Armenian Prisoners in Azerbaijan Report Restrictions on Religious Practice October 9, 2026 — Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan are being denied meaningful contact with their families, independent medical professionals, and international humanitarian monitors, while reports of restrictions on their Christian religious practice have...
Old Ideas Still Have PowerOctober 7, 2026 — By ICC Fellow Greg Cochran, PhD Baptists at the Everett Center for Global Religious Freedom (Dallas Baptist University) published a report this summer measuring the global temperature on religious liberty. ...
Hunted for Following JesusOctober 7, 2026 — In some communities, Muslims who leave Islam to follow Christ face rejection, threats, violence, and even death because of their faith. For Muslim-background believers, choosing to follow Jesus can place...
The Disappearing Christian Middle East, Part VI: When Christianity Becomes History October 7, 2026 — By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette Throughout this series, The Disappearing Christian Middle East, we have traveled through Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. Circumstances differ in...
Christians Reel Under Effects of Floods, Persecution in Chhattisgarh October 6, 2026 — Christians in Chhattisgarh, India, facing relentless pressure from Hindu nationalists, must now deal with the aftermath of recent floods. The flooding unfolded between Sept. 24 and 27 along the volatile...
The Disappearing Christian Middle East, Part V: The Holy Land — When Christians Leave the Birthplace of Christianity October 6, 2026 — By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette Every December, Elias watches pilgrims pour into Bethlehem. From the doorway of his family’s small olivewood shop, he hears church bells ringing above the old...
The Disappearing Christian Middle East, Part IV: Lebanon — The Last Christian Stronghold of the Arab Middle East?October 5, 2026 — By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette For generations, Lebanon was different. In much of the Middle East, Christians lived as minorities navigating political systems dominated by larger religious communities. In Lebanon,...
Punjab Panel Approves Bill to Reform Christian Marriage LawOctober 5, 2026 — A legislative committee in Pakistan’s Punjab province has unanimously approved a bill that would set the minimum age for Christian marriages at 18 for both partners, require official registration, and...
Plateau Governor Imposes Curfew After Pastor, 27 Others Killed in Week October 4, 2026 — David Nanpet, an eyewitness documenter with the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON), was monitoring reports of renewed attacks across Plateau state when he received news that a pastor had been...
The Disappearing Christian Middle East, Part III: Syria — War, Displacement, and a Vanishing Christian Community October 2, 2026 — By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette On Sunday, June 22, 2025, Christians gathered for worship inside Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus. Families sat together, prayers were spoken, and...
Chinese Pastor Detained for ‘Organizing Illegal Religious Activities’ October 2, 2026 — An Yankui was at his home when officials arrested him at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 29 for an investigation on suspicion of “organizing illegal religious activities,” according to a police...
The Disappearing Christian Middle East Part II: Iraq — From Ancient Christian Homeland to ExodusOctober 2, 2026 — By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette On an ordinary August evening in 2014, Mariam was preparing dinner while her husband, Nabil, closed the small repair shop his family had owned...
The Disappearing Christian Middle East, Part I: Can Christianity Disappear from the Land Where It Was Born?September 30, 2026 — By ICC Fellow Lisa Navarrette On a Sunday morning somewhere in the Middle East, an old church bell still rings. It may sound across a neighborhood in northern Iraq, an...
Nigeria Advances Police Reform as First Constitutional Amendment to Reach StatesSeptember 29, 2026 — Nigeria has taken an important step toward decentralizing its policing system after the National Assembly transmitted a constitutional amendment establishing state police services to all 36 state Houses of Assembly...
New Legislation Threatens Independent Documentation of Persecution in NigeriaSeptember 28, 2026 — Nigeria’s Senate is advancing legislation that could significantly expand government oversight of organizations receiving foreign funding, raising concerns that the measure could affect the ability of churches, humanitarian organizations, human...
Churches Restrict Entry of Non-Christians in Persecution-Hit RegionSeptember 28, 2026 — In an unprecedented development last week, more than 40 churches in the Dhamtari district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, India, declared that worship is restricted to Christians only,...
