How easy is it to live as a Christian in the Arabian Peninsula?

How easy is it to live as a Christian in the Arabian Peninsula?
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman.World Watch Monitor   There are currently hundreds of thousands of Christians living and worshipping in the Arabian Peninsula. Millions of labourers from predominantly poor Asian and African countries – many of them Christians – work long-term in the region. Most of the migrants . . . Read More

Middle East faith & money toxic for Horn of Africa

There’s a long-standing connection between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, shaped by trade and faith. Former BBC Africa Editor Martin Plaut explores this relationship, which has caused increased tensions between and within the countries in the Horn, and which has affected the Christians there badly. Over centuries, . . . Read More

Nationalism in Asia, Islamic extremism in Africa – the 2017 World Watch List

Nationalism in Asia, Islamic extremism in Africa – the 2017 World Watch List
One of the greatest increases in animosity towards Christians last year took place in India as a result of religiously motivated nationalism, according to the latest annual survey of the 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian. Since the rise to power of Narendra . . . Read More

Criticised for not securing release of kidnapped priest in Yemen, Indian government says it ‘told him not to go’

Criticised for not securing release of kidnapped priest in Yemen, Indian government says it ‘told him not to go’
Fr Tom UzhunnalilArchdiocese of Bombay India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come under fire from his political opponents for his failure to secure the release of an Indian Catholic priest kidnapped 10 months ago in Yemen by Islamic extremists. Now Modi’s Deputy Foreign Minister, M. J. Akbar, has said the . . . Read More

Freedom of religion or belief ‘undermined’ in corrupt countries

Freedom of religion or belief ‘undermined’ in corrupt countries
Corruption is increasingly seen as a factor behind the persecution of minority Christians around the world, and the world leaders who gathered at an Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May showed they are beginning to pay more attention to the effects of corruption on freedom of religion or belief. Evidence . . . Read More

Most of today’s wars are in Muslim countries

Most wars across the world are taking place in majority-Muslim countries, with Muslims mainly fighting each other, says . In 2012, there were six civil wars worldwide. All took place within Muslim countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Of the nine rebel groups in these conflicts, seven had . . . Read More

Religious freedom in the Arabian Peninsula?

Religious freedom in the Arabian Peninsula?
Medina in Saudi Arabia is the heartland of the Islamic faith, attracting millions of pilgrims every year.Wajahat Mahmood / Flickr / CC   A recent article in Christianity Today reports that Christianity is booming in the “heart of Islam”, with the “millions” of Christians there not really facing persecution – . . . Read More

Yemen church set on fire

Masked militants yesterday (16. Sep) set ablaze one of the few remaining churches in Aden, Yemen’s southern port city. The fire, which witnesses told the BBC burned the entire contents of the St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in the city’s Crater neighbourhood, came the day after vandals had broken in . . . Read More