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Anti-Christian Incidents Nearly Doubled in Indonesia in 2011

Anti-Christian Incidents Nearly Doubled in Indonesia in 2011

By Vishal Arora NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) – Acts of violence and intolerance against Christians in Indonesia almost doubled in 2011, with an Islamist campaign to close down churches symbolizing the plight of the religious minority. The Indonesian Protestant Church Union, locally known as PGI, counted 54 acts of violence and other violations against Christians in 2011, up from 30 in 2010. The number of such incidents against religious minorities in general also grew, from 198 in … Read entire article »

Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Indonesia, Persecution

Outdoor worship and arrests resume as Chinese authorities again deny facility to Shouwang Church

Outdoor worship and arrests resume as Chinese authorities again deny facility to Shouwang Church

By Sarah Page DUBLIN (Compass Direct News) – Authorities in China again thwarted efforts by Shouwang Church to lease a worship facility at the year’s end, and the Beijing congregation again met outdoors on Sunday (Jan. 1) – resulting in the arrest of 48 members, sources said. “The church tried three times to rent three different venues, but it was all to no avail because of the authorities’ intervention,” a source close to the church told Compass. … Read entire article »

Filed under: China, Christian, Compass Direct, Persecution

Lao Officials Force Christians to Recant their Faith before allowing a Burial

Lao Officials Force Christians to Recant their Faith before allowing a Burial

Separately in Boukham village, authorities move Christians to animal pen. By Sarah Page DUBLIN, December 30  – Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). In Huey, Ad-Sapangthong district of Savannakhet Province, where immediate burial is essential in the hot tropical climate, the village’s eight Christian families quickly began … Read entire article »

Filed under: Buddhism, Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution

Christian Charged with ‘Blasphemy’ after Argument over Rent

Christian Charged with ‘Blasphemy’ after Argument over Rent

By Murad Khan LAHORE, Pakistan (Compass Direct News) – A young man has been charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial “blasphemy” laws after the Christian had an argument over rent with his Muslim landlord, his attorneys said. Police in Shahdara Town, near Lahore, arrested Khuram Masih, 23, on Dec. 5 and charged him under Section 295-B after his landlord, Zulfiqar Ali, accused him of burning pages of the Quran in order to prepare tea, the … Read entire article »

Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Muslim, Pakistan, Persecution

Five Christians Slain in Another Assault in Kaduna, Nigeria

Five Christians Slain in Another Assault in Kaduna, Nigeria

By Obed Minchakpu  UNGWAN RAMI, Nigeria  (Compass Direct News) – Local Islamists and Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked a Christian community in Kaduna state on Monday (Dec. 19), killing five people and wounding six, area sources said, just nine days after a deadly attack on a Christian community in Kukum Gida in the same local government area. The Muslim assailants, brandishing firearms and machetes, attacked Christians in Ungwan Rami village of Kaura Local Government Area at 10 p.m. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Compass Direct, Islam, Muslim, Nigeria, Persecution