Tag: Catholics

China: 6 churches closed, crosses removed from 3 others

October 19, 2018 China Beijing, Catholics, China, Guiyang, Guizhou, Henan, Protestants, Wenzhou

Authorities in China have closed at least six “underground” Protestant churches in Guizhou province in Southwest China, reports CSW. The churches in Guiyang city were closed on 8 October on account of being “illegal religious venues”. “Unregistered churches in the area have been under pressure from authorities to join the . . . Read More

Churches in Syria: ‘We live together or we die together’

September 26, 2018 Syria Aleppo, Armenians, Catholics, Churches, Greek Orthodox, Syria, Syriacs

The Syrian civil war seems finally to be drawing to a close, with Idlib province the last battlefield in a long and bloody conflict between government forces and rebel groups. Seven years of war has taken its toll, including the devastation of many Christian sites, which local communities are slowly . . . Read More

Pakistani Christians fear more violence if they press charges over attack

September 26, 2018 Pakistan Catholics, Kasur, Minorities, Pakistan, Police

A land dispute between Christian and Muslim villagers in rural Pakistan ended with a mob attack on the Christian community, but no charges against the attackers. A 10-year-old boy’s arm was broken and two women were beaten and had their clothes torn when a mob of at least men and . . . Read More

China-Vatican deal an ‘incredible betrayal’, says cardinal

September 24, 2018 China Catholics, China, Churches, Pope Francis, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

Critics say the deal is a sell-out of the Catholic Church in China and undermines its credibility. (Phot: World Watch Monitor)

The Vatican and China reached a deal on Saturday, 22 September, in the long-standing dispute over the appointment of bishops, as reported by Reuters. As part of the deal with the state-backed Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which oversees the registered Church, Pope Francis will recognise seven Chinese bishops who were . . . Read More

Vietnam uses ‘national security’ to detain rights activists, UN told

September 19, 2018 Vietnam Catholics, Human rights, Nguyen Van Dai, Religious freedom, UN, Vietnam

Vietnam has been accused of “misinforming” the international community about the human rights issues in the country. The president of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, Vo Van Ai, speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, condemned the alleged “brutal crackdown on freedom of expression, association, peaceful . . . Read More

India: 2 years after Supreme Court order, no investigation into ‘shocking’ number of Kandhamal acquittals

September 11, 2018 India Catholics, Delhi, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Odisha, Proselytism

The man spearheading the campaign for “justice” for the victims of the worst case of anti-Christian violence in India’s history has denounced the failure of the Odisha state government to follow up on a Supreme Court order to investigate why there have been so few criminal convictions despite nearly 6,500 . . . Read More

Nicaragua: Christians attacked, detained and killed as ‘enemies of the regime’

September 6, 2018 Catholics, Corruption, Daniel Ortega, Latin America, Managua, Nicaragua, UN

More violence erupted during another anti-government protest in the capital Managua on Sunday (2 September) in which at least three people were injured. (Photo: INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)

Nicaragua’s president ordered a UN commission to leave the country on 1 September after it criticised the government for alleged human rights abuses committed during its clampdown on anti-government protestors. In its report, the UN Commission on Human Rights “called on the government to stop the persecution of protestors and . . . Read More

Philippines: Internet café bomb kills two Christian teenagers

September 4, 2018 Philippines Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Catholics, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines

A bomb explosion in a town in the southern Philippines on 2 September claimed the lives of an 18-year-old catechist (he taught the Christian faith in public schools in his free time) and his 15-year-old cousin, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. The blast that killed Jun Mark Luda and Marialyn . . . Read More

No news of Chinese Catholic priest missing for 8 months

September 4, 2018 China Catholics, China, Peter Shao Zhumin, Wenzhou

Nothing has been heard from a Chinese Catholic priest missing for eight months after he was taken away by the authorities in December 2017, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. All contact with Fr. Lu Danhua was lost after the personnel of Qingtian Religious Affairs Bureau visited him in his dormitory . . . Read More

China’s head of religious affairs warns of ‘domination’ by ‘foreign forces’

August 21, 2018 China Beijing, Catholics, China, Communism, Religious freedom, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

People leaving the church after a service in Shenyang, north-eastern Dongguang province. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China’s head of religious affairs has warned that the country’s religious groups must not be “dominated” by “foreign forces”, reports Reuters. “There is no affiliate relationship between our country’s religions and foreign religions. Our country’s religious groups and religious matters do not accept domination by foreign forces,” the religious affairs . . . Read More

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