Tag: Religious freedom

Ongoing religious freedom challenges in the Commonwealth

April 20, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Bangladesh, Brunei, Commonwealth, India, Justin Welby, Kenya, London, Lord Alton, Malaysia, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Religious freedom, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Theresa May

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Heads of State of the Commonwealth member states at Windsor Castle, west of London, on 20 April 2018. (Photo: JACK TAYLOR/AFP/Getty Images)

A new report on religious freedom in Commonwealth member states says minorities in India, Malaysia and Nigeria have the least freedom to practise their faith. Using data from the Pew Global Religious Futures Project, the new report by the Council of Christians and Jews noted that Christianity is the largest . . . Read More

Pakistan: Islamic university opens Christian chapel – a first

April 20, 2018 Pakistan Education, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Religious freedom, Sharoon Masih, Vehari

Religious minorities in Pakistan have to declare their religion when applying for identification papers or for government jobs making them "even more vulnerable" activists say. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

For the first time ever, an Islamic university in Pakistan has opened a Christian chapel. The church of St. Mary is located in the atrium of the Agriculture University of Faisalabad, Pakistan’s third-most populous city, and was built following an initiative of the city’s former vicar general, reports AsiaNews. The church contributed . . . Read More

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

‘Extremists given a free hand’ – Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

April 16, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Minorities, Nadeem Masih, Pakistan, Patras Masih, Quetta, Religious freedom, Sajid Masih, Sawan Masih, UN

Pakistani Christians experience an increase in violence such as a suicide attack on the Bethel Methodist Church in Quetta in December last year that killed more than ten and injured dozens of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Two Pakistani Christians were killed and at least three injured in a drive-by shooting on Sunday (15 April) in Essa Nagri, a Christian-majority area in Quetta, capital of the impoverished Balochistan province in the southwest. The victims, aged 19 and 28, had just left a church service when they were . . . Read More

Commonwealth worst offenders urged to face up to poor levels of religious freedom

April 13, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Shabaab, Asia Bibi, Bangladesh, Boko Haram, Brunei, Commonwealth, Delta State, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, Kenya, Leah Sharibu, London, Lord Alton, Malaysia, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Sri Lanka

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari received Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, at Nigeria's High Commission in London on 11 April 2018. (Photo: Facebook)

A charity that supports persecuted Christians has urged Commonwealth heads of government meeting in England next week to address poor levels of religious liberty in their countries. The charity Open Doors warned that unless representatives of the 53 Commonwealth nations “explicitly include[ed] the right to freedom of religion or belief . . . Read More

China: clampdown reaches Christians in Henan

April 11, 2018 China Anyang, Beijing, China, Crosses, Education, Henan, House churches, Religious freedom, Zhejiang

Local authorities in China’s east-central Henan Province have removed a number of crosses from churches closed a church-run kindergarten and asked Christian residents in one city to register. The “two or three” crosses that have been forcibly removed from churches were located in Yichuan county, and were taken down because . . . Read More

UN religious-freedom rapporteur to assess Tunisia

April 10, 2018 Tunisia Ahmed Shaheed, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Religious freedom, Tunisia, Women

An old palace in the heart of the medina of the capital Tunis which now houses government offices. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief will assess whether security measures to combat terrorism in Tunisia are limiting freedom of religion. Ahmed Shaheed is scheduled for a 10-day visit the capital, Tunis, and the island of Djerba, where he will discuss human rights issues, including those . . . Read More

World Council of Churches condemns persecution of other religions

April 9, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Berlin, Germany, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Kurds, Religious freedom, Syria, Turkey

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has condemned efforts to incite violence against people who practise other faiths as “abhorrent and ungodly”. “Freedom of religion is as much about Christian minorities in Muslim countries as it is about followers of Islam . . . Read More

Nepal to further tighten laws on religious conversion

April 6, 2018 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Kathmandu, Nepal, Religious freedom

Nepal is set to draft new laws and amend existing legal provisions to prevent religious conversions, reports local news site myrepublica.com. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa said that, “through Christianity”, attempts were being made to “push the country into conflict”. “A new strategy should be devised to consolidate national unity,” . . . Read More

China pledges to protect religious freedom, days after Bible ban

April 6, 2018 China Bibles, Catholics, China, Protestants, Religious freedom, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

Women, married to pastors who work in rural areas in China, meet in a church. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China presented an official ‘white paper’ on religion on Wednesday, 4 April, guaranteeing “protection” for religious freedom, just four days after banning the online sale of Bibles. The policy paper, titled ‘China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief’, was presented by the State Council Information Office at . . . Read More

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