Pakistan must protect religious minorities, says world churches chief | Ekklesia: "During a visit to Pakistan, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches has urged for the protection of religious minorities and the need for the state to take necessary measures against religious intolerance.
“The Pakistani government should not turn a blind eye to the culture of violence perpetrated through the use and abuse of the blasphemy law, which intensify communal hatred, intolerance and persecution that can hit anybody in the country, and particularly the religious minorities,” said the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, speaking at a press conference in Lahore, at the end of his three day visit."
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Saturday, October 15, 2011
Expressing solidarity with Coptic Christians | Ekklesia
Expressing solidarity with Coptic Christians | Ekklesia: "A statement does not bring back to life those Coptic Christians who died in Egypt last Sunday (9 October 2011), nor does it make a wrong any more right.
However, it does underline the elements of solidarity and concern shared by peoples of faith and goodwill worldwide towards the political developments and conflicts in Egypt, which are increasingly acquiring confessional and even sectarian proportions."
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However, it does underline the elements of solidarity and concern shared by peoples of faith and goodwill worldwide towards the political developments and conflicts in Egypt, which are increasingly acquiring confessional and even sectarian proportions."
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Florida Doctor Organizes 5K Run for Human Trafficking Awareness
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Destruction of Copts Is Islamically Correct
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Friday, October 14, 2011
Muslims Pelt Funeral Procession With Bricks as Coptic Church Condemns Attack, Calls for Three-day Fast
According to Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih, writing for AINA -- the Assyrian International News Agency -- (www.aina.org ) the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt issued a statement on October 10, which blasted the government for failing to find solutions to "problems that occur repeatedly and go unpunished." The Church is asking all Copts to fast continuously for three days starting tomorrow "in order to have peace in Egypt.""
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Soccer Player Arrested in Saudi Arabia for Having a Jesus Tattoo, Christian News
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Cuba Sees House Church Revival Despite Oppression
Raul Castro's regime implemented massive layoffs of hundreds of thousands of public employees that were meant to be absorbed by Cuba's almost non-existent private sector. The resulting poverty has given way to despair."
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Local Pastor: Comedian George Carlin Said Too Many 'Dirty Word' To Get Street Renamed After Him « CBS New York
Prayer over sick child results in attack, beating
The missionary, Matthew Kishard, serves as a pastor in a small village. He was distributing tracts in a neighboring village when a family asked him to come and pray for their child who had fallen ill."
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Amnesty urges Canada to arrest former President Bush for torture | Ekklesia
“Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute former President Bush given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture,” said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty."
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Philippine church seeks support for probe into bishop's murder | Ekklesia
"We continue to ask our partner churches - such as the Anglican, Episcopal and Old Catholic Churches - in the international community for solidarity and support for the case," Bishop Ronelio Fabriquier of the Philippine Independent Church told ENInews in an interview in early October."
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Churches in Colombia launch monitoring programme for violence victims | Ekklesia
Human rights organisations claim, however, that the number of "displaced people" is actually close to five million.
A new monitoring programme, supported by the World Council of Churches and other actors, has been organised to address these human crises."
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Not a Single Christian Church Left in Afghanistan, Says State Department | CNSnews.com
This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban regime."
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Is Chinese pro-life activist still alive? (OneNewsNow.com)
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Is Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng Dead or Alive? | Womens Rights Without Frontiers
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Egypt Government Officials Resign After Christian Massacre
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Pakistani Muslims Fire on Christians in Land-Grab, Killing One
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Homeschool Parents May Lose Child Custody Permanently
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Lou Engle Takes TheCall Prayer Movement to Detroit
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Missionary Paralyzed After Wild Elephant Attack
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Officials in Sudan Threaten to Raze Three Church Buildings
Christian leaders say authorities are gathering information on churches, activities.
Special to Compass Direct News
KHARTOUM, Sudan, October 12 (Compass Direct News) – Local authorities have threatened to demolish three church buildings in Omdurman as part of a long-standing bid to rid Sudan of Christianity, Christian sources told Compass.
Officials from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Public Utilities-Khartoum State appeared at the three church sites in Omdurman, on the Nile River opposite Khartoum, the afternoon of Sept. 11, threatening to demolish the structures if the churches continued to conduct worship services, church leaders said.
Church leaders from the three churches in the Madinat al Fath area of Omdurman – the Sudanese Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church of Sudan and the Roman Catholic Church – said they were surprised to see government officials come to their church premises and accuse them of operating churches on government land without permission. The church leaders told Compass the buildings were not located on government land and required no permission.
They said that, starting at 2 p.m. the officials asked leaders of the Sudanese Church of Christ who had given them permission to build on government land, and then proceeded to the other two churches. The officials marked the three church buildings for demolition with red crosses, saying, “We are going to demolish these churches,” the church leaders said.
Jaafer al Sudani, manager of Church Affairs in the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment, told Compass that officials there had no knowledge of church buildings to be demolished. The state planning officials insist that the churches are operating on government land.
Citing a growing tide of hostility toward Christians, members of the threatened churches said they were concerned about their future.
“These are clearly evil plans directed against churches and Christians in this country,” said Kornules Yousif, an area Christian leader.
“This is serious,” said another church member who asked to remain unnamed. “We do not want them to demolish our churches.”
Local Muslims complain of the Christian presence in the area, Yousif said.
“Muslims say churches are not supposed to be given permission to operate because the number of Muslims is greater than that of Christians,” he said.
Area Christians told Compass they take seriously such statements by Muslims as they reveal hostile motives by both the Islamic government and Muslim communities.
“These people can do everything possible to clear this country of Christianity,” said a member of one of the threatened churches.
At the same time, area Christians said they believe the government is quietly carrying out surveys on Christians and church programs as part of a broader effort to make Islam the official state religion; officials from the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment have called church leaders, asking them to reveal information about their church members and activities of the Churches, they said.
“This is purely for intelligence purposes, so that they can put more restrictions on churches and Christians,” said the Rev. Yousif El-Denger Kodi, general secretary of the Sudanese Lutheran Church. “We as church leaders are aware of their plans, but we pray for God to rescue us from their evil plans.”
Islam is favored in law and policy in Sudan, according to the U.S. Department of State’s 2010 International Religious Freedom Report. While sharia (Islamic law) is only “a source of legislation” according to the Interim National Constitution, there is a movement afoot to make Islam the official state religion following the secession of largely non-Muslim southern Sudan on July 9.
“Muslims are not happy to see churches in their areas, because they believe in Islam and fear the influence of the church, and that is why they hate to see churches,” a church leader who requested anonymity told Compass.
END
**********
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Undercover Calls Reveal Medicaid Pays for $9,000 Late-term Abortions with Our Tax Dollars - Christian Newswire
Undercover Calls Reveal Medicaid Pays for $9,000 Late-term Abortions with Our Tax Dollars - Christian Newswire: "ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Oct. 12, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- As debate over tax-funding of abortions in Obamacare is scheduled in Washington, D.C. for Thursday, an investigation conducted by Operation Rescue and Project Defending Life shows millions of tax dollars are already paying for abortions each year. Operation Rescue has released a short video containing excerpts from an undercover recording showing that Medicaid pays not only for abortions, but completely covers third-trimester abortions for no medical reason whatsoever."
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Out of Egypt: What the New Persecution of Coptic Christians May Really Mean - Christian Newswire
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'Release Women' program helps persecuted sisters
Stories like this are not at all foreign to Mission Network News. Women across the globe face severe persecution daily for their faith in Christ."
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Government officials resign in protest of Egypt's handling of protest
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Pastor Nadarkhani, Coptic Christians and the Religion of Peace?
Pastor Nadarkhani, Coptic Christians and the Religion of Peace?: "Immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush rushed into a local D.C. Islamic Mosque and declared that Islam was a “religion of peace.”
Many Muslim propagandists in the West have deliberately twisted the meaning of the word “Islam” and say that it comes from the word “salam,” which means “peace.” These deceptions are laughed at by anybody with a mere elementary knowledge of the Arabic language."
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Many Muslim propagandists in the West have deliberately twisted the meaning of the word “Islam” and say that it comes from the word “salam,” which means “peace.” These deceptions are laughed at by anybody with a mere elementary knowledge of the Arabic language."
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Ayatollah Khamenei Could Spare Pastor Nadarkhani’s Life
Nadarkhani was sentenced to death in 2009 for apostasy. He lost his appeal last year and has maintained his Christian faith despite the threat of death."
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Concern for imprisoned blogger in Egypt | Ekklesia
Concern for imprisoned blogger in Egypt | Ekklesia: "The campaigning group War Resisters’ International says it is extremely concerned for the life of imprisoned pacifist blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad in Egypt.
A military appeal court has declared an initial sentence of three years’ imprisonment for sedition void, and has ordered a re-trial of the activist, who has been on hunger strike since 23 August 2011. But the court did not order his release pending re-trial."
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A military appeal court has declared an initial sentence of three years’ imprisonment for sedition void, and has ordered a re-trial of the activist, who has been on hunger strike since 23 August 2011. But the court did not order his release pending re-trial."
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Egypt rocked by sectarian violence in post-Mubarak era | Ekklesia
On 9 October, a demonstration in Cairo protesting an attack against a Coptic church in the Aswan province last week erupted into the worst violence since Mubarak's ouster in February. Between 17 and 24 people were killed and between 180 and 200 people were wounded."
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Williams asks Mugabe to halt attacks on Anglicans | Ekklesia
On 10 October the leader of the Anglican Communion handed a dossier to Mugabe with descriptions of attacks on parishioners and priests by supporters of former bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who formed a breakaway clique in 2007, seized church property and locked out Anglicans from their church buildings."
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Egyptian army must answer for killings at Coptic Church protest | Ekklesia
More than 200 people – including many protesters and reportedly members of the security forces – were also wounded in the incident, the worst violence Egypt has seen since former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in February."
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Solidarity with churches under pressure in Indonesia | Ekklesia
The GKI Taman Yasmin Church has been prevented from worshipping in their sanctuary and has been banned from continuing further construction of their building, in spite of their constitutional right to conduct worship services."
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Tatchell condemns persecution of Christians in Pakistan | Ekklesia
Christian, Muslim and secular human rights groups have all expressed alarm over the treatment of Christians in Pakistan in recent months. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is among those who have spoken out about the situation."
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Europe should lead climate talks, says Christian Aid | Ekklesia
"Fewer than 50 days remain before this year's major climate negotiations open in Durban and yet there has been little if any progress in Panama on the big issues," said Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid's Senior Adviser on Global Alliances, who attended the talks in Panama last week."
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Double Lives of Iraq’s Christian Children
Converts from Islam find persecution is tolerable until it affects their little ones.
By Damaris Kremida
 |
| Surush and his sister |
ERBIL, Iraq, October 11 (Compass Direct News) – Little Nuria and her sisters love singing songs about Jesus. But when people Nuria doesn’t know ask her if she’s a Christian, she doesn’t know what to answer; instead, she looks questioningly at her mother or father.
She is 6 years old and goes to a Christian school in Kirkuk, Iraq. When her aunts and uncles visit, her mother purges the house of anything that points to their Christian faith: the cross on the wall, the Bible, her Christian storybooks. Nuria knows her relatives are Muslims, but sometimes she forgets and she or one of her sisters starts to hum a Christian tune.
The relatives don’t like this and tell the parents to teach them Muslim songs.
“When our relatives come from Baghdad, we need to move everything that is Christian,” Nuria’s mother said. “In short, we are living two lives. It is very hard on children. We are adults, and it is hard for us to live double lives, but for children it is worse. Even their personality will be affected.”
Nuria and her family, whose names must be withheld for their safety, are Iraqi Arabs who converted from Islam to Christianity. Whereas Assyrian Iraqis are accepted as Christians by ethnic identity, Iraqi Muslims believe Arabs have no business becoming Christians; it is not possible, according to society and the constitution.
Nuria’s parents, like many converts in Iraq, struggle to raise their children as Christians in a society that will only accept them as Muslims. If the children say they believe in Jesus, they face beatings and scorn from their teachers. Because their identification cards say they are Muslims, they cannot enroll in Christian schools, and they must take Islamic religion classes. Likewise, because of their identity cards they later would only be able to marry another Muslim under Islamic rites.
In an Iraq torn by national and religious divides, there is no safe haven for Nuria’s family or other Arab families who convert from Islam. Generally big cities are good places for Christians like them to hide, away from extended families who would detect strange behavior like visits to church on Sundays. Even then, however, Muslim neighbors or employers who discover they are converts can make their lives unbearable.
Nuria’s parents became Christians seven years ago. Life was easier for her parents before she and her sisters went to school. Her dad, a carpenter, used to speak openly about his faith. These days he is not so brave; he has had to change jobs one too many times because his employers discovered his faith.
“The first years of my faith, I brought so many people to church, because I was motivated, so excited,” he said. “Now I don’t encourage anyone to be a Christian, because in my experience it is very hard.”
These days his landlord, in a mixed Kirkuk neighborhood where mostly Kurds and Assyrians live, has also figured out he is a Christian. The Muslim landlord is offering him either a rent raise or eviction; there’s also the option of “going into business” with the landlord by sharing his carpentry work profits with him. Such extortion is all too common.
This is the fifth house they have lived in since 2003, when the family came to faith.
Complications
Matters for converts get more complicated when children enter in. Nuria’s parents want to freely train her and her siblings in the ways of Christianity, but the Iraqi constitution makes it practically impossible for them to make any peace with their new identities.
Nuria’s older sister just finished elementary school at an institution for Assyrian (Christian) children in Kirkuk. But before the new school year began, the principal of the school called in her parents to tell them he could not take responsibility for their daughter being able to finish the school year.
He had to report the names and identifications of the school’s students to the ministry of education, he explained, and if authorities saw he had a “Muslim” student in attendance, he could face criminal charges. Fortunately for the family, her “Muslim” ID went unnoticed.
The family, however, withdrew her from the Christian school to register her in a private school with a state-approved curriculum that includes religion classes on Islam so she can finish her schooling.
“My children are suffering,” Nuria’s father said. “We are moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, but my children are suffering from this. I will put my two daughters in private school. The church will pay for one, and I will pay for the other.”
Nuria’s father said that the next step for the family is to look for a new house, but he knows that this won’t solve the problem of his children’s identity, nor the conflict he feels with his chosen faith.
“Some people tell me it’s my fault we have troubles because I tell people I am a Christian,” he said. “I am so confused. Even some Christians tell me it’s my problem. I am reading the Bible, and it says that whoever denies God in public, God will also deny him, so what can I do?”
Just 87 kilometers (54 miles) north lies the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which is administrated by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Checkpoints and patrols along the road ensure the relative peace the Kurdish region has seen in the last eight years. They also ensure that Arabs cannot enter the north. Nuria’s family was held at Erbil’s checkpoint for two hours on their way to meet Compass, while Assyrians with crosses dangling over their dashboards were cleared for entrance into Erbil in just minutes.
Kirkuk, where Nuria’s family lives, is one of Iraq’s most ethnically diverse cities, a reflection of Iraq’s larger ethnic, political and religious fragmentation. Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, along with a shrinking Assyrian Christian community, populate oil-rich Kirkuk. The disputed city has seen much violence as political opportunists try to tip the scales of power. Bomb blasts, killings and kidnappings are common fare here.
On the city’s outskirts on the road to Baghdad, authorities on Oct. 1 found the body of a Christian, Hanna Polos Emmanuel, 60, according to Asia News. No one knows why he was killed. On Sept. 21, unidentified gunmen kidnapped three Assyrian Christians and one Turkmen Iraqi on a hunting trip south of Kirkuk, according to Alsumaria TV. They were released after their families paid ransom.
In the previous two months, the Protestant church Nuria’s family attends has seen two attempted bombings. There have been at least three bombings against other churches in the city since the beginning of August.
What first attracted Nuria’s parents to Christianity was the freedom it offered. But as Arabs in Kirkuk, the family feels trapped.
“In the beginning we didn’t think about these problems, because we didn’t have the problem with schools,” Nuria’s father said. “But now I feel more depressed. Our responsibility is more pressure and work.”
His wife explained that as Arab converts to Christianity, moving to Baghdad where their family lives is not an option, but neither is moving to the Kurdish part of Iraq. Though Christians there enjoy some freedoms, as Arabs they will always be looked at with suspicion. As a result, it would be difficult to find employment.
“Even if it seems easier to run from this situation, we cannot,” she said. “It is easier to leave Kirkuk, but we cannot.”
Fight for a Better Future
A Kurdish convert to Christianity, Majeed Muhammed, is fighting for his children’s right to not have “Muslim” written on their IDs. He lives in the Kurdish Region’s capital, Erbil, just over an hour’s drive north of Kirkuk.
In Iraq, children automatically take the religion of their father. For the last five years, Muhammed has been fighting for his eldest to have the right to choose his own religion. Next year the boy is due to begin first grade with identification card in hand, but he has none. Majeed never recorded his sons’ births in the municipality because he didn’t want them to grow up with “Muslim” stamped on their identification cards.
“My son, he has a right – not only to study, but a civil and personal right, [yet] he can’t even have a passport,” Muhammed said. “If I wanted or needed to travel with my family, I cannot take them.”
Muhammed has also tried to change the religious designation on his own ID card – he is the only Christian convert in Iraq who has tried to do so. Every lawyer he has asked to take on his case has flatly refused to represent him. In 2008, with the legal counsel of a friend, Muhammed went to an Erbil personal cases court to submit his petition, typing his request that his identification state “Christian.”
“As declared clearly, I am requesting to change the column of religion from Muslim to Christian on my identification card by virtue of the mentioned articles declared in Iraq’s Federal Constitution, which is confirmed as the highest law,” Muhammed wrote in his statement.
Iraq’s Federal Constitution says each individual has freedom of thought, conscience and belief, but there is no article on changing one’s religion. This makes it legally impossible to apply freedom of belief in the cases of converts, said a Christian Iraqi lawyer on the condition of anonymity.
The judge refused to accept or deny Muhammed’s request, telling him that the case was “impossible” and could not be tried in Iraqi courts.
This is the last year Muhammed has to advocate not only for his sons but for all Kurdish Iraqis who have converted from Islam to Christianity. The senior pastor of the Kurdzman Church of the Kurdish region, Muhammed said there are up to 2,000 Kurdish converts to Christianity, but only 200 of them would be brave enough to sign a petition for their IDs to state “Christian.”
This year he plans to tell as many people as he can about the struggle of Kurdish Christian converts.
“I’m living in Iraq, I’m living in Kurdistan, so I should have the rights of any citizen in Kurdistan just like they do,” Muhammed said. “I didn’t ask the government to treat me the way European citizens are treating their citizens. What is possible? What is reasonable?”
Kurdish Christians are asking for only basic religious freedom, he said.
“The government said, ‘We will not support you financially,’ and we said, ‘OK, no problem.’ They said, ‘Don’t evangelize in the street publicly;’ we said, ‘OK, we won’t do that. But you should give us another chance. We want to register [as Christians].’”
Muhammed’s 6-year-old son, Jeener, is attending a private Christian kindergarten this year, and last year he asked his father if he could send him to one of the government schools; Muhammed refused. He told Compass that sometimes when his son hears the mullahs begin the call for prayer with the words, “Allahu Akbar [God is the greatest],” Jeener asks what they are saying.
“I tell him that some people are talking about God,” Muhammed said. “He says: ‘Why are they not coming to our church?’ [I say], ‘Because they don’t believe in Jesus.’ He says: ‘I hate them.’ I say, ‘No, don’t hate them.’”
When his son asks why he can’t go to their school, he replies, “Because they are talking about ‘Allahu Akbar,’” Muhammed said. “He says, ‘OK, I will not go there.’”
Next year Muhammed needs to send his son to first grade, and he said that if he doesn’t issue an ID for him by then he could face criminal charges, and the possibility of a prison sentence and fine, for not registering his son with authorities.
It is impossible for him to explain to his son the efforts he is making for him, he said, and even more unlikely that he will succeed in them.
Children with No Friends
Surush Bidookh has been beaten and insulted for his Christian faith, yet he is only 9 years old. His family fled to Iraq from Iran for political reasons before he was born. They came to Christianity in Iraq.
Surush’s parents, seeing what their children have to bear for their choice, are weary and wonder if their children’s lives would be easier in a Western country where so many Christian converts have already fled.
His father, Siyamand Bidookh, has a story similar to that of other converts to Christianity: the persecution was tolerable until it started to affect his children. Bidookh, a pastor among the Iranian community in Erbil where he is known as Pastor Said, and his wife have received numerous death threats in Iraq for being converts to Christianity.
Their IDs state they are “Muslim,” and so do their children’s. Authorities and neighbors assume they are Muslim because they come from an Islamic country and are infuriated when they hear that these foreigners have turned their backs on the national religion of Iran.
When Surush started first grade in Erbil, a teacher beat him in front of the class and told him he was a “kafir” (infidel) like his father. Bidookh spoke to the principal, who let the boy stay out of religion classes. This year, before Surush was to start third grade, however, the new principal of the school called Bidookh and his son to his office and told them that if Surush did not pass the religion exam, he would hold him back a year.
Last year Bidookh’s daughter, Sevda, who was in kindergarten, came home from school and asked why her teacher said their family was going to “burn” for being Christians. After this she was too afraid to go to school and stopped attending for the rest of the year.
“When my kids go to school and say hello to the teachers, they don’t respond,” their mother said. “I say to them, ‘What kind of an example are you setting for these kids?’”
The Bidookhs say their children have no friends in the neighborhood. Most play time ends with their children’s toys stolen and their children either beaten or scorned. They don’t let them play outside anymore.
“How can a 9-year-old not have friends?” Surush’s mother said. “What kind of a man will he grow up to be?”
These days they wonder if escaping to a different country is a better solution for their three children.
“I never went to God, and I didn’t look for Him,” Bidookh said. “He came to me and turned me into a pastor to serve the Iranians here. My life is in His hands. I will go where He sends me.”
END
*** A photo of Surush and Sevda is attached for subscribers, to be used with credit to Compass Direct News. A high resolution photo is also available; contact Compass for transmittal.
**********
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News
Traffic Jam GR 11/11 - Christian Newswire
Pakistani Muslims Fire on Christians in Land-Grab, Killing One
Residents of the area told Compass by phone that 40 to 45 heavily-armed Muslims on 10 to 12 motorcycles, two tractor-trolleys and in a car reached Chak 134-16/L village, in Khanewal district, and forcibly entered the home of Adeel Kashif, a Christian carpenter who was living on a government-owned piece of land.
Egyptians Mourn Massacre of Coptic Christians
Orthodox leaders call for three days of fasting, prayer, mourning.
By Wayne King
ISTANBUL, October 10 (Compass Direct News) – Funeral services were held today in Cairo for some of the victims of a military attack against a group of Christian protestors that left 26 dead and hundreds wounded.
In the wake of what could be the worst act of violence against Egyptian Christians in modern history, leaders of the Coptic Orthodox Church have called for three days of fasting and prayer for divine intervention, along with three days of mourning.
Leaders from other faith traditions among Egyptian Christians reported similar efforts among their congregations.
Samia Sidhom, managing editor for the Coptic weekly Al Watani, said Copts across Egypt are distraught about the attack and the future for Christians across the country.
“At this point you can’t even imagine what the future will be like,” she said. Speaking specifically about the call for fasting, she added, “At this point, either God does something or you get nothing at all.”
The attack started late Sunday afternoon (Oct. 9) when Christian protestors marching through Cairo began getting pelted with rocks and other projectiles near an overpass that cuts through downtown Cairo. By the time the protestors were able to make it to a television and radio broadcasting building commonly known as the Maspero Building, the army began shooting into the crowd and ramming riot-control vehicles into the protestors.
Witnesses at the scene reportedly said attacks left body parts scattered at the scene. Amateur video at the scene shows two riot-control vehicles plowing into the crowd of protestors.
The protest came in response to a Sept. 30 attack in Upper Egypt, where the Mar Gerges Church building was burned down along with several Christian-owned homes and businesses in Elmarenab village in Aswan.
The church building, which was being renovated, was attacked by local Muslims who claimed the congregation had no right to build it, despite legal documents parish priests put forth to the contrary. The local Muslims claimed the structure was a hospitality house.
Before the attack, parishioners of the church took down crosses outside the building. When it was being destroyed, contractors where removing domes that local Muslims held to be offensive.
The Mar Gerges burning was the third church in Egypt in seven months to be burned down by a mob.
Sidhom said Christian protestors were particularly upset about the church attack because the government blamed them for it, claiming the building was a hospitality house with illegal construction taking place.
Coptic Christians, once a majority in Egypt, now make up 7 to 10 percent of the country’s 80 million people.
END
Cairo Clashes Resume After Coptic Christian Massacre
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Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's Sentence Could Come Down Tuesday
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Coptic Christians Massacred in Egypt Protest
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Monday, October 10, 2011
Open Doors USA President Calls for Prayers, Peace in On-going Egyptian Violence - Christian Newswire
Open Doors USA President Calls for Prayers, Peace in On-going Egyptian Violence - Christian Newswire: "SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 10, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- According to the Associated Press, clashes resumed today in Cairo between Christian protesters and Egyptian security forces a day after at least 26 people were killed and 180 injured, including many Christians."
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Cairo Christians Killed -- Photos and Partial List of Victims Released - Christian Newswire
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Annual Search Begins for Longest Married Couples in United States - Christian Newswire
Annual Search Begins for Longest Married Couples in United States - Christian Newswire: "SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Oct. 10, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The annual search is on for the longest married couple in the United States it was announced today by the U.S. leaders of Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME), the original faith-based marriage enrichment program in this country."
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Youcef’s Case Referred To The Supreme Leader | Present Truth Ministries
'via Blog this'
Court verdict on Iranian pastor issued soon
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Imprisonment, death threats won't stop believer from sharing Good News
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Mormonism is a Cult and No More Christian Than Islam - Christian Newswire
Mormonism is a Cult and No More Christian Than Islam - Christian Newswire: "ST PETERSBURG, Fla., Oct. 10, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Bill Keller, the world's leading Internet Evangelist and the founder of LivePrayer.com, with over 2.4 million subscribers worldwide reading the Daily Devotional he has written every morning for 12 years on the issues of the day from a Biblical worldview, is calling on Mormon cult member Mitt Romney to quit lying about being a Christian! Keller made national news in 2007 for his now infamous quote, "a vote for Romney is a vote for Satan!" He has demanded that Mormon Presidential candidate Mitt Romney quit lying to people that he is a Christian."
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Massacre of Christian Egyptians in Cairo Yesterday (warning: graphic photo) - Christian Newswire
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