Tag: Christmas

Refugee churches in Khartoum ordered to ‘register’

February 12, 2016 Sudan Christmas, Khartoum, Refugees, Sudan

Representatives from Sudan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs have convened leaders of refugee churches in Khartoum to tell them to stop their services until they have registered, sources have told World Watch Monitor. The churches affected are those started for refugees from Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Philippines, among others. If . . . Read More

Thinking of home this Christmas, displaced Iraqi Christians look ahead with hope

December 24, 2015 Iraq Christmas, Dohuk, Erbil

This nativity picture hung inside Nissan’s caravan. The family wished to keep their own photos private.World Watch Monitor Back at home in their Nineveh Plain town of Qaraqosh, the children learnt ‘Aboun Bashmayo‘, or ‘Our Father…,‘ in their original Syriac tongue. Now, as refugees, they were singing ‘Forgive us . . . Read More

Somalia, Brunei ban Christmas

December 23, 2015 Africa, African Union, Brunei, Christmas, Islamic extremism, Somalia

Somalia has banned the celebration of Christmas – for the first time since the last central government collapsed in 1991. “We alert fellow Muslims in Somalia that some festivities to mark Christian Days will take place around the world in this week,” Sheikh Ali Dhere told a press conference. “It . . . Read More

Indian Christians frustrated by Good Governance Day ‘distraction’ at Christmas

December 22, 2015 India BJP, Christmas, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Maharashtra, Pune

Thousands of Santa Clauses parade through the streets of Thrissur, Kerala state, in 2014.World Watch Monitor Church leaders have joined critics of a controversial move by the government of India’s second-most populous state to hold “Good Governance Day” observances on Christmas Day. “Holding programmes to promote Good Governance is . . . Read More

After Aung San Suu Kyi’s election win, Myanmar’s displaced Kachin are hopeful they can go home for Christmas

December 16, 2015 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Baptists, Christmas, Churches, Elections, Kachin, Refugees

As democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi prepares to assume power in Myanmar, two Baptist leaders among the country’s ethnic Kachin refugees are cautiously expecting more freedom to live their Christian faith, perhaps as soon as this Christmas. More than 100,000 ethnic Kachin, displaced due to civil war that broke . . . Read More

Iran pastor Fathi’s appeal fails, against extra year in prison and 74 lashes

June 2, 2015 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Christmas, Church of Iran, Converts, Ebrahim Firouzi, Evin Prison, Farshid Fathi, Hassan Rouhani, Minorities, Prisons, Tehran

An Iranian pastor serving a six-year prison term has failed in his appeal against a further sentence of 74 lashes and an additional year in jail – for the alleged possession in his cell of two litres of alcohol. This latest news about Farshid Fathi was first reported by Iran-focused . . . Read More

On trial in Iran for celebrating Christmas

May 28, 2015 Iran Assyrians, Christmas, Evin Prison, Iran, Proselytism, Tehran, Victor Bet-Tamraz

An Iranian pastor is expected to stand trial in Iran soon, five months after his arrest by security forces for “participating in an illegal gathering” as he celebrated Christmas. Victor Bet-Tamraz led the Tehran Pentecostal Assyrian Church before it was shut down by Iran’s Ministry of Interior in March 2009. . . . Read More

Christmas arrests in Iran: 11 still detained

January 15, 2015 Iran Apostasy, Armenians, Assyrians, Christmas, Converts, Evin Prison, Human rights, Iran, Minorities, Religious freedom, UK, Victor Bet-Tamraz, Zoroastrians

As the US Secretary of State meets his Iranian counterpart in a bid to revive stalled talks over Iran’s nuclear programme, human rights experts are keen that issues of freedom of religion are not overlooked. This week, the UK Foreign Office has said that it’s raised its concern with the . . . Read More

President Sisi sets a historic milestone

January 8, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Christmas, Copts, Libya

nEgyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, center, attends a Christmas Eve mass led by Egyptian Coptic Pope Tawadros II, left, at St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District of Cairo on Jan. 6 Ahmed Gamel / AFP / Getty Images Hours before Egypt’s Coptic Christian communities gathered for their . . . Read More

Mexican Priest’s body found on Christmas Day

December 30, 2014 Mexico Christmas, Guerrero, Kidnapping, Mexico, Organised crime

CNN reports that the body of Rev. Gregorio Lopez was found shot dead on Christmas Day after being kidnapped in Mexico’s south-western drug cartel state Guerrero. The motive for the killing remains unclear, but he is the third priest to be killed in the state this year. “A friend of . . . Read More

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