A church leader in Sri Lanka has been granted bail after spending a month in prison pending trial on a charge of “outraging” the “religious feelings” of Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic communities in a sermon he gave that was posted online, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Local authorities in separate districts of Sri Lanka recently ordered two churches to close down, on the grounds that the congregations’ Christian activities are offensive to their communities, Voice of the Martyrs Canada (VOM) reports. Sri Lanka’s constitution gives preferential status to Buddhism, and demands by the authorities for churches to close are not uncommon.
Evangelical Christians in bankrupt Sri Lanka were weighing their options Friday after new details emerged of a Buddhist mob storming a church and injuring one believer.
A Pentecostal congregation in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province has been told to end worship services because Buddhist monks oppose its activities, Christians said late Thursday.
Evangelical Christians in eastern Sri Lanka have expressed concerns about recent attacks by Hindu and Buddhist mobs opposing their faith.
The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is calling for the establishment of an “anti-conversion” law he claims will “save this country” from the phenomenon of people converting from Buddhism to other religions, Christians say as a pretext for persecution.
Christians in Sri Lanka are expecting persecution to intensify under a new Buddhist leader whose brother once gave the green light for monks to harass churches.
Christians in Sri Lanka are reeling from a series of coordinated attacks Sunday that killed 323 people and injured 500 others.
Police in Sri Lanka arrested a Christian who reported a Buddhist mob’s threat on his life, according to an advocacy group in the island country.
A bereaved Christian family in Sri Lanka was prevented from burying their loved one after an angry mob prevented them from holding the funeral in a nearby cemetery.
Buddhist group has launched a four-day campaign against “Christian fundamentalism” to stop their religious activities in Sri Lanka, according to Barnabas Aid.
The government of Sri Lanka has created a religious police unit to settle disputes arising from an increasing intolerance against minorities by Buddhist groups, according to AsiaNews.
Eleven monks from the nationalist Buddhist Strength Force lobby led a violent mob of 250 villagers who physically assaulted the family of the pastor of Holy Family Church in Asgiriya, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 16, according to Christian Today Australia.
Two churches in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka were vandalized Sunday by a mob led by Buddhist monks, according to International Christian Concern.
Police asked several churches in Sri Lanka to close on some Sundays during September because of threats from Buddhist extremists, according to Barnabas Aid.
CARROLLTON, Texas, Dec. 27, 2004 (Gospel for Asia) — Gospel for Asia workers are rushing food, clothing, medical supplies-and the love of God-to millions of Asians still in deep shock from a disaster spawned by the most powerful earthquake in 40 years.