Newsfeed
Spiritual union: why Gulf migrants are turning to evangelical Christianity
Author: Elle Hardy
Publication Date: 31/7/2022
Source: The Guardian
Evangelical Christianity is quietly flourishing among migrant groups in the Gulf as churches provide low-paid workers facing horrific abuse with aid in times of crisis, according to pastors and parishioners across the region.
About 30 million migrant workers live in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – the muscle transforming oil-based economies into glittering 21st-century metropolises.
Muqtada al Sadr extends the mandate of the Committee on the restitution of illegally expropriated property
Publication Date: 11/6/2022
Source: Agenzia Fides
The Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al Sadr, President of the Alliance of the main forces in the current Iraqi Parliament, announced the continuation of the work of the ad hoc committee set up on his initiative in early 2021, with the task of returning property illegally expropriated in recent years from owners from Christian communities or the religious community of the Mandaeans to the rightful owners. An expansion of the committee's activities was announced in a document signed by Muqtada al Sadr himself, which also announced the names of three new members of the body which, according to the document circulated by the Shiite leader, "returns the houses and property. Muqtada al Sadr emphasized that the extension of the committee's mandate confirms the value and importance of the initiative and was ordered to address the growing number of complaints and reports received by the body to be taken into account.
Christian anger as Lebanese archbishop summoned to court for visit to Israeli parish
Publication Date: 20/7/2022
Source: The New Arab
Archbishop Mussa al-Hajj, like other Christian religious leaders, is allowed to cross Lebanon's southern border to visit his parish in Israel. His detention and summons to a military court on his return have sparked Christian outrage.
How Iraq’s Christians are rebuilding their ancient churches
Author: Stella Martany, Meethak Al-Khatib
Publication Date: 1/6/2022
Source: Premier Christianity
When Islamic State (IS) marched into the Nineveh region of northern Iraq in 2014 and declared it a caliphate under sharia law, it destroyed one of the oldest communities of Christians in the world. Jihadists desecrated ancient churches and 50,000 Christians fled. After its capital Mosul was liberated in 2017, Al-Bishara Church was the first to reopen. Five years on, local journalists Stella Martany and Meethak Al-khatib visited on Easter Sunday to speak to the Christians tentatively reassembling their lives.
Archbishop calls for 'urgent' action to save Christian properties from Jewish settlers
Publication Date: 20/6/2022
Source: Middle East Monitor
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has called for urgent and unified action to nullify suspicious deals through which important real estate owned by the church in occupied Jerusalem has apparently been sold to illegal settler associations. Archbishop Atallah Hanna insisted that this is a political issue, not a legal one.
Chaldean Patriarch Sako: Iraqi Christians are true patriots, they are not a "minority" of "infidels"
Publication Date: 1/6/2022
Source: Agenzia Fides
Iraqi Christians represent an indigenous community, present in the lands of Mesopotamia well before the birth of Islam. They, with their dedication and creativity, have contributed in a decisive way to the original civilization that developed in the region, and the definition that labels them as "infidels" and "polytheists" is an offense to humanity and also to intelligence, definition also traceable on texts and digital platforms of the national education system.
The Christian church so holy that Muslims hold its keys
Author: Frank Jacobs
Publication Date: 28/4/2021
Source: Big Think
On a ledge over a church door in Jerusalem stands a simple cedarwood ladder. It’s been there for perhaps three centuries. Since nobody remembers who put it there, nobody knows who is authorized to remove it. If anyone would try, there’d be immediate trouble with whomever would feel slighted — and there are plenty of candidates. This is the Immovable Ladder, and it is a fitting symbol for the deeply-entrenched divisions within Christianity, and within that church building itself.
Suicide of Reverend George Hosh: “Reconciliation” Man Cast Aside by Church
Author: Enab Baladi
Publication Date: 8/4/2022
Source: The Syrian Observer
On Thursday, a burial ceremony was held for Reverend George Rafik Hosh, who died after committing suicide. The ceremony was held at the Church of Saint Elias in al-Faros neighborhood, downtown Lattakia.
Kurdistan Region remains ‘first choice’ for Iraqi Christians: Erbil Archbishop
Publication Date: 24/6/2022
Source: Kurdistan24
The Kurdistan Region remains the “first choice” destination of Iraq’s dwindling Christian population, Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday.
Protestant Christians in Turkey Exposed to Discrimination, Deportations, Hate Speech
Author: Uzay Bulut
Publication Date: 16/5/2022
Source: Providence
Only 0.1 percent of Turkey’s population is Greek, Armenian, or Assyrian Christian. The collapse of Turkey’s Christian communities is a result of decades-long persecution that includes genocide, expulsions, pogroms, and official discrimination.
There is also a growing Christian demographic group in the country: Turkish converts to Christianity, many of whom converted to a Protestant church. This community has struggled with many problems, including a lack of official recognition by the government.
