World in Brief

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition demanding the release of a Protestant pastor imprisoned without trial in Cuba. The petition calls for the release of Pastor Rosales Fajardo, who has been detained without trial for over two months for participating in peaceful protests against the ongoing shortages of medicine and food resulting from Covid-19.

Fajardo, who has been pastor of the Monte de Sion church for 20 years, faces charges including ‘disrespect’ and ‘public disorder’. If found guilty he could be jailed for between three and 20 years.

Christian ministers in China received strict warnings from Communist party representatives to keep a low profile during celebrations for the National Day of the People’s Republic of China.

Some pastors were warned to ‘behave’, ‘be quiet’ and ‘be invisible in the public domain’. If the churches did not behave, their church meetings would run the risk of being stopped. There were also reports of authorities making regular calls to house church pastors to reiterate their ‘boundaries’.

A 14-year-old Christian boy in eastern India is fighting for his life a month after suspected Hindu extremists attacked him with a dangerous liquid.

Three unidentified men on a motorbike threw the liquid on Nitish Kumar as he returned home at Kamta Nagar village, Bihar state. Nitish initially thought they had mischievously thrown water on him.

‘But soon my skin began to burn,’ he said ‘The burning sensation increased with every passing second. I dropped the basket and ran to my house screaming and howling.’ Medics rate his survival chances as low.

A church bell in Mosul, Iraq has tolled for the first time since ISIS took over the country in 2014.

The bell was sounded at the Syriac Christian church of Mar Tuma after a French-led restoration project. The church had been destroyed by ISIS bombing during the militant group’s brutal occupation.

Many local Christians gathered to witness the reopening of the church and the inaugural ringing.

‘After seven years of silence, the bell of Mar Tuma rang for the first time on the right bank of Mosul,’ church leader Father Pios Affas said.

The role of Special Envoy for freedom of religion and belief at the EU has been left vacant again after Christos Stylianides accepted a position in the Greek government. Stylianides had only taken on the role in May after the role was empty for two years.

Human-rights experts had raised concerns over the poor resourcing and staffing provided to the office as it sought to fulfil a 2016 mandate to promote freedom of religion after the growth of ISIS. The Special Envoy also helped Asia Bibi safely leave Pakistan after her acquittal on blasphemy charges.

Four Christians in China have been handed prison sentences of between 15 months and six years – and fined up to £22,500 – for selling audio Bibles in Guagdong, China.

The men are Fu Xuanjuan (who owns the Life Tree Communication Co. Ltd), Deng Tianyong, Feng Qunhao and Han Li.

Audio Bibles, containing sermons, songs and other Christian content, are hugely popular in China. The four had been running the communication business without problems until this summer when the authorities arrested the men for ‘conducting illegal business operations’ and confiscated the audio Bibles as well as computers.

Well over 5,000 people joined the annual Marches For Life in Berlin and Zurich. Demonstrators gathered before the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the 17th year of the marches.

Catholic and Orthodox church leaders addressed the crowd with messages about the respect of human dignity and the protection of life. Free-evangelical organisations sent messages of support, including the German Evangelical Alliance.

In Zurich the start of the March was delayed as barricades had been set up by radical groups who also attacked, with paint, the offices of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, the Alliance Pro Life, and the Foundation Future CH.

Betting and gambling advertising has been severely restricted now that the Royal Decree on Commercial Communications of Gambling Activities has come into force.

The measure means that betting advertisements can only be broadcast during the early hours of the morning (from 1.00 a.m. to 5.00 a.m.), so football matches will no longer include such advertising.

In addition, sports clubs may not sign sponsorship contracts with betting shops that involve gambling advertising on shirts and kits, nor will they be able to hire celebrities to feature in their advertisements.

Three Iranian Christians were the first to be sentenced under Iran’s recently-amended Penal Code. They were accused of engaging in ‘propaganda that educates in a deviant way’ – contrary to Islam.

Last year, intelligence agents raided the homes of Amin Khaki (see photo), Milad Goudarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi, all converts from Islam. Bibles, mobile phones and computers were seized and the group was ordered to cease all Christian activities.

This summer they received five-year prison sentences and were fined 40 million tomans (approx. US$1,600), on charges of ‘sectarian activities’. On appeal their convictions were upheld, but the jail terms were reduced to three years each.

An 83-year-old Christian woman in eastern Uganda continues to receive hospital treatment two weeks after Islamic extremists, one posing as a pastor, attacked her in her own home.

Harriet Namuganza had given refuge to two Christian young men, 18- and 22-year-old converts from Islam, at her four-bedroom home in Iganga District, when someone claiming to be a pastor who helps persecuted Christians telephoned.

He later visited with several other men. The Christians hid and when the attackers failed to find them they turned on the old woman, beating and kicking her as she screamed for help.

The Cairo counter-terrorism court has renewed the detention of Gerges Zaki for a further 45 days.

Zaki was arrested after sectarian violence broke out in Barsha village, Minya governorate, Upper Egypt, last year, when hundreds of Muslim villagers attacked the homes and properties of Christians.

Police then detained 15 Christians and 20 Muslims for 15 days. All were later released except for Zaki, who has been in custody ever since.

He is accused of ‘joining a terrorist group, publishing fake news and disturbing public order, and using the internet with the intention to commit crimes’.

Fifteen Christians have been re-arrested in Eritrea and incarcerated at a maximum-security prison after police discovered a list of Christian contacts.

All had been previously imprisoned for their faith, for up to 16 years. They were freed last year as part of anti-Covid-19 measures.

The arrests followed the detention of two pastors aged over 70, Girmay Araia and Samuel Gebrewleldi, from the Full Gospel Church of Eritrea. No reason has been given for their arrest.

There are now believed to be about 160 Christian prisoners in Eritrea.

The ‘Evangelical’ Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has installed Megan Rohrer as its first openly transgender bishop.

Rohrer, 41, who identifies as both a male and female and uses the pronouns ‘they’ and ‘them’, will head the California-based ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod. Rohrer, who is married and has two children, will oversee nearly 200 congregations within the liberal Protestant denomination, across Northern California and northern Nevada.

At least 49 people have been killed and 27 were abducted in attacks by armed Fulani assailants in Kaduna state, central Nigeria.

Militia men attacked the Madamai and Abun communities in the Malagun District of Kaura LGA, killing 40 people and injuring eight. The victims included 13 people from one family.

Eight people were killed, six were injured and several houses were burnt in an attack on Kacecere village. And one person died and 27 were abducted following an attack on the Gabachuwa community; most were members of the Evangelical Church Winning All.