A new study shows that hate crimes against Protestants and Catholics increased by 70% in Europe last year, the Christian Post (CP) reports. The Observatory on Intolerance Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) presented its report amid concerns about an ongoing decline in religious, parental, and conscience freedoms for European Christians.
A church elder was murdered, a pregnant woman wounded, and a home burned down in continued attacks against Christians in northern Nigeria by radicalized Fulani Islamic herdsmen earlier this month, Morning Star News reports. Nigeria had the highest number of Christians murdered for their faith last year, and ranks number one in the world for the number of Christians abducted by Islamic terrorists.
Hindu nationalists in Central India last month burned down the home of a Christian family that had been persecuted for years because of their faith, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Devoted Christians face a difficult Christmas season in Kazakhstan after legislators approved one of Europe’s harshest religious laws limiting worship or other faith-based events.
Suspected Islamic militants threaten to attack churches in Nigeria’s northern state of Zamfara unless they stop worship services and close their facilities, Christians said Thursday.
An Algerian court of appeals on December 1 upheld a hefty fine given to a Christian convert from Islam who had been charged with accepting donations without a license for the purpose of proselytization, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Hindu militants threatened more attacks against a Christian congregation in India’s southern state of Karnataka if it continues services ahead of expected “anti-conversion” legislation.
The head boy of a Christian school in northern Nigeria, who was freed by suspected Islamic gunmen for health reasons, was praised for showing bravery and leadership during more than 150 days of captivity in the bush.
Suspected Islamic gunmen in Nigeria freed 70 hostages, including 61 members of the Emanuel Baptist Church, in the country’s Kaduna State, but deadly clashes overshadowed their release, Christians confirmed Tuesday.
The Burmese Army (Tatmadaw) has burned down a Pentecostal church once attended by Myanmar’s ousted Vice President Henry Van Thio and his wife, Dr. Sui Hluan in the country’s Christian-majority Chin state, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Three more Christian Aid Ministries hostages in Haiti were released Sunday by the Haitian 400 Mawozo gang, which had abducted 17 of the US organization’s missionaries (16 Americans and one Canadian) on October 16, the Washington Times reports. Few details on the new releases have been given for security reasons; two of the missionaries were previously freed on November 21.
Pakistani police say they have detained seven “prime actors” in the horrific killing of a Sri Lankan businessman lynched and burned by an angry Muslim mob over alleged “blasphemy” against Islam.
The Christian president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) was summoned to appear before a court on December 5, to face charges of “practicing non-Muslim rites without permission” and organizing an illegal assembly, Voice of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC) reports.
Two Christian sanitation workers in Sargodha, Pakistan died on October 3 after being ordered to enter a sewer without personal protective clothing to rescue another Christian worker, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. A Muslim emergency service team refused to assist in the incident because they believed touching a Christian makes them unclean.
The Burmese Army (Tatmadaw) is continuing to attack and loot churches in Myanmar’s Christian-majority Chin state as part of a violent campaign to impose Buddhism in the country, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
The senior pastor of Algeria’s largest Protestant church is among those facing a court on charges such as “practicing non-Muslim rites without permission,” sources said Thursday.
An evangelical pastor in Nepal received a two-year prison sentence for evangelism activities that violated the former Hindu kingdom’s anti-conversion laws, trial observers said Thursday.
Authorities in central India have reportedly forced churches to cancel Sunday services amid a Hindu crackdown on Christian conversations.
Christian aid workers said Wednesday that the church was burned down amid further shelling by Myanmar’s military in the west of the troubled Asian nation.
China’s ruling Communist Party is continuing its harassment of Christians by raiding house churches and detaining congregants: last month several believers from Shanghai and Sichuan were taken to police stations for questioning, and one woman was charged and detained, International Christian Concern (ICC reports).