Tag: Shia

Iraqi clergy say Prince’s solidarity message needs political backing

December 22, 2016 Egypt, Iraq, London, Prince Charles, Shia, Sunni, Syria

Prince Charles speaking at London’s St Thomas Cathedral Syriac Orthodox Church, UK, October 2016The Prince of Wales Iraqi church leaders in Britain have welcomed a radio message by Prince Charles, the future King of England highlighting the persecution of religious minorities, but said that it must be followed by . . . Read More

Tehran hosts 4th Christian-Muslim summit

November 8, 2016 Iran, Isfahan, Qom, Shia, Sunni, Tehran

Delegations from Sunni and Shia Islam, and Roman Catholic and Anglican churches gathered in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday for the 4th Christian-Muslim summit, . The summit finishes on 9th November. Afterwards, delegates will visit the Muslim pilgrimage cities of Qom and Isfahan. The international leaders are sharing ideas . . . Read More

Iraqi MPs reject ‘safe areas’ for Christians

September 28, 2016 Iraq Assyrians, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Shia, Sunni, Yazidis

A majority of Iraq’s Members of Parliament have rejected any proposals to set aside safe areas for Christians and other indigenous minorities in the country’s Nineveh Plains, once the province is liberated from the “Islamic State” (IS). “The Parliament has voted to keep Nineveh’s provincial boundaries as they were prior . . . Read More

Iraq Patriarch to Shia clerics: ‘update discourse’

July 28, 2016 Iraq Iraq, Louis Raphael I Sako, Shia, Sunni

A high-ranking Iraqi Catholic leader has urged visiting Shia religious figures to stress more “equality and rights”, reports said. During a visit by representatives of major Shiite institutions in both Iraq and Iran, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako outlined the experience of Christians, urging the language of religious . . . Read More

Turkish public education system to offer class in Christianity for first time

October 30, 2014 Turkey Armenians, Children, Education, Europe, Islamic extremism, Shia, Sunni, Turkey

The Turkish education system’s mandatory religion classes are not fair to students who do not follow the country’s majority Sunni Islam and must amend its policies, according to a recent verdict of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). As Turkey is a signatory of the European Convention on Human . . . Read More

Lebanon on the brink

July 12, 2013 Lebanon Lebanon, Shia, Sunni, Syria, Tripoli

The war in Syria threatens to spill over into Lebanon, where the Damascus regime and the rebels both have supporters. A Lebanese BBC journalist’s film ‘Lebanon on the Brink‘ shows the latent sectarian enmity between Sunni and Alawite Shia in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

Archbishop of Canterbury and UK Foreign Office Minister alerted to need of Syrian Christians

July 10, 2013 Aleppo, Armenians, Bashar al-Assad, Damascus, Homs, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, London, Middle East, Minorities, North Africa, Refugees, Religious freedom, Shia, Sunni, Syria, Syriacs, UK

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the UK Foreign Office Minister responsible for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), have both acknowledged the findings of a report which says that Christians in Syria are increasingly targeted and vulnerable to persecution, amidst the on-going conflict there. Syria: Church on . . . Read More

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