Christians - Page 12

President Trump has reduced the number of foreign refugees admitted to the United States this calendar year by more than 75 percent compared to former President Obama’s wave of migration in his last year. 

2018 brought one of China’s worst crackdowns on religion, from the astonishing persecution of the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province to a series of raids against “underground” Christian churches.

While billions across the globe celebrate Christmas as a cultural event for family and exchanging gifts, for countless faithful Christians it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel – “God with Us” – whom they believe was born not only to reveal the will of God, but more importantly to die so that billions may live.

The Iraqi government announced Monday that an amendment was approved to officially designate Christmas Day a national holiday.

China’s state-run Global Times newspaper defended in a Sunday column widespread crackdowns on Christmas displays and public celebration of the Christian holiday, claiming Western media reporting on the matter had “gone too far” and police action was necessary to “regulate excessive commercialization.” These crackdowns transpired in at least four major cities.

Interior minister Matteo Salvini wished all Italians a “happy and holy Christmas” this week, adding that he hopes no one is offended by such language.

Italian priest Father Alfredo Morselli has hit back against those who compare Jesus Christ to an illegal migrant, saying he was more akin to the persecuted Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi.

WASHINGTON, DC — Muslim Fulani herdsmen represent the top terrorist threat facing Christians in Nigeria, an influential bishop based in the African country told Breitbart News Wednesday, echoing other analysts.

Nigeria has failed to protect Christians under siege by Boko Haram and other jihadists, pro-Christian groups argued in a letter this week, urging U.S. lawmakers to officially deem the African nation guilty of severe religious freedom violations.

Chinese authorities announced on Thursday that they are holding Pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Covenant Church on suspicion of “subversion” despite an international outcry from religious freedom advocates and human rights organizations.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the 2018 list of Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 on Tuesday, listing China, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia at the top of the list of the world’s worst abusers of religious rights.

China conducted a series of tightly coordinated raids on Sunday against the Early Rain Covenant Church in the city of Chengdu, arresting dozens of members including Pastor Wang Yi and his wife.

Sixty-eight percent of Democrats say employers should grant a request for prayer space by Muslims — but only 45 percent say employers should grant a similar request from Christian employees, says a survey by Grinnell College. 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issued yet another tirade against the Catholic Church on Monday, accusing Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of illegal drug use and threatening to behead him for buying drugs.

Theresa May has reportedly refused to grant a Pakistani Christian woman being hunted by lynch mobs for “blasphemy” asylum, after bureaucrats advised her it would cause upset in Britain’s Muslim community.

Two Black Fridays ago – on November 25, 2016 – Cuban dictator Fidel Castro finally died. Two years later, the pro-democracy activists at the forefront of the fight for freedom lament that little in Cuba has changed for them, and what has changed has worsened.

Law enforcement in Christian-majority Angola shut down at least nine churches this week as part of “Operation Rescue,” citing poor conditions and lack of security for worshippers, the Agencia Angola Press (ANGOP) outlet reports.

Pakistan’s Christians are living in a state of fear in the wake of Asia Bibi’s acquittal for allegedly committing blasphemy against Islam, the Telegraph reported over the weekend, echoing other assessments.

A major Australian wedding magazine has been forced to close after a campaign by violence-threatening activists against the Christian-run publication over its failure to feature same-sex couples.

A senior Pakistani official told reporters Monday that the government will not allow Asia Bibi, a Christian woman recently acquitted on false charges of blasphemy, to flee the country despite incessant calls from radical Islamist rioters for her death and that of her family.

Islamists reportedly attacked travelers in Pakistan who identified themselves as Christians in the wake of the decision by the Supreme Court to rescind the 2010 death sentence against Asia Bibi for alleged blasphemy, CNN reported on Sunday.

The Dutch embassy in Pakistan temporarily halted visa services on Monday “due to circumstances beyond [their] control” shortly after the attorney representing Christian blasphemy law victim Asia Bibi suggested Bibi and her family were seeking asylum in the European country.

The British government has turned away a Pakistani Christian who faces mob justice after a death sentence for blasphemy against Islam was overturned, allegedly to appease “certain sections of the community” at home and Islamist terrorists who might be inclined to attack British embassies abroad.

The recently appointed special representative for reconstruction in minority areas of Iraq for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) told Breitbart News he has a message for the Christians and other religious minorities who fled genocide at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL): Return to your homeland, America has your back.

The government of Pakistan confirmed on Thursday that Asia Bibi, a Christian woman whose acquittal on blasphemy charges have triggered violent Islamist riots, remains in Pakistan despite rumors she has left prison and flown to the capital, Islamabad.

Various reports Wednesday afternoon suggest that Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy charges last week, has left prison and is onboard a flight at press time.

Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi assured those concerned that the government would protect Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy last week, from Islamist mobs who want to kill her and that the government would not ban her from leaving the country if she was not re-convicted.

The government of Pakistan promised the radical Islamist Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party this weekend it would begin a legal process to prevent Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of four acquitted of blasphemy last week, from leaving the country, a move almost certainly ensuring her death at the hands of a violent mob.

Our Christian brothers and sisters are under attack.

“The courts, the economic growth of our country – which helps all of us, regardless of our faith – we’re all benefitting from a strong economy,” the evangelical leader observed. “I would certainly ask people to consider what’s at stake, and to pray before you vote.”

MINYA, Egypt (AP) – Coptic Christians in the Egyptian city of Minya prepared to bury their dead on Saturday, a day after militants ambushed three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery, killing seven and wounding 19.

The family of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan Wednesday after nearly a decade on death row, is “living in straight terror” and seeking a Western country to grant expedited asylum in the face of violent protests calling for her death, the chairman of a charity aiding Christians in the country told Breitbart News on Thursday.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the death sentence handed to Christian mother Asia Bibi in 2010, calling the accusations of blasphemy against her “nothing short of concoction incarnate” and accusing the complainants of “insulting” Islam by fabricating charges.

Democrat Abigail Spanberger, running against Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) in Virginia’s Seventh District, worked at a Saudi Arabia-owned school known as “terror high,” which had a curriculum that included the promotion of violence against non-Muslims.

British comedy star and Monty Python alum John Cleese went after President Donald Trump and attacked Christians who support him and his agenda.

A 53-year-old Christian mother on death row in Pakistan for allegedly committing blasphemy is asking for prayers as she waits to hear whether the Supreme Court will free her or uphold the capital punishment, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) reported this week.