As Syrians struggle to cope with the devastating consequences of a catastrophic civil war, the number of Christians in the previously formidable Syrian city of Aleppo has now decreased from around 250,000 to just 50,000, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
...continue reading this storyRecent comments by a senior Iranian cleric that around 50,000 of Iran's 75,000 mosques are closed highlight the growth of Christianity in Iran and disillusion with “the regime’s use of Islam to justify its authoritarian rule,” a prominent human rights activist told Worthy News on Monday.
...continue reading this storyAn Iranian-Armenian pastor began a 10-year prison sentence in Iran yesterday, after being found guilty of engaging in “propaganda contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam” through his leading of a house church in Tehran, the Article 18 religious freedom NGO reports.
...continue reading this storyA court in Baghdad, Iraq, sentenced four Iraqi militia members and one Iranian national to life imprisonment last week for the killing of American Christian Stephen Troell last year, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
...continue reading this storyIran has detained scores of Christians ahead of the first anniversary of the death in custody of a young Kurdish woman, Christians said as more details on the crackdown emerged Friday.
...continue reading this storyMore than 50 Christian converts have been detained over the past week in five Iranian cities, and Christians said the number could rise.
...continue reading this storyIn a sudden spike of persecution against Christians in Iran, government authorities arrested and detained more than 50 Christians in five cities across Iran in the last 10 days, Article 18 reports.
...continue reading this storyThe much-persecuted, tiny Christian community in Iraq has taken the historic step of launching a new public television channel broadcasting only programs conducted in their native Syriac language, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Syriac is an ancient language derived from Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke while He walked the Earth.
...continue reading this storyChristians in Syria continue to face “genocidal” attacks not only from jihadists inside the country but also from Islamist-affiliated, NATO member Turkey, Algemeiner reports.
...continue reading this storyIn a rare display of justice from Iran’s notoriously corrupt judicial system, an appeals court judge in Tehran overturned the convictions of two Christian leaders who were sentenced to imprisonment for participating in a house church and ordered their release, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
...continue reading this story