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Perversion of conversion ‘used to beat down Christians’

Two recent cases have vindicated church leaders’ belief that Christians are being targeted falsely in “kidnapping for conver-sion” cases to tarnish their image and handicap their work, lawyers say. A state court in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on Oct. 30 released seven children taken to a shelter a week earlier. Two women traveling with them, Anita […]

After 50 years, bell rings at Kashmir’s 120-year-old church

For the first time in five decades, a church bell rang on Sunday at the largest Catholic church in the main city of India’s portion of Muslim-majority Kashmir. Members of Srinagar’s tiny Christian community assembled at the 120-year-old Holy Family Catholic Church and celebrated the installation of the new bell, weighing 105 kilograms. The church […]

Rani Maria beatification to inspire persecuted Christians

The upcoming beatification of an Indian nun murdered over 20 years ago, will be an inspi-ration for India’s persecuted Christians, say local church leaders. Indian Catholics are preparing for the Nov. 4 beati-fication ceremony of Sister Rani Maria Vattalil who was killed in a knife attack on Feb. 25, 1995 as she travelled on a […]

Despite hate-mongering, church ‘must stay out of politics’

The Catholic Church in India cannot become directly involved in politics, but it can help guide its members to make politically mature judgments, says Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, president of the country’s Catholic bishops’ conference. He said hate-mongering political ideologies and crimes that target Christians in India are best countered when Christians live out their faith […]

Priest criticizes Vatican over Indonesian bishop case

A British-born priest who has served in Indonesia for more than 40 years has called on the Vatican to end its tradition of keeping disciplinary cases involving the clergy confidential and demanded changes to the way bishops are appointed. In an opinion piece published in Hidup, a weekly magazine published by the Jakarta Archdiocese, Divine […]

Filipinos back bishops’ call for national healing amid drug war

Thousands of Filipino Catholics are expected to join a religious procession to call for “national healing” that will be held in a major thoroughfare in Manila on Nov. 5. A statement from the Bishops Conference of the Philippines said the event will be a “prayerful gathering for the healing of the nation.” The country’s bishops […]

Indonesian Protestants embrace papal teaching document

Indonesian Protestants celebrating the start of the Reformation 500 years ago have embraced Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World, calling it a document that can significantly help mend ties among Christians in a country blighted by growing religious intolerance. The Protestant Reformation began on Oct. 31, 1517, when […]

Christian prisoners denied visits from chaplain

In Pakistan, Christian prisoners are denied the consolation of faith offered by chaplains denounces The World Watch Monitor, granted permission to visit detainees in prisons across the country. The Rev. Maurice Shahbaz, director of the Prison Mission Society of Pakistan, says he has been trying to get consent for visits to prisoners by missionaries, evangelicals, […]