Resources
Christian couple in Iran win short reprieve from jail
Author: Sebastian Milbank
Publication Date: 18/6/2021
Source: The Tablet
A Christian couple in Iran have been given a 30-day reprieve from a jail sentence after being found guilty of leading an illegal house church.
Homayoun Zhaveh, who is 62 and suffers from Parkinson’s, and his wife Sara Ahmadi, 42 were sentenced in November 2020 to two and 11 years in imprisonment respectively.
The new face of the Catholics of Morocco
Author: Remy Pigaglio
Publication Date: 15/6/2021
Source: Paudal
The Saint-Pierre cathedral in Rabat is still almost empty. In front, only a few benches are occupied by the twenty members of the choir. As every week, they meet shortly before Sunday mass, to rehearse. African melodies and rhythms rise. Like the Catholic Church of Morocco, the young choristers come from all over the continent.
The Disappearing Plight of Syrian Christians
Author: Hollie McKay
Publication Date: 7/6/2021
Source: The National Interest
By illuminating the threat of the multitude of extremist, hardline terrorist outfits operating on Syrian soil, Bashar al-Assad portrays himself as something of the protector to the Christian community.
For more than a decade, Syria has been ripped apart by bullets and barrel bombs, division and destruction. While the endangerment of Christians from neighboring Iraq has garnered much international attention, little is said about its slow erasure in the neighboring Syrian cradle of civilization.
Arab Christians in the Holy Land
Author: Nicholas Frankovich
Publication Date: 13/6/2021
Source: Commonweal Magazine
A conversation with David Neuhaus, SJ
Iran election set to intensify Christian persecution
Author: Andrew Boyd
Publication Date: 17/6/2021
Source: Christian Today
Iran goes to the polls on June 18 to elect its new president. The election has been described as fraudulent and rigged and is likely to be spurned in record numbers by Iranian voters, who consider the outcome a fait accompli.
Most of the candidates are hard-liners, which UK charity Release International warns will increase pressure on the persecuted Church, writes Andrew Boyd.
A hard-line stance on Iran endangers Christians. There’s a better way.
Author: David Curry
Publication Date: 1/6/2021
Source: Religion News Service
The quickest way to know if Iran is serious about either nuclear compliance or religious freedom is to tie the two issues together.
During the 2016 campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to take a hard-line stance on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions. This was a response to the Obama administration’s loosening of sanctions, seemingly rewarding Iran with a massive cash payment and a path to rejoining the world’s financial system in hope the rogue nation would respond with nuclear compliance.
Pastor in Algeria Receives Suspended Sentence and Fine
Less than a week after a a court in Algeria ordered pastor Rachid Seighir’s church to close, a judge in handed him a one-year suspended sentence and a fine for “shaking the faith” of Muslims with Christian literature at his bookstore, sources said.
The incredible courage of Christians in Iran
Publication Date: 11/6/2021
Source: Open Doors Phillipines
The coronavirus came early to Iran, and it hit hard: Hundreds of thousands of people were infected and, according to official numbers, more than 20,000 people have died.
But those official numbers are likely a massive undercount. The BBC was recently sent secret Iranian government data by an unknown source. That data shows there are actually more than 450,000 people infected with COVID-19 and more than 42,000 deaths. That only includes data up until July 20, so the actual numbers are likely even higher.
