UK government commits £12 million to championing religious freedom

More than 20 people lost their lives in the Palm Sunday attack on the St George Cathedral in Tanta, Egypt.
The UK government has committed £12 million ($15.5 million) to championing freedom of religion of belief worldwide. The UK’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Lord Tariq Ahmad, said the money “will go a long way in bolstering the work of civil society and NGOs to promote respect, . . . Read More

‘80% of religious discrimination targets Christians’

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

Solidarity for Egypt’s beleaguered Christians during first Coptic papal visit to UK

Solidarity for Egypt’s beleaguered Christians during first Coptic papal visit to UK
British Christian and political leaders praised Egypt’s embattled Coptic Christians during Pope Tawadros II’s pastoral visit to the UK, the first by a Coptic Pope. Tawadros’ visit follows Pope Francis’ visit to Egypt during which he told the head of the Coptic Church: “The innocent blood of defenceless Christians was . . . Read More

Egypt’s Christians mourn 49 killed in Palm Sunday church bombings

Chaos in St George's cathedral, Tanta, after a suicide bomber blew himself up during the Palm Sunday liturgy
Egypt’s Christians are in mourning and profound shock after yesterday’s twin suicide bombing attacks on churches packed for Palm Sunday, which left at least 49 people dead and more than 110 injured. The Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, narrowly escaped injury, having just celebrated Mass in one of the cathedrals that . . . Read More

Egyptian Copt widow: ‘Gunmen who killed my husband and son then ticked them off their IS hit-list’

Egyptian Copt widow: ‘Gunmen who killed my husband and son then ticked them off their IS hit-list’
A Coptic Christian mother in North Sinai who saw her son and husband killed in front of her in their home says she then saw the gunman calmly tick off her loved ones from a hit-list he carried. In an exclusive interview with World Watch Monitor, Nabila Fawzi Hanna, 65, . . . Read More

Trump’s pledge to persecuted Christians – welcome news or harmful to those he seeks to protect?

Trump’s pledge to persecuted Christians – welcome news or harmful to those he seeks to protect?
Donald Trump has spoken of the need to prioritise refugees from persecuted faith groups – especially Christians – at the same time as he has halted immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. World Watch Monitor summarises the response of Christian opinion leaders in America and elsewhere. US President Donald Trump’s executive order . . . Read More