Church Asked to Remove First Commandment By Chinese Official in Henan

January 5, 2019 — 01/05/2018 China (International Christian Concern) – Authorities in Henan Province’s Luoning county ordered a government-approved Three-Self church to remove one commandment from the venerable Decalogue or Ten Commandments, reports Bitter...

Shift in Syrian Conflict Impacts Christian Discipleship Efforts

January 5, 2019 — 01/05/2019 Syria (International Christian Concern) – The Syrian Civil War, which began nearly eight years ago in 2011, has entered a notable shift with the Assad regime regaining control over most...

Desecrations of Cross Grave Markers Happen Again in Indonesia

January 4, 2019 — 01/04/2019 Indonesia (International Christian Concern) – Indonesian police in Magelang (Central Java) have opened an investigation after 11 Christian tombs in a public cemetery in Giriloyo, used by Catholics and...

Official Notice Posted to Close Algerian Church

January 4, 2019 — 01/04/2019 Algeria (International Christian Concern) – Algerian Pastor Rabah Messaoudi received an official notice on December 30th that the authorities have ordered his church to close, according to Morning Star News....

Lao Christians Arrested During Christmas Service Are Freed

January 3, 2019 — 01/03/2019 Laos (International Christian Concern) – Seven Lao Christians arrested at the New Year weekend for conducting an “illegal” church service in celebration of Christmas have been released, according to...

Muslims Join Christians in Appealing Church Demolition

January 3, 2019 — 01/03/2019 Iraq (International Christian Concern) – Iraqi authorities have marked the Chaldean Catholic Church of Divine Wisdom, located in Baghdad, for demolition as part of a redevelopment program. This program seeks...

Group in Malaysia Protests Against Christmas Celebration

January 2, 2019 — 01/02/2019 Malaysia (International Christian Concern) – It was reported that a group claiming to represent various political parties in Malaysia, including Sabah Heritage Party (Warisan), United Malays National Organization (UMNO)...

Iranian Sisters Make Bail Following Harsh Interrogation

January 2, 2019 — 01/02/2019 Iran (International Christian Concern) – Two Christian sisters arrested and assaulted during interrogation by Iranian authorities have reportedly been released on bail. They were arrested in early December in Ahvaz on...

Philippine President Duterte Mocks Holy Trinity, Rants Against Church

January 1, 2019 — 01/01/2019 Philippines (International Christian Concern) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte once again made comments against Christian doctrines and Catholic Church in a derogatory tone. On December 29, in a speech...

Iranian Christian Released on Bail with Health Concerns

January 1, 2019 — 01/01/2019 Iran (International Christian Concern) – Jamshid Derakhshan, an Iranian Christian who was found in Rajaee Shahr Prison two weeks after his disappearance, has been temporarily released on bail. Jamshid had...

Seven Lao Christians Arrested During Christmas Service

January 1, 2019 — 12/31/2018 Laos (International Christian Concern) – A company of nine police officers raided the Nakanong Village’s Christmas church service at approximately 6:00 PM on December 29, 2018. They arrested 3...

Egypt’s New Agency to Tackle Sectarianism

December 31, 2018 — 12/31/2018 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s current president, has decreed that the government will create an agency tasked with tackling sectarian issues. The new Supreme Committee for Confronting...

Vietnam’s Religion Law Not Helpful for Rural Area Christians

December 30, 2018 — 12/30/2018 Vietnam (International Christian Concern) – On January 1, 2019, it will mark the one-year anniversary of the Law on Belief and Religion, also known as the religion control law,...

Iraq’s Grand Mufti Forbids Christmas

December 29, 2018 — 12/29/2018 Iraq (International Christian Concern) – The joyful news that Iraq’s Cabinet officially declared Christmas a national holiday just in time for the celebrations was dampened on Thursday when Iraq’s Grand Mufti...

U.S. Congressman Calls On the World to Stand Against China’s Religious Persecution

December 29, 2018 — 12/29/2018 China (International Christian Concern) – In an op-ed published on Washington Post on December 27, U.S. Congressman Chris Smith from New Jersey calls on the world to let the Chinese...

Vietnam Invites Vatican Secretary of State to Visit the Country

December 28, 2018 — 12/28/2018 Vietnam (International Christian Concern) – In a message sent to Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, on the occasion of Christmas holidays,...