Essay: How much longer will the Middle East celebrate Christmas?
In an article first published on Religion News Service, KNOX THAMES, a former special adviser for religious minorities at the US Department of State, says that many Christians in the Middle East face a Hobson’s choice – align with a brutal dictator or face discrimination and destruction…
Books: Behind the headlines – Christian pastor Andrew Brunson’s memoir of his two years in a Turkish prison
DAVID ADAMS reads US pastor Andrew Brunson’s memoir about the 735 days he was detained in Turkey…
More than two dozen countries launch new religious freedom alliance
Washington DC, USRNS The US State Department announced Wednesday that 27 countries have joined the new International Religious Freedom Alliance that seeks to reduce religious persecution across the globe. “Together, we say that freedom of religion or belief is not a Western ideal, but truly the bedrock of societies,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo […]
Christian persecution in India spiked in 2019, new report finds
Religion Unplugged On 10th April, 2019, Pastor Jose along with a few others visited Beechu Ram’s house in Ghatampur village located in Ghazipur in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. During the time of prayer, an unidentified youth trespassed into the house and started recording a video of the proceedings. He then contacted the local […]
Open Doors warns of “rise of the surveillance state” as North Korea tops watch list again
RNS Imagine facial recognition technology to get into a house of worship and surveillance cameras inside. Or a “social score” system that awards points for good citizenship – and deducts them for sharing one’s faith, leading to penalties such as limiting where parents can send their children to school. It’s not the plot of a blockbuster […]
Pope defends migrants, calls for peace in Christmas message
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis urged the world to let the light of Christmas pierce the “darkness in human hearts” that leads to religious persecution, social injustice, armed conflicts and fear of migrants. In his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) Christmas Day message, the 83-year-old Pope called for peace in the Holy […]
Call for re-elected UK Government to put religious freedom at “heart” of foreign policy
Persecuted church support ministry Release International has called on re-elected UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to keep a pledge to “make the protection of religious freedom at the very heart of UK foreign policy”. Paul Robinson, CEO of Release, congratulated the Prime Minister on his renewed mandate and urged him to keep a promise – made […]
At least 14 dead after Burkina Faso church attack
At least 14 people died after gunmen opened fire in a Protestant church in Burkina Faso during a service on Sunday, according to reports. The attack, which took place in the Fada N’Gourma area near the border with Niger, is the latest in a string of incidents by Islamic extremists targeting Christians in the West African […]
One pastor killed, another kidnapped in separate attacks in north-central Nigeria
Jos, NigeriaMorning Star News Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed a Pentecostal pastor and abducted a Baptist pastor in a spate of kidnappings this month in Kaduna state, Nigeria, sources said. “The herdsmen, about 20 of them, shot into our house and broke the doors of the house,” said Emmanuel Noma, who along with his father, 60-year-old pastor […]
Christian family takes refuge in mountains after expulsion from their home in Mexico
Miami, USMorning Star News Miguel Pérez Díaz, his eight children and 87-year-old father have been living in a mountainside shack since May, when local officials expelled them from their village in Chiapas state, Mexico. Relatives, friends and neighbours in Tajlovijho, a village in the municipality of San Andrés Larráinzar in southern Mexico, had been harassing […]