National Baptist Convention USA president questions “hypocritical” mandate views
RNS The president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, closed the annual session of his denomination this week with critiques of cultural conflicts and Christian nationalism. “I am pro-life – always have been – but I’m puzzled,” Rev Jerry Young said in the presidential address at his denomination’s virtual annual session on Tuesday. “What is […]
“It’s time to be real: what happens in Iraq is ethnic cleansing” – UK analyst
World Watch Monitor What Iraq’s Christians want from the West is to say the plain truth: that there is ethnic cleansing of Christians in the region and it is ongoing, Dr Tim Stanley told a meeting at the UK’s parliament last week. The historian and columnist, working for UK daily newspaper The Telegraph, just returned from […]
Pakistan joins US list of worst religious freedom violators
World Watch Monitor Pakistan is among the 10 countries that appear on the US State Department’s latest list of Countries of Particular Concern for religious-freedom violations, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in a press statement on Tuesday. China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan are accused of “having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations of religious freedom”. […]
IS “won’t escape justice” after Trump signs genocide accountability act
World Watch Monitor US President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill that will help to ensure aid is provided to Islamic State’s victims in Iraq and Syria and to hold the perpetrators accountable, reports Associated Press. “In recent years, IS has committed horrifying atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities in Syria and Iraq, including Christians, […]
LIFESTORY: IRAQI CHRISTIAN BOY NOEH UNDER HIS OWN ROOF AGAIN
World Watch Monitor reports on the story of Noeh and his family, now making a new life for themselves in the village of Karamles, Iraq, in wake of the the occupation by the so-called Islamic State…
Sudan releases shipment of Bibles held in port for six years
World Watch Monitor The Sudanese government has cleared a shipment of Bibles believed to have been held in Port Sudan for six years. The Arabic-language Bibles were released two weeks ago and transported to the capital, Khartoum, after years of appeals by church leaders, a local source told World Watch Monitor. Since 2011, customs officials […]
Churches destroyed, priests questioned in Myanmar’s Shan state
World Watch Monitor An ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Shan state is destroying churches and holding clergymen for questioning, reports Radio Free Asia. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), reportedly issued a statement on Facebook on 6th September, declaring that all churches built after 1989 (when […]
US commission calls for Iranian Christians’ release after “new miscarriage of justice”
World Watch Monitor From left: Saheb Fadaie, Youcef Nadarkhani, Yasser Mossayebzadeh and Mohammad Reza Omidi. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of an Iranian pastor and three of his church members, after they were taken to prison last week to serve 10 year sentences for “acting against national […]
Hopes dashed for release of pastor Andrew Brunson as Turkish trial to continue in October
World Watch Monitor Hopes were dashed for the imminent release of an American pastor jailed in Turkey on terrorism charges as a Turkish court on Wednesday ordered him to remain behind bars. The court scheduled Andrew Brunson’s next hearing for 12th October. Pastor Andrew Brunson, pictured in January. Some observers had believed that Turkey might […]
Iraqi archbishop tells USAID delegation to hurry up aid delivery
World Watch Monitor An Iraqi Catholic archbishop has said he and other bishops are “delighted” that the US aid arm is to make good on a pledge to send aid directly to non-Muslim communities recovering from the so-called Islamic State’s occupation of their towns and villages, but warned “time is running [out]”. Archbishop Bashar Warda […]