya, Tatmadaw, UN, Youth

Displaced Kachin residents cross the Malikha river on 26 April to escape the fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar government troops. (Photo: ZAU RING HPARA/AFP/Getty Images)

Almost 7,000 people belonging to the largely Christian minority group in Kachin, northern Myanmar, have fled their houses since fighting between the army and a rebel group flared up in early April, according to recent figures from the Red Cross. “It’s a war where civilians are being systematically targeted by . . . Read More

China: children stopped from entering church as pressure on Henan Christians increases

May 9, 2018 China Anyang, Catholics, Children, China, Churches, Communism, Education, Henan, House churches, Protestants, Xi Jinping, Zhengzhou

Under new religious regulations in China, religious education to minors is prohibited. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Pressure on Christians is increasing in China’s central Henan province, according to Catholic news service UCAN. Suppressive measures on both Catholic and Protestant churches have been directed by the central government in Beijing and have intensified in recent weeks, according to UCAN, which reported that churches had been “demolished and . . . Read More

Egyptian Copts face Muslim mobs protesting against legalisation of churches

May 4, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Palm Sunday, Upper Egypt

The closure of a church in Upper Egypt that sought legalisation has been condemned as illegal by the congregation’s lawyer, and charges made against eight of its congregation, who have been detained for more than a month, as not valid. Coptic Christians of Al-Koumair village in Luxor Governorate had been . . . Read More

Jerusalem Patriarch says settlers are pushing Christians out of Old City

May 4, 2018 Israel Arabs, Churches, Greek Orthodox, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Theophilos III

View of the city of Jerusalem where radical settlers are said to try to weaken the Christians' presence. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The most senior Christian leader in the Holy Land has accused hardline Jewish settlers of trying to intimidate clergy in Jerusalem’s Old City and acquire church-owned property in an attempt to weaken the Christians’ presence there. In an interview with the Guardian, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, . . . Read More

Nepal ‘should practise what it preaches’ as UN member

May 1, 2018 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Burial, Churches, Elections, Human rights, Minorities, Nepal, Proselytism, Religious freedom, UN

As a newly elected member state of the UN Human Rights Council, Nepal must address its own commitment to the protection of human rights, including freedom of religion and belief, says Christian Solidarity Worldwide. The advocacy organisation highlighted Nepal’s decision in October to criminalise religious conversion and the “hurting of . . . Read More

Russia’s religious communities face ‘unclear’ requirements

April 27, 2018 Russia Baptists, Churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Missionaries, Nizhny Novgorod, Pentecostals, Proselytism, Russia

Legal requirements applied to the expression of freedom of religion in Russia impose a significant burden on religious communities not recognised by the state – in the shape of fines, legal costs and bureaucracy – reports regional news agency Forum 18. The requirements are “unclear” and applied “inconsistently”, Forum 18 . . . Read More

Egypt: Protestant leader rejects community reconciliation system

April 20, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Andrea Zaki, Arab Spring, Cairo, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Protestants, Samaan Shehata

Thousands attend Kasr El Dobara Evanglical Church in Cairo each week. There are thought to be as many as 2m Evangelicals in Egypt

The head of Egypt’s Protestant Church has said he urges clergy not to take part in “reconciliation sessions” that aim to resolve community conflicts without the involvement of the police and legal system. Rev. Dr. Andrea Zaki said he “strongly” opposed the scheme because it renders the law “absent”. The reconciliation . . . Read More

Egypt church application triggers attack

April 19, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Qena

Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has called for the process of legalising unlicensed churches to be “speeded up” after granting a second batch of church buildings official status this week. The government has legalised 219 churches and church-affiliated buildings this year, but 3,511 others remain on the waiting list. The . . . Read More

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