The Vatican is demanding that Christians and other religious minorities from Iraq and Syria have the right to return to their homes that have been emptied by Islamic militants. Pope Francis summoned Vatican ambassadors from across the region for three days of meetings. At the conclusion on Saturday, they reaffirmed that military force was justified to…
Andrew Bennett, Canada’s religious freedom ambassador, begins a one-week fact-finding mission to Ukraine today, convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin is orchestrating the persecution of Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Muslim Tatars. Russian forces have kidnapped priests, detained nuns, fire-bombed churches and intimidated worshippers, he says. The Russian forces are targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the…
A draft government plan would entrench discriminatory policies that deprive Rohingya Muslims in Burma of citizenship and lead to the forced resettlement of over 130,000 displaced Rohingya into closed camps, Human Rights Watch said today. Burma’s international donors, the United Nations, and other influential actors should press the government to substantively revise or rescind its Rakhine…
A UN report highlights a “staggering array” of gross human rights abuses and “acts of violence of an increasingly sectarian nature” were committed by the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) over a period of nine weeks. “This report is terrifying,” said Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov,…
Pakistan’s constitution was amended 40 years ago to declare Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. Regarded by orthodox Muslims as heretical, Ahmadis are not allowed to refer to their places of worship as mosques or to publicly quote from the Koran – acts punishable by imprisonment of up to three years. Critics of the anti-Ahmadi laws say…
Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have called on the government to protect the lives and property of its people, as militants intensify their killing spree across the country. In a statement ‘‘While Nigeria bleeds and burns’’ the Bishops urged the authorities to carry out their ‘primary duty’ to protect the life of every Nigerian, irrespective of tribe,…
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, speaking at the UN General Assembly this week, said the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine demand a revitalized United Nations where member states put their responsibility to protect persecuted peoples above personal interests and thoroughly apply international law. Cardinal Parolin said the blood of the many…
Eleven members of the U.S. Congress have urged President Barack Obama to discuss the issue of freedom of religion or belief in India during his bilateral meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently visiting the United States. India’s Financial Express reports that in the letter sent to the US President, the lawmakers…
Yesterday evening in Manchester Christians on the Left held a candlelit vigil for Christians and other minorities persecuted in Iraq and Syria. Prayers were also said for the wider Middle East, including Israel/Palestine. Christians on the Left has delegates attending the Labour Party Conference who are highlighting the plight of Christians and others in the Middle…
The NGO Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP) has called for action having published a report finding that between 100 and 700 Christian women ‘are abducted, converted to Islam, and married to the abductor or third party’ every year in Pakistan. The investigative report, entitled ‘Forced Marriages & Forced Conversions in the Christian Community of…