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Source: Orthodox Christianity [Bout, Sudan]  Christian churches are under attack in Sudan. Three churches, including an Orthodox church, have been burnt down twice in the span of less than a month in the village of Bout in the Blue Nile state of the Republic of Sudan. The other churches attacked are from the Catholic Church and the Sudan Internal Church, reports the local Human Rights and Development Organization (HUDO). The Orthodox churches in Sudan are within the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Savvas of Nubia. The churches were first set ablaze on December 28, and after the congregations began to rebuild them with local…

Source: Orthodox Christianity BUDAPEST – Patriarch John X of Antioch and the heads of several other Christian churches in the Middle East met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orband in Budapest on Wednesday, October 30 to discuss the ongoing persecution and ways to protect the suffering Christian communities in the Middle East. The meeting, which was organized by Prime Minster Orban, was also attended by Patriarch Mar Ignatius Ephraim II of the Syriac church, Melkite Patriarch Youssef I AbsI of Antioch and All the East, Alexandria and Jerusalem, and Syro-Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all…

Source: The National Herald By Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The three churches in charge of Jerusalem’s holiest Christian site say they have reached an agreement to begin a multi-million dollar renovation of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Armenian churches issued a statement Monday announcing the project to restore the foundations and flooring of the church, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, entombed and resurrected. A Greek team headed the 2016 restoration project to preserve the aedicule, a large structure inside the church housing the tomb. The upcoming second rehabilitation project…

Source: The Atlantic by EMMA GREEN PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEXANDRA ROSE HOWLAND AND ELAINE CROMIE See the extensive photos here An ancient faith is disappearing from the lands in which it first took root. At stake is not just a religious community, but the fate of pluralism in the region. The call came in 2014, shortly after Easter. Four years earlier, Catrin Almako’s family had applied for special visas to the United States. Catrin’s husband, Evan, had cut hair for the U.S. military during the early years of its occupation of Iraq. Now a staffer from the International Organization for Migration…

Source: Christian Today A US pastor has been barred from re-entering Turkey in a further sign of the country’s antagonism towards foreign Christians. Mike Platt, a volunteer pastor at Kadikoy International Church in Istanbul, was barred from re-entry on Wednesday after travelling outside the country. Middle East Concern (MEC) reports that he was warned by the border authorities when he left the country on April 2 that there was an entry ban against him and that he would be refused re-entry. This ban was enforced when he tried to re-enter this week.  He was subsequently held at the airport and…

Source: Orthodox Christianity Jerusalem, May 9, 2019 His Holiness Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem has expressed gratitude to His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al-Hussein on behalf of himself, the members of the Holy Synod, the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, and the clergy and members of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem for his continuing care for the holy sites of Jerusalem, including his recent personal donation towards the restoration of the Holy Sepulchre, reports the Jordan News Agency. The donation comes two years after the completion of the restoration of the edicule over the Lord’s Tomb, which was also carried…

Source: The Persecution of Christians The Egyptian government is very slow to approve applications for the construction of new churches. This story illustrates what are all too often the consequences: Christians go ahead with construction of an urgently needed church, and then are subjected to mob violence, often aided and abetted by government officials. As Father Sami says below: “What happened frightened us. I am a priest and it is possible for the police to cuff me if the extremist neighboring Muslims protest or gathered in front of my church. Things are getting worse, but let us pray to make…

Source: The Washington Post By E.J. Dionne Jr. Christmas remains wondrous, but it arrives at a difficult moment for Christianity in the United States. We still see Christmas trees strapped to the tops of cars, neighbors lighting up their homes, and children getting as excited as ever. And the churches will be unusually full. This last point is revealing: A relative decline of religious observance has brought forth the “Chreasters,” Christians who attend services only on Christmas and Easter. Regular worshipers can be disdainful of the Chreasters. They make it hard for the loyalists to find seats in the pews and…

via Public Orthodoxy Michael G. Azar Amid the growth of Islamist persecution in the last few years, a variety of think tanks and politicians have sought to bring the plight of Christians in the Middle East to the forefront of American politics. Amid such fervor, Israeli leaders have also claimed their role in the defense of Christians. Prime Minister Netanyahu recently told a Jerusalem gathering of over 180 Christian media representatives that Israel is the protector of the Christian people and “the only place in the Middle East” where Christians have “the freedom to worship as they please.” Together, he explained,…

Source: Aleteia John Burger Fr. Fadi Iskander becomes priest in Erbil, home to many Christians who fled persecution in northern Iraq A man whose priest-father was killed by terrorists a dozen years ago was ordained a priest by the same bishop who ordained his father. Fadi Iskander became a priest of the Syriac Orthodox Church on Sunday in Ankawa, a suburb of Erbil, inhabited mostly by Christians, according to Fides news agency. Fr. Iskander is the son of Fr. Boulos Iskander Behnam, a Syriac Orthodox priest killed in 2006 in Mosul. He became a priest in 1989, by the hands of Bishop Gregorios…

Source: CBC Tattoos have long been how Christians mark their spiritual journey to Holy City Derek Stoffel · CBC News  A mother and her daughter from rural Indiana walked through the narrow alleyways of Jerusalem’s fabled Old City recently, gazing up at the wooden crosses and rosaries hanging from shop stalls. What to take home? They decided ultimately on another way to mark their pilgrimage to the Holy City: tattoos. A day later, Karen Andrews and her daughter Jamie both had blue Ichthys fish — the Christian symbol linked to Jesus — stencilled on their wrists. “All my life I thought about tattoos, and I thought…

Source: BosNewsLife By BosNewsLife Africa Service ASMARA, ERITREA (BosNewsLife)– More than 120 Christians have been detained in Eritrea in a government-backed crackdown on unregistered denominations across the troubled African nation, Christian activists told BosNewsLife Thursday, June 15. At least 122 Christians were detained last month, confirmed advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which closely follows the situation. “These arrests signify a renewed intensity in the [government] crackdown that has been ongoing since 2002, and are a clear indication that the severe repression of freedom of religion or belief continues unabated in Eritrea,” said CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas. In 2002…

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