‘I am currently under threat of death for preaching’ – Colombian pastor

During the 50 years conflict between Colombia's government and main rebel group, FARC-EP, churches were threatened and hundreds of church leaders assassinated by armed groups. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2012)
Violence in Colombia has killed 200,000 people and caused around 7 million to flee their homes over the past 50 years, making them the world’s largest internally displaced group of people, World Magazine reported last week. Violence is especially severe in rural areas. At the border with Venezuela, the magazine . . . Read More

Report: Latin American states failing Christians by overlooking ‘criminal freedom’

During the 50 years conflict between Colombia's government and main rebel group, FARC-EP, churches were threatened and hundreds of church leaders assassinated by armed groups. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2012)
A new report looking into the “endemic phenomena” of organised crime and corruption in Latin America highlights the failure of governments to protect active Christians from violence. The inability or unwillingness of Latin American governments to stop organised crime encourages a “criminal freedom” that “makes specific sectors within society become . . . Read More

Mexico a ‘case study in government inaction’ as third priest killed this year

Mexico a ‘case study in government inaction’ as third priest killed this year
A third Mexican priest this year has been killed following a violent attack at his parish just outside Mexico City. Luis Lopez Villa, 71, was killed by intruders at his San Isidro Labrador parish in Nezahualcóyotl on 5 July. An initial police report said his hands and feet were bound . . . Read More

Argentinian priest transferred due to drug traffickers’ threats

Police in Buenos Aires, 2013. (Flickr / Beatrice Murch / CC)
An Argentinian priest has been transferred from his parish due to repeated threats from drug traffickers, reports Agenzia Fides. His bishop, Fernando Carlos Maletti, made the decision to transfer Father Eduardo Farrell due to the continued threat of violence in the Sagrado Corazon parish of Merlo-Morena diocese, 25 miles west . . . Read More