Tag: Religious freedom

Vietnam: Church told to take down Christmas nativity scene

December 19, 2017 Vietnam Catholics, Ho Chi Minh City, Human rights, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Vietnam

St Joseph's Cathedral in Vietnam's capital Hanoi also faced challenges over ownership of the land next to the church which led to protests in 2008. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

One of the highlights at this time of year for the citizens of Communist Vietnam is to go to see often highly elaborate temporary ‘constructions’ showing the Nativity scene of Christ’s birth which local Christians build onto their churches or homes. There are, for instance, whole streets of such scenes . . . Read More

Pope meets evangelical leaders to strengthen religious freedom

December 18, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Churches, Pentecostals, Pope Francis, Religious freedom

A burned church in a village in Southern Kaduna, northern Nigeria. Violence attributed to militant Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria reached a record high last year.(Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Pope Francis and leaders from the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) met last Thursday (14 December) in Rome to discuss further collaboration in promoting religious freedom in a world where persecution of Christians is on the rise. The church leaders also talked about strengthening their partnership in Bible distribution and confronting . . . Read More

‘Discreet and systematic persecution of Christians’ in Sudan

December 15, 2017 Sudan Religious freedom, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ, USA

Sudanese government started demolishing this Sudan Church of Christ (SCOC) building in the Suba region, 20 km south of the capital, Khartoum, early May 2017. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A new report on Sudan, published earlier this week by the Enough Project, says the US must consider Sudan’s persecution of Christians and other minority groups before it lifts the remaining sanctions against the country. The report, ‘Radical Intolerance: Sudan’s Religious Oppression and Embrace of Extremist Groups’, says Sudan is . . . Read More

Indonesia church leader charged with blasphemy

December 14, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Education, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Java, Joko Widodo, Muhammadiyah, Religious freedom, Southeast Asia, Tangerang, Youth

Inside a church in Indonesia. Villagers in Central Java requested the top of a burial cross to be cut before a Catholic was to be buried in what is a public cemetery but is regarded by Muslim groups as 'their' graveyard. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An Indonesian church leader has been charged with blasphemy – the first case of its kind in the country – and could face five years in prison. Rev. Abraham Ben Moses, 52, was arrested and detained last week in his home town of Tangerang, Java, 25 km west of the capital, . . . Read More

CAR Christians and Muslims risk crossing ‘red line’ to establish peace

December 7, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Central African Republic, Religious freedom, Seleka, UN

At the market in Boda, a mining town in the southwest of the Central African Republic, Christians and Muslims come together to purchase goods set on wooden tables along the dusty roadside. It’s a picture of peaceful coexistence that would be unthinkable in some parts of a country that has . . . Read More

‘80% of religious discrimination targets Christians’

December 7, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Human rights, Middle East, Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis, Religious freedom

Father Poulos looking up to the ceiling in this house that still has a lot of destruction and needs thorough repairs

Christians are the victims in 80 per cent of acts of religious discrimination, despite only accounting for 30 per cent of the global population, a conference in Washington heard on Tuesday (5 December). The statistics, from the International Society for Human Rights, were presented at the 3rd International Conference on Religious . . . Read More

Freedom of thought ‘regressing on a global scale’

December 6, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Apostasy, Asia Bibi, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Comoros, Education, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Human rights, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Qatar, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, The Gambia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

There are many Pakistani Christian women like Aasiya Noreen who live in fear of the Blasphemy law in their country and the (potential of) abuse. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The 2017 Freedom of Thought Report, presented yesterday (5 December), should be alarming “to all who care about freedom of thought and expression”, as it shows “a pattern of regression on a global scale”, says its editor, Bob Churchill. The report, published by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) . . . Read More

India’s president says religious diversity should be ‘cherished’

December 5, 2017 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Ram Nath Kovind, Religious freedom

India’s president, Ram Nath Kovind, has urged his countrymen to “preserve” and “cherish” ethnic and religious diversity, during his first visit to the north-eastern Christian-majority state of Mizoram on 29 November. “We see a huge variety of ethnic and religious identities, and so many languages, cultures and customs, modes of . . . Read More

Bangladesh: Catholic priest missing as Pope Francis arrives

November 30, 2017 Bangladesh Bangladesh, Catholics, Dhaka, Education, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Pope Francis, Religious freedom

Pope Francis hold hands with President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid (L) upon arriving at the Presidential palace in Dhaka on 30 November 2017. (Photo: VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

Pope Francis has arrived in Bangladesh, where a Catholic priest disappeared three days ago, highlighting the pressure Christians and other minority groups are under in the mainly Muslim country. Father Walter William Rozario, who is also the headmaster of a high school, went missing in northern Natore district on 27 . . . Read More

Egypt: 21 churches receive long-delayed government approval to build

November 29, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Anba Macarius, Cairo, Churches, Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Islamic State, Minya, Pentecostals, Port Said, Protestants, Religious freedom, Samalut, Sinai, Sohag, Sunni, Upper Egypt, USA

Twenty-one churches in Egypt’s southern rural Minya governorate can restore, expand and rebuild their churches after receiving approval from the Minya Governor. Governor Essam al-Bedeiwi approved the 21 applications over the last six months. Some of the churches had been waiting for more than 20 years for a permit to come . . . Read More

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