Resources
Orthodox Christians mark Easter in near-empty Jerusalem
Publication Date: 18/4/2020
Source: Al Jazeera
A small group of Christian clergy celebrated on Saturday the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in a deserted Jerusalem as pilgrims who normally attended the ancient ritual stayed home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Clergymen entered the Edicule, a chamber built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was buried two thousand years ago and rose from the dead after being crucified. Bells tolled above a near-empty church as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Theophilos III, emerged from the crypt carrying a candle lit by the flame. The source of the flame is a closely-guarded secret.
6th-century inscriptions near Galilee may show Christians’ fading Greek literacy
Author: Amanda Borschel-Dan
Publication Date: 25/7/2019
Source: Times of Israel
Some 15 years ago, while on the trail of an elusive Byzantine-era synagogue, archaeologists at the ongoing Hippos-Sussita Excavations Project near the Sea of Galilee began excavating what appeared to be a public building that had been burned to the ground. After quickly discovering that the remains indicated the structure was “just another church” — one of seven at least at the large ancient settlement — the team moved on to other work.
Kurdistan’s Christians attend first church services since lockdown lifted
Author: Bilind T. Abdullah
Publication Date: 18/5/2020
Source: Rudaw
Christians in the Kurdistan Region were able to attend their first Sunday services in almost two months after coronavirus containment measures imposed on places of worship were lifted earlier this week.
Mosques were immediately reopened when the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) lifted the restrictions on Monday, allowing Muslims to hold their first mass prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.
ISIS tried to destroy this church, now Muslims and Christians join hands to rebuild
Author: Emily Judd
Publication Date: 17/5/2020
Source: Al Arabiya
As many churches around the world face dire financial straits and struggle to survive due to the coronavirus pandemic, one church is rising from the ashes in the most unlikely of places: former ISIS territory.
ISIS, which ruled the Iraqi city of Mosul from 2014 to 2016, damaged or destroyed every church in the city including the “Our Lady of the Hour” Church, also known as Al Saa’a Church.
The Political and Social Identities of the Palestinian Christian community in Jordan
Author: Luisa Gandolfo
Publisher/Publication: Middle East Journal
Volume/Issue: 62(3)
DOI/ISBN: 10.3751/62.3.14
Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Institution: United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
Publication Date: 2020
The 2020 Annual Report assesses religious freedom violations and progress during calendar year 2019 in 29 countries and makes independent recommendations for U.S. policy. The key findings, recommendations, and analysis in this report are based on a year’s research by USCIRF, including travel, hearings, meetings, and brief- ings, and are approved by a majority vote of Commissioners, with each Commissioner, under the statute, having the option to include a statement with his or her own individual views.
The Copts—equal, protected or persecuted? The impact of Islamization on Muslim‐Christian relations in modern Egypt
Author: David Zeidan
Publisher/Publication: Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations
Volume/Issue: 10(1)
DOI/ISBN: 10.1080/09596419908721170
The Coptic diaspora and the status of the Coptic minority in Egypt
Author: Bosmat Yefet
Publisher/Publication: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Volume/Issue: 43(7)
DOI/ISBN: 10.1080/1369183X.2016.1228445
