World in Brief

At least eight people have been killed in an attack by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists on a predominantly Christian village in north eastern Nigeria.

In the latest of several attacks by the Islamic extremists on Christian communities in Chibok County, Borno state, ISWAP militants stormed Kautikari town, not only shooting people dead but looting properties and destroying many homes. So far eight bodies have been recovered, many people were still missing and the assailants had also burned down a military base.

Four rainy seasons in a row have failed in northern Kenya, making the drought the worst since 1981 and declared a national disaster by the Kenyan Government.

Water is increasingly hard to find, cattle are dying and even camels are struggling to survive. Half a million Kenyans are at risk of starvation, according to the World Food Programme. Meanwhile, prolonged hunger and malnutrition have made people prone to diseases, their weakened bodies unable to resist infections. In this Muslim-dominated part of Kenya, Christians are usually left out when government food relief is distributed.

Imprisoned Protestant pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo has been officially informed by the Cuban Government that he has been sentenced to seven years in prison, one year less than first indicated. No reason has been given for the change.

Pastor Rosales Fajardo was arrested after participating in peaceful protests that took place across Cuba in summer 2021. He has been imprisoned in Boniato Maximum Security Prison since then and was tried on charges of ‘disrespect’, ‘assault’, ‘criminal incitement’ and ‘public disorder’.

A group of 11 Christians, including three women, a French guest speaker and the owner of the site rented for the occasion, have had their sentences for ‘unauthorised worship’ reduced. Arrested last year, they spent 48 hours in a police jail before appearing before a judge.

The Christians had received a suspended sentence of six months in prison and a 200,000 dinar fine (US$1,380) each. On appeal the court retained the suspended prison sentence but reduced the fine to 100,000 dinars (US$690).

A couple in Sudan face 100 lashes after being charged with ‘adultery’ because a sharia court annulled their marriage due to the husband’s conversion to Christianity.

Hamouda Tia Kafi, 34, and Nada Hamad Shukralah, 25, of Al Jazirah state, were Muslims when they married in 2016, but when Kafi later converted to Christianity his wife’s family won a sharia court decision to end their marriage. But last year Shukralah converted to Christianity and returned with their two children to her husband. Her brother then had them charged with adultery.

The latest victim of the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing crackdown against Christianity in cyberspace is a well-known Christian website which has disappeared after serving believers for about 21 years.

The popular site Jona Home has posted a notice on its home page which reads: ‘Due to reasons known to everyone, from now on our site can no longer serve brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks to all for your company and support in the past 21 years!’

Protestant families in Chiapas, Mexico are being forced to participate in an upcoming syncretic Roman Catholic festival or face illegal fines for the fourth consecutive year.

The 16 families attend the Alpha and Omega Presbyterian Church and belong to the Tzeltal indigenous group. They are being forced to pay the fine for refusing to participate in the Santa Cruz Festival, referred to locally as ‘Convivio de Agua’. If they do not pay they face having their water supply cut off. Last year six families were fined about £20 each. The church has since grown, and now an additional ten families are facing the fine.

The Egyptian Government has granted legal status to 239 churches and places of worship, bringing the number of churches so designated since 2017 to 2,401.

In Egypt, churches must apply for legal status for their buildings, which previously had to be approved by the security agencies. But in 2016 the power to approve the building and renovation of churches was extended to provincial governors. While this made the process less complicated, the legislation remains discriminatory as the same requirements do not apply to Sunni Muslims and other non-Christian religious groups.

Evangelicals in France have reacted to Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the Presidential election.

‘In the face of a divided society, we ask President Macron’s government to show wisdom, a spirit of unity, acting in favour of peace and preserving everyone’s freedom of worship, conscience and expression’, said the National Council of Evangelical Christians in France (CNEF), which represents 70% of Protestant churches in France and over 30 evangelical denominations. Macron was re-elected to a second term after 59% voted for him. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen was defeated, with only 41%.

Almost 3million viewers watched the musical broadcast Die Passion (The Passion) on German TV channel RTL on Easter Wednesday evening.

RTL said the live broadcast achieved the second-highest audience rating of all German-language TV programmes on that day. Only news programme Tagesschau (Day News) had more viewers. Die Passion is a modern musical with current pop songs that brings the Easter story to the stage, with many well-known German singers and actors taking part.

Over 300 evangelicals from across Italy have taken part in a rally in a part of Rome where a new church-planting work is set to begin.

The event was a major part of The Agape (annual church day) of the Evangelical Reformed Baptist Churches in Italy (CERBI). It focused on two main events: the morning worship (at the Cinema Adriano, one of the historic cinemas of the city) and the afternoon prayer rally. The rally made stops at three key locations: the Italian Supreme Court, the headquarters of national TV network RAI, and the Vatican.

Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue is no longer the tallest in Brazil after the southern city of Encantado unveiled Cristo Protetor de Encantado, a 141 feet statue of Christ that is 29 feet taller than that in Rio.

Sculptors Genésio Gomes Moura and his son Markus Moura began work in 2019. It is set to be the third-tallest statue of Jesus in the world, behind those in Mexico and Poland. The statue will eventually be the centrepiece of a tourist complex comprising shops, restaurants and viewpoints, which is scheduled to open in 2023.

Pastor A. Kalloe of Gado Lobi church in Saint-Laurent du Maroni was shot dead and his evangelical church burned down the day after he met a delegation from the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF).

Kalloe was a member of the Guyana branch of the CNEF. The delegation visited him to discuss the implementation of a law on separatism. At least seven other people, including two sons of Pastor Kalloe, were injured in the shooting; two were taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The European Union will impose sanctions on Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, as part of a larger package designed to weaken Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The prominent cleric is listed on the sixth round of EU sanctions, although the exact package of measures – which includes a possible ban on Russian oil – has yet to be determined. Pressure on Kirill has been mounting for months due to his support for Russia’s invasion and for laying the spiritual groundwork for President Putin’s invasion.