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Algeria Returns a Historic Church, But Stops Christian Worship at 20 Others
Author: Jayson Casper
Publication Date: 10/6/2021
Source: Christianity Today
Algerian Christians finally have something to celebrate.
Amid a rash of church closures the past two years, the North African nation’s Council of State returned a historic worship site in Mostaganem, a port city on the Mediterranean coast, to the Algerian Protestant Church (EPA).
Morocco’s cardinal: Christians should be a ‘sacrament of encounter’ for Muslim neighbors
Publication Date: 4/6/2021
Source: Catholic News Agency
The archbishop of Rabat has launched a diocesan synod to encourage the small Catholic community in Morocco to more fully live out its mission of “encounter and dialogue.”
Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero told ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian language news partner, that he believes Catholics in Morocco can do more to be “an outgoing Church” and live out Islamic-Christian dialogue in their daily lives in the 99% Sunni Muslim country.
Algeria: Two years in prison for selling books
Publication Date: 01/06/2021
Source: Open Doors Youth
On 6th June, Pastor Rachid Seighir and Nouh Hamami will find out whether they will go to prison. Their crime? Selling books. The pair have been running a bookshop that contains books which are considered to ‘shake the faith of Muslims’. In Algeria, this comes with a heavy potential cost – and the two men are waiting to hear if their appeal against a two-year prison sentence has been successful.
An Unwelcome Minority: Threats Facing Christians in the Middle East, Part 3
Publication Date: 28/5/2021
Source: Persecution - International Christian Concern
Looking to the Future
Uncertainty Moving Forward
The future is uncertain. The continued threat of conflict in places like Syria and Iraq, combined with the destruction of wide swaths of territory will make it highly unfavorable for the return of Christians to area. The Syrian conflict is, as of recently, largely over, but the destruction and suffering left in its wake is bound to continue for years, making many, including Christians, who have fled, unable or unwilling to return.
Syriac Catholic patriarch says situation in Syria 'humanly unbearable'
Author: Doreen Abi Raad
Publication Date: 25/5/2021
Source: National Catholic Reporter
The Syriac Catholic patriarch said the situation in Syria "continues to be humanly unbearable and devastating" and risks emptying the war-torn country of its Christian community for good.
Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan called on Western countries to lift "all economic sanctions against Syria, because they only harm the innocent."
Archbishop Tobji of Aleppo after the presidential election: "Sanctions cause hunger and do not lead to more democracy"
Publication Date: 28/5/2021
Source: Agencia fides
While the European Union has extended the economic sanctions against Syria by one year, Western politicians and the media have described the presidential election on Wednesday, May 26th, from which Bashar al Assad emerged victorious, as a "farce". According to the Maronite Archbishop of Aleppo, Joseph Tobji, "the main problem for the Syrian people is their own survival from hunger, which is also caused by sanctions".
Algeria: Historic church building returned to the EPA
Publication Date: 26/5/2021
Source: Middle East Concern
Algerian Christians rejoice in the return of an appropriated church building in Mostaganem. They ask for continued prayer for the situation of the church in the country.
The church building is one of several historically recognised places of worship taken over by local authorities. The EPA, the umbrella organisation for Protestant Churches in Algeria (Église Protestante d’Algérie) has been requesting the return of these buildings for more than a decade. However, those using the buildings refuse to return them, leading to long-running court cases.
An Unwelcome Minority: Threats Facing Christians in the Middle East, Part 2
Publication Date: 21/5/2021
Source: Persecution - International Christian Concern
Christianity in the Middle East in the Modern Day
What Contributes to the Drop in Numbers?
But what of the Christians today? The Christian presence in the Middle East, while long has never enjoyed a majority status, apart from in Lebanon it was once the majority. Even now, although their numbers are declining, they still make up a significant portion of the population and retain significant political power.
