Tag: Churches

Killings escalate in Nigeria

July 6, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Churches, Jos, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Potiskum, Yobe

The suicide bombing of a church in Nigeria on Sunday caps a week of killings that has left over 200 people dead, reports the BBC. In the first incident six worshippers were killed as they were entering a church in Potiskum in the north-east area where until recently Boko Haram . . . Read More

Indonesia ‘suppressing’ religions

June 9, 2015 Indonesia Churches, Constitution, Indonesia, Proselytism, Religious freedom

A draft law aimed at protecting religious communities fails to uphold religious freedoms in Indonesia, says a human rights group. “The bill upholds that the state can intervene in freedom of religion to maintain stability and security at the expense of minority groups,” said Bonar Tigor Naipospos of the Setara . . . Read More

Vietnam’s Religion Law

May 8, 2015 Vietnam Catholics, Central Highlands, Churches, Communism, Human rights, Minorities, Religion Law, Religious freedom, UN, Vietnam

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is drafting a “Law on Belief and Religion,” for passage in the National Assembly in 2016, and possibly this year. It is almost inevitable the new law will disappoint proponents of universal human rights.1 Diverse religions and religious practices flourish in communist Vietnam. Religious believers far . . . Read More

Historic church destroyed in Syria

April 30, 2015 Syria Aleppo, Armenians, Churches, Islamic State, Syria

An historic Armenian church has been destroyed in Aleppo, Syria. The Armenian Church of Forty Martyrs dates back to the 15th Century. The Armenian Weekly says it is unclear whether the church was destroyed by shelling or explosives. “The church was at the centre of Armenian community life in Aleppo, . . . Read More

71 life sentences for burning Egyptian church

April 30, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Islamic extremism, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

An Egyptian court has sentenced 71 people to life in prison for attacking and burning a Coptic church in reaction to the 2013 removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Ahram Online reports. The Virgin Mary Church in Giza province’s Kafr Hakim village was torched and looted by a mob on . . . Read More

Kenyan churches ‘targeted’ for attack

April 29, 2015 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Churches, East Africa, Garissa, Kenya, Nairobi, Pentecostals

Police in Kenya have issued a warning that Nairobi’s churches and university are at risk of a new attack by Al-Shabaab. The warning, circulated via the president’s office on April 23, states that Al-Shabaab has dispatched spies to launch ‘high scale attacks’ on ‘unspecified dates’. The letter states that major . . . Read More

Myanmar police accused of raping Christian, 15

April 27, 2015 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Churches, Kachin, Myanmar, Rape, Women

Two policemen have allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl from Myanmar’s Chin state – home to the majority of the country’s Christians. The allegations were made by the girl’s father. He filed a report at the local police station stating that two officers had taken her away on a motorbike and . . . Read More

Algerian in France ‘planned to attack church(es)’

April 22, 2015 Algeria, Churches, France, Islamic extremism, Paris, Syria, Terrorism

A 24-year-old Algerian, arrested in south-east Paris for possessing handguns, other weapons and bulletproof vests, told police he was planning to attack “one or more churches”. The French Interior Minister said the information technology student had previously come to the attention of the French authorities as possibly wanting to go to . . . Read More

Indonesian Islam to model harmony

February 20, 2015 Indonesia Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Joko Widodo

The Indonesian Muslim Congress, meeting under new President Joko Widodo, has re-stated that Indonesian Islam could serve as a model, at the international level, to present a “harmonious society” in which Muslims live and work peacefully side by side with believers of other religions. President Widodo said “Indonesia is a . . . Read More

Egypt seeks international help against IS after 21 Christians beheaded

February 16, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Bishop Angaelos, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Minya, Samalut, Terrorism, Wahhabism

Egypt began seven days of national mourning after Islamist militants released a graphic video on 15 February, depicting the mass beheading of 20 Coptic Christians and a Ghanaian Christian in Libya. Originally it was believed that all 21 men were Coptic Egyptians, but on 25 February MidEast Christian News confirmed . . . Read More

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