A Muslim man in Indonesia’s Sumatra island has been sentenced to three months imprisonment for overstepping his authority as head of a Lampung Province neighborhood and disrupting a Christian worship service being held there, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
More than 100 were arrested, and criminal investigations were launched against hundreds of others in east Pakistan city after thousands of Muslims burned churches and vandalized homes, Christians and officials said Thursday.
Angry Muslim crowds have torched two churches in Pakistan’s Punjab province, forcing Christians to flee their homes after blasphemy allegations, footage sent to Worthy News early Wednesday shows.
Muslim protestors blocked worship services from taking place at two separate churches in northern Indonesia earlier this month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. While Christianity is legal under the Indonesian Constitution, the Muslim-majority country ranks 33rd on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Christian leaders and civil rights advocates have expressed alarm at Pakistan’s recent passing of the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2023, which increases already-harsh punishment for blasphemy offenses against Islam, and the National Commission for Minorities Bill 2023, which places minority rights at risk, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
A Christian teacher in central India has been violently attacked by police and charged with human trafficking for escorting a small group of tribal Christian students by bus from their home state of Chhattisgarh to a Bible institute in Kerala state, with their parents’ consent, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Although Indonesia’s Constitution specifically protects religious freedom, a church in East Jakarta has come under pressure to close, after Islamic government authorities threatened to permanently deny the congregation a permit to meet and worship in their own building, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
A mob of Hindu nationalists violently attacked four Christians in central India’s Chhattisgarh state because they refused to renounce Christ and return to Hinduism, International Christian Concern (ICC) reported last week.
While India’s central government remains largely silent, Christians in the north-east Indian state of Manipur are continuing to suffer deadly upheaval amid protracted violence between the powerful Hindu majority Meitei community and the Tribal Christian Kuki minority, Global Christian Relief (GCR) reports.
Church groups say Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte are silencing Christian missionaries, priests, and bishops through “red-tagging tactics” for allegedly criticizing the government.
A Christian leader in India’s Uttar Pradesh state has reported to the International Christian Concern aid organization that at least 57 Christians have now been imprisoned in the state on false charges of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity.
Seven Christians in India’s Chhattisgarh state have suffered severe injuries following a brutal attack on them by Hindu nationalists earlier this month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
India’s prime minister on Thursday condemned the reported sexual assault of two Christian women by Hindu men in northeast India and vowed to protect the “daughters of Manipur” state.
Christian families are fleeing their homes in Pakistan’s Punjab province after Muslims threatened to attack them, and several believers were reportedly detained for alleged blasphemy against Islam, a senior rights official told Worthy News.
While the first half of 2023 saw a surge in violence against Christians in India, believers in the southern state of Karnataka are rejoicing as a newly elected state government has vowed to repeal harsh anti-conversion legislation and invest in projects that will benefit them and other religious minorities, Christianity Today (CT) reports.
Indonesian Christians said Tuesday that several church congregations have been “disbanded” by angry Muslim protesters and local authorities. “In one of them, my children worship,” a concerned Christian told Worthy News.
A Christian congregation in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, had its worship service disrupted by Muslim protestors for the second time in two months on July 2, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
A new study published by the United Christian Forum (UCF) shows there were 400 violent attacks on Christians in India in the first half of this year alone, the Christian Post reports. Documenting a surge in violence against Christians in India, the study shows the month of June saw an average of three attacks per day.
A Christian man in Lahore, Pakistan, has been denied bail and kept in custody after being charged with blasphemy against Islam for sharing Facebook posts with Bible verses, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Muslim crowds threatened Sunday to attack thousands of Christians in a predominantly Christian town in Pakistan’s Punjab province for alleged blasphemy against Islam.