Tag: Catholics

The Syrian refugee’s Christmas: free from danger but not from worry

December 29, 2017 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Catholics, Civil War, Refugees, Syria

How do Christians under pressure for their faith celebrate Christmas? In the sixth of our series we hear from a Syrian Catholic who has come to Britain as a refugee. “Back in Damascus we would have a big meal with our extended family on Christmas Eve – anything from three to . . . Read More

India’s top Catholic on Hindutva attacks: ‘country being divided on basis of religious belief’

December 22, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Catholics, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, India, Madhya Pradesh, Minorities, Rajasthan, Religious freedom, Tripura, Vishva Hindu Parishad

The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, has expressed a lack of trust in the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the leader of the ruling BJP – known for pursuing a Hindu nationalistic agenda. “The country is being divided on the . . . Read More

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

Sweden opens church for 5,000 Christians who fled Middle East

December 15, 2017 Baghdad, Catholics, Chaldeans, Germany, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Mosul, Sweden

Evening mass at Mar Elia Chaldean Catholic Church in the Iraqi city of Erbil, attended by many refugees from Mosul and Nineveh Plains who fled IS. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2014)

A new church opened last week in the Swedish town of Södertalje, 30km south of Stockholm, for the estimated 5,000-6,000 Chaldean Catholics who have resettled there after fleeing their homes in the Middle East. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne, Germany, who participated in the inaugural service, explained to German . . . Read More

Why are Chile’s churches under attack?

December 15, 2017 Araucanía, Catholics, Chile, Churches, Mapuche, Temuco, Weichan Auka Mapu

Seven hours’ drive south of Chile’s capital, Santiago, in the Araucanía region, 27 churches have been burnt down in the past couple of years by a radical indigenous group, Weichan Auka Mapu. The attackers leave behind messages spelling out the demands of the Mapuches, an ancestral tribe who blame the Chilean . . . Read More

India carol singers arrested for ‘trying to convert people to Christianity’

December 15, 2017 India Alphons Kannanthanam, Anti-conversion law, Beef, BJP, Catholics, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Madhya Pradesh, Minorities, Narendra Modi

Six carol singers have been arrested in India after they were accused of trying to convert people to Christianity. The carol singers, one of whom is a professor at a Catholic theological college, insisted they were only singing songs, but a Hindu man alleged he had been told to “worship . . . Read More

Bangladesh: Catholic priest found, then detained for being ‘mentally unstable’

December 4, 2017 Bangladesh Bangladesh, Catholics, Pope Francis

A Catholic priest who went missing in Bangladesh days ahead of a visit by Pope Francis has been found alive, but there is still confusion over the circumstances of his disappearance. Father Walter William Rozario, 41, is said by his family to have escaped from his captors and called his . . . Read More

Vietnam: Catholic blogger loses appeal against 10-year sentence for ‘anti-state reports’

December 4, 2017 Vietnam Catholics, Human rights, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Southeast Asia, Vietnam

A Vietnamese Catholic blogger has failed in her attempt to overturn a 10-year prison sentence for writing “anti-state reports”. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 38, better known as ‘Me Nam’ (Mother Mushroom), is a member of the US-based activist group Viet Tan, which funded one of her environmental campaigns. Her blogging . . . Read More

Egypt: Coptic church reopens 8 months after Palm Sunday bombing

December 4, 2017 Egypt Alexandria, Catholics, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Gharbia, Palm Sunday, Protestants, Tanta

A Coptic cathedral has been restored and reopened eight months after a suicide bombing there on Palm Sunday killed 28 and injured 74 others. St. George’s Cathedral in Tanta, the capital of the Gharbia governorate north of Cairo, has been renamed the Cathedral of St. George and the Martyrs, and . . . Read More

India archbishop served notice for raising human rights ahead of Gujarat elections

December 1, 2017 India Alphons Kannanthanam, BJP, Catholics, Elections, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Narendra Modi

Christian groups and networks in India have rallied behind Archbishop Thomas Macwan of Gandhinagar, capital of Gujarat state in western India, after the federal Election Commission served a notice on the prelate for his pastoral letter ahead of state elections this month. Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister . . . Read More

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