Newsfeed
Egypt church fires resurface matters of rights, restrictions and discrimination against the country's Christian minority
Author: Thaer Mansour
Publication Date: 1/9/2022
Source: The New Arab
The series of church fires erupting in Egypt in a matter of eight days brought to the surface the restrictions imposed on Christians to have equal rights with the Muslim majority and build new worship premises flexibly.
On 14 August, a shocking incident took place when a major fire broke out in the Egyptian Abi Sefien Coptic church at Imbaba's working-class neighbourhood in Giza, west of the capital Cairo, claiming the lives of 41 people, including the priest and 15 children.
Even though the official narrative identified the causes of the blaze as short circuits and other unintentional reasons, The New Arab talked to a high-level source at the state security agents who confirmed otherwise.
Syrian Christians Suffer From International Actors
Publication Date: 2/8/2022
Source: International Christian Concern
In recent weeks, Russian forces have executed airstrikes in multiple Christian-majority villages in the Idlib province of northwestern Syria. Tragically, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the July 22 strikes killed seven civilians, four of whom were children, and injured another 13. The four children killed in the blasts were siblings. Their hospitalized father, completely heartbroken, told AFP, “My children are gone […] the dearest people to my heart are gone.”
Iranian Christians on Iran’s Extraordinary Protests
Publication Date: 7/10/2022
Source: Radical
Milad and Rouhafza are a young Iranian couple who fled their home country after facing relentless pressure and harassment from Iranian authorities because of their Christian faith. That’s not an uncommon experience for the small Christian population in a country of 86 million people in the strict Islamic state.
“We are ambassadors of Christ”: making hope last in Syria
Publication Date: 23/8/2022
Source: Open Doors
“It’s a prolonged crisis, without seeing an end,” says Pastor Edward, an Open Doors partner in Syria. “On the other hand, we experience divine light amid darkness.”
That’s his answer when asked about the situation – for Syria, but also for the whole persecuted church in the Middle East. You might remember meeting Pastor Edward at the beginning of Open Doors’ seven-year Hope for the Middle East campaign, in 2016. The initial vision for the campaign was to keep hope alive for the church through emergency relief for survival, and long-term help to rebuild shattered lives, through income-generation, leadership training and trauma counselling. That vision remains strong today.
Women, Christians and Their Powerful Resistance to Iran's Fanatical Regime
Author: Lela Gilbert
Publication Date: 30/9/2022
Source: Newsweek
On a mid-September afternoon, the world was introduced on Twitter to a beautiful 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini. She first appeared in hospital photographs, comatose and connected to life-support equipment, with bleeding visible in her right ear. Before long, earlier and happier photos of Mahsa were also posted, notably with her dark hair mostly covered but partially revealed.
Islamist militiamen in Tahrir al Sham allow Christians to publicly celebrate Mass in the province of Idlib
Publication Date: 8/9/2022
Source: Agencia Fides
Mass was celebrated in a church that had been closed for ten years. This happened in the province of Idlib, in an area still controlled by the anti-Assad Islamist militias. Permission to re-open the Christian place of worship and celebrate the Eucharistic liturgy in a serene and festive atmosphere was the same head of the jihadist faction that, in past years, had seized property and the houses of Christians as "spoils of war".
Iranian Christians demand truth and justice for Mahsa Amini
Publication Date: 27/9/2022
Source: Asia News
Iranian Christians have joined the battle for truth and justice following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in custody from injuries sustained at the hands of Iran’s morality police.
Idleb Christians Celebrate St. Anna’s Day for First Time in 10 Years
Publication Date: 31/8/2022
Source: The Syrian Observer
Last Sunday, Christians in Idleb governorate celebrated the Feast of Saint Anna in the village of Yacoubiya for the first time since military factions took control of the area.
Activists and residents of Christian villages in Idleb circulated photos and videos of the opening of the Church of St. Anna in the village of Yacoubiya, with residents participating from the villages of Yacoubia, Jadida, and Qunaya.
Christians in Syria's Idlib hold major Mass
Publication Date: 4/9/2022
Source: Al Monitor
Christians in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib celebrated Saint Anna’s Day Aug. 28 at an Armenian Apostolic Church dedicated to the saint, 10 years after the church was closed.
Religious rituals and hymn singing accompanied the inaugural celebration that was held in a joyful climate, amid security measures from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls the province.
Kerala’s Syrian Christian history gets a Hungarian saviour—new keyboard, old manuscripts
Author: Zoya Bhatti
Publication Date: 19/8/2022
Source: The Print
István Perczel could well be a modern-day Indiana Jones for Kerala’s elite approximately 60,00,000-strong Syrian Christian community spread across the globe. But instead of engaging in gun fights and discovering lost treasure and ancient cities, The Hungarian scholar of Byzantine history and early Christianity is bringing to life a forgotten body of Malayalam scholarly literature—one that is written in a script based on the Syriac alphabet, an ancient writing system that dates back to the 1st century AD, and shares similarities with Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic and Sogdian.
