The cause of Christians striving to practise their faith without fear or pressure often advances and retreats in countries outside those where Christians directly live under the most oppression. In London, New York, Strasbourg, Washington, and other centres of deliberation, important developments happen concerning Christians and religious freedom more broadly. This is the page where we consolidate news with an international scope.
US Vice-President says Trump will protect Middle East Christians and flush out ‘terrorists’
US Vice-President Mike Pence has said that the Trump administration is committed “to defend[ing] Christians, and those of all faiths, whose freedom of religion is threatened”. He was speaking on the first day of the World Summit In Defence of Persecuted Christians in Washington DC, which has been organised by […]
Relatives of Coptic ‘martyrs’ join summit on persecuted Christians in US capital
A “World Summit in Defence of Persecuted Christians” has started in Washington DC, and is expected to be addressed by the US Vice-President Mike Pence today (Thursday, 11 May). It has been organised by American evangelist Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 600 participants have come from 136 countries: including Egypt, […]
US watchdog adds Russia to its list of worst oppressors of religion
Religious freedom is in retreat worldwide, and for the first time Russia is among the world’s worst oppressors, according to America’s most prominent and influential scorecard on the issue. The annual report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, released 26 April, puts its case plainly in its opening […]
How do Christians respond to persecution?
A report looking into the ways Christians respond to persecution has found that their “survival strategies” require a lot of “creativity, determination and courage”, while violence is seldom used. “Christians are the most widely targeted religious community, suffering terrible persecution globally,” according to the University of Notre Dame’s report, In […]
Religious intolerance increasing, says Pew annual report
A report released earlier this month by the Pew Research Center shows an increased intolerance towards religion by governments and societies alike in 2015. According to Pew’s annual report, restrictions on religious activities increased in 2015, as did harassment relating to religion. The global study, which included 198 countries, found […]
Government silence on IS’s genocide ’empowers oppressors’
A British Member of Parliament has criticised the UK government for failing to declare the actions of Islamic State against Christians, Yazidis and others “genocide”, suggesting that this omission enables oppressors to act with impunity. Conservative MP Fiona Bruce, who proposed a motion in parliament exactly one year ago that […]
Persecution of Christians ‘still not taken seriously’
Following the Palm Sunday bomb attacks on two Egyptian churches, Ewelina Ochab, writing for Forbes, suggests that it’s time to be more proactive in response to the persecution of Christians – “the most persecuted religious group in the world”. “The situation [for Christians] has not improved [in] recent years,” she writes. […]
‘Double suffering’ when women targeted not only for gender, but also religion
On International Women’s Day, one statistic you may not hear much is that 83% of global women identify with a religious faith. Pew Research asked people in 84 countries how often they pray; in half of them, substantially more women than men say they pray on a daily basis. And […]
65,000 children freed from armed groups in 10 years
At least 65,000 children have been released from armed forces and armed groups in the past 10 years, UNICEF said as leaders from around the world gathered in Paris on 21 Feb. to mark the anniversary of the Paris Commitments to end the use of children in conflict. “Ten years […]
How easy is it to live as a Christian in the Arabian Peninsula?
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman.World Watch Monitor There are currently hundreds of thousands of Christians living and worshipping in the Arabian Peninsula. Millions of labourers from predominantly poor Asian and African countries – many of them Christians – work long-term in the region. Most of the migrants […]