The Chaldean Patriarchate has issued a statement attesting that Iraqi Christians are leaving their country in droves due to compelling sociological and political factors, which include discrimination, Agenzia Fides reports. The Christians of Iraq make up one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world; there are an estimated 500,000 Christians still in the country.
A new census shows the number of people identifying as Christian in England and Wales has fallen below 50% for the first time, although researchers say this does not mean Britain has turned its back on religion, Christian Today (CT) reports. The census also shows that the percentage of the English and Welsh population who said they had no religion rose sharply from 25.2% in 2011 to 37.2% in 2021.
Federal agencies and the state of Wyoming have acknowledged in settling a lawsuit filed against them that the Christian Wyoming Rescue Mission is free to hire only like-minded believers who share in the organization’s mission to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Washington Times reports.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has stated in a new report that Christians in northwestern Syria are now living under threat from the de facto rule of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, Christian Today reports.
A pastor in Sudan has been jailed for alleged “witchcraft” after he led a prayer meeting for his sick mother, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. State-sponsored persecution of Christians has returned to Sudan since last year’s military coup toppled the moderate government, which had succeeded ousted Islamic dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
Pakistan government officials bulldozed the homes and church building of 200 Christian families in Islamabad last month, with no warning or offer of substitute housing, the Christian Post reports.
China’s ruling Communist Party is continuing its crackdown and closure of evangelical house churches: earlier this month, the Covenant Home Church in Shanxi province was issued with an official notice that it has been banned and must close, reports Bitter Winter, a news outlet focused on religious liberty and human rights in China.
Archaeologists in Israel have recently discovered that the ancient city of Hippos in the northern Israeli region of the Golan was a major center for Christianity during the Byzantine period, Israel365 reports. Although Hippos was closely connected to Greco-Roman culture and was known as a religious center for the pagan Seleucids, archaeologists have discovered the remains of seven Byzantine-period churches there.
A UK Christian street preacher charged with a Public Order offense for telling a same-sex married couple that their union is against the Bible’s teaching has had his case dropped after the couple refused to engage with it, Christian Concern (CC) reports.
A former Hindu who gave his life to Christ just four months ago was beaten unconscious and left for dead after a mob of Hindus attacked a gathering of believers at a house church in India’s Odisha state earlier this month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Rescuers on Tuesday struggled to find survivors of a powerful earthquake that rattled a highly populated area of Indonesia’s West Java province, killing and injuring more than two thousand people.
A mob of radicalized Hindu nationalists beat up and hospitalized nine Christians during an attack on a church hall in India’s Chhattisgarh state earlier this month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
As crowds enjoyed soccer in the bloodstained stadiums of Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup after thousands of migrant workers were killed, Christians began distributing Bibles in 14 languages.
A new study by conservative Christian polling group Bana reveals that many pastors are so stressed out by political divisions and excessive identification with political parties in their congregations that they have considered leaving the ministry over it, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
Europe saw over 500 documented Anti-Christian Hate Crimes in 2021, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians (OIDAC) says in its annual report available online. In addition to the incidents documented, OIDAC attests there is a “reasonable probability” of even higher numbers of incidents that were not reported on.
As the US United Methodist Church continues to lose congregations over its acceptance of same-sex marriage and ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, 58 churches in Louisiana officially disaffiliated from the denomination at the weekend, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
A major new report shows the government of Algeria has closed down 16 Evangelical churches in the past year as part of a crackdown on proselytization and perceived blasphemy against Sunni Islam, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
A Christian pastor in Laos was tortured before being murdered last month in an attack police was likely on account of his faith, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists from Israel, Egypt, the US, India, Spain and the UK plan to gather Sunday around the world to call on global leaders to act for “climate repentance” and to implement ten climate principles.
Following the intervention of the US Supreme Court, the city of Boston has agreed to pay $2.1 million to a conservative Christian legal group that challenged the city’s refusal to fly a Christian flag at City Hall, the Associated Press reports.