On 30 August a Pakistani Christian was arrested on charges of blasphemy in Nowshera (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). It is the 42nd case of its kind recorded in August in the country, a real record according to the Naya Daur (New Era) website.
David Masih’s arrest occurred three days after a video – which went viral – was posted on social media showing pages of the Koran being thrown down a drain. Reported to the police by some Muslim inhabitants of his neighbourhood, he allegedly confessed to having torn the pages “to practice witchcraft.”
The Pakistani Penal Code states that “anyone who intentionally defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Quran or an extract from it, or uses it in a derogatory manner or for any illegal purpose, will be punished with life imprisonment.” In the case of defamation of the Prophet Muhammad (section 295-C), the death sentence is foreseen.
Since 1987, when Pakistan added sections 295-B and 295-C to the blasphemy law, the number of arrests for this crime has increased. According to the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Pakistani Bishops’ Conference, between 1987 and 2018, 776 Muslims, 505 Ahmadis, 229 Christians and 30 Hindus were accused of blasphemy.

Human rights activists were shocked after Asia Bibi dissociated herself from her autobiography, due out later in September. Bibi, the Catholic woman acquitted of blasphemy in 2018 after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan, sparked controversy with an Aug. 31 interview with Voice of America Urdu, reported ucanews.com. “I wasn’t involved in its drafting. I don’t know when she wrote it, whose story is it and who guided her for the book. I absolutely do not agree with this book because it’s not my autobiography,” she said, referring to French writer Anne-Isabelle Tollet, the only reporter to have met her during her stay in Canada. In February, Bibi confirmed that she was seeking asylum in France to live closer to Tollet, who played a key role in her fight for freedom and helped write her autobiography, “Enfin Libre!” (“Finally Free”).

A video posted on TikTok in July shows a Christian man being pressured to reject his faith and convert to Islam. Despite threats, he can be heard saying that “for nothing in the world” will he abandon the Christian faith. The video, posted by bilalmaher479, went viral, but also sparked a strong reaction from Christians and members of other religious minorities.
Hitherto, non-Muslims have to had to witness the forced conversions of girls and young women, compelled to marry Muslim men. The forced conversion of boys and young men is something relatively new.In the video in question, the Christian man is seen being pressured to recite the shahada, the Islamic creed, surrounded by people who are not seen. Despite everything, he refuses, saying that for nothing in the world would he recite the Muslim creed and reject the Christian faith.
His tormentors then begin to threaten him, saying that he will face serious consequences. Even then, the victim says no, stating that it is his right to keep his faith and that he is ready to suffer all the consequences, that he would not give up his religion.
In a statement, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that it has received many complaints about the immoral, obscene and vulgar contents in social media, especially TikTok and Bigo, for their negative impact, especially on young people.
After contacting the two companies, the PTA said that their response was unsatisfactory and that it blocked Bigo under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.
Taskeen Khan, a Glory TV presenter and human rights activist, came to the victim’s defence, posting the video on his official page and slamming the forced conversion attempt.
“Will the Pakistani authorities find the offenders through their TikTok account and punish them according to the law?” he asked.
For his part, Rev Irfan James of Peshawar said that “Pakistani Christians suffer many challenges and [endure] persecution. They face difficult situations every day.” “It is sad that young Muslims, the majority community, constantly threaten Christians and our faith. Time and time again, they make fun of our faith, but neither the government nor law enforcement do anything about it.”

Following an unprecedented “paid and planned” attack on Patriarch Raï, carried in the ne-wspaper al-Akhbar, the Episco-pal Commission for Social Co-mmunications has stated that information on “hidden weapons and explosives in residential areas and among civilians” revealed in his Sunday Homily are “without any doubt.”
“Instead of abusively accusing the patriarch, whose sources of information leave no doubts of any kind, we advise this newspaper to verify and investigate the statements that reveal that weapons and explosives are being hidden and stored in residential areas and among civilians. Otherwise – affirm the bishops – in reality, the enemy is hiding, among them.”
In his homily, considered the first direct attack on Hezbollah’s military strategy, Patriarch Raï had asked the leaders to “consider the explosion at the port of Beirut as a warning signal.” The Cardi-nal called on authorities “to search all the weapons depots illegally located in the heart of residential districts, in cities and villages.” The head of the Maronite Church added that “certain Lebanese regions have become minefields, which could blow up at any moment. The presence of these hidden weapons depots represents a real threat to the life of the Lebanese, which does not belong to anyone, any party or any organization.” “It is time – concluded the cardinal – to unearth these weapons and these explosives, so that citizens can truly feel safe.”
Furthermore, the patriarch, who has been promoting and relaunching the principle of Lebanon’s ”active neutrality” for several weeks, stressed.

S. Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is facing increased pressure over some of his policies, hosted a luncheon for Catholic leaders, asking for their cooperation in tackling the COVID-19 coronavirus.
“We must overcome the coronavirus (and) we will do our best to overcome the crisis quickly and minimize economic loss,” Moon said during the meeting, adding that he plans to meet with other Christian leaders in the near future.
Once seen as a model in dealing with the pandemic, South Korea has seen a spike in cases of coronavirus that has led to a fresh suspension of public Masses and could even throw the nation into a second lockdown.
In attendance at the presidential luncheon were Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Archbishop of Seoul; Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-jong of the Gwangju Diocese; Archbishop Thaddeus Cho Hwankil of Deagu; Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon of Uijeongbu; Bishop John Chri-sostom Kwon Hyok-ju of Andong; and Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik of Daejeon.
According to the presidential office, Moon praised the Catholic Church for its swift action in obeying government quarantine restrictions during South Korea’s first wave of COVID-19 in February.

Church leaders in north-eastern India’s Nagaland state are concerned about a Chinese Christian cult misleading thousands of their young people with faulty doctrines.
The Church of Almighty God, which emerged in China some three decades ago, teaches that a woman named Yang Xiangbin is the second Christ.
The cult is “reportedly making inroads into our land,” said Reverend Zelhou Keyho, general secretary of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), in a letter to all church bodies and Baptist leaders in the state.
It has reportedly attracted thousands of young people through social media, church leaders say.
Yang Xiangbin, also called Lightning Deng, and cult founder Zhao Weishan fled China in 2000 after the Chinese government banned it, mainly because of its direct opposition to the Chinese Communist Party, published re-ports show.
The cult “is a well-organized group, aggressively moving for-ward with publication and creat-ing many Facebook pages and colourful artwork that appears biblical and enticing,” said the letter of Reverend Keyho.
The council is the top body of nearly 1,500 Baptist Churches in Nagaland, where Christians form 90 percent of two million people. The majority of Christians are Baptists. The cult’s Facebook page has some 137,000 followers. They claim to have offices in the US, UK, South Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Germany and France.

After several denials, it has been officially confirmed: last August 21 a meeting was held between Yuri Karaev, Belarusian Interior Minister, and the head of the country’s Catholics, Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. The meeting had been requested by the archbishop to assess the prospects for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the president and the opposition.
Archbishop Kondrusiewicz reminded the minister of the unsustainability of violent repression, implemented by the local militia, denouncing at the same time the presence of no less violent provocateurs in various demonstrations. He also proposed the formation of a mixed commission, which would carry out checks on the conditions of arrest and detention of people. The state-owned television channel ONT said the parties reached an agreement on the formation of such a commission.
On the official website of the Belarusian Catholic Church it is specified that Kondrusiewicz has placed the emphasis mainly on the protection of “the weakest and the defenceless.”

The Diocese of Shanghai on July 27 issued a circular saying that Catholic priests who officiate funeral prayers at the city’s Longhua Funeral Parlour should produce their identity cards to prove they are state-recognized priests. Across the globe, a Catholic priest’s approval comes from the Church and its Sacrament of Holy Orders. But in China Catholics face an absurd situation. The recognition of priests come from the state administration that functions under the atheistic communist party.
Members of the underground church, who do not submit themselves to the state administration, are not eligible to use the Shanghai funeral parlour because their priests cannot enter it. But if some among them insist on using the parlour, they will have to seek the help of a priest from the state-approved open church.
For many who are unfamiliar with communist machinations, it is a simple issue of limited funeral options. They would say the underground Catholics can use other funeral parlours in the city or have funeral prayers at home. “What is the big deal?” they might ask.
However, it not easy for an underground priest to conduct funeral prayers in a Chinese home. Several regulations and restrictions prevent them from holding prayer rituals in the homes of Catholics openly and honestly. It deprives the deceased of their right to have a decent funeral and burial or cremation.
The notice is even more devastating from another point of view. It has stirred up the conflict between the underground and open Catholic communities in the diocese. The notice came from state-approved diocesan officials, and naturally the underground community is upset by it. But those who are angry about it are falling into the trap of the government.

“I call on the Holy Father not to renew the Agreement with China, because this could thre-aten the survival of the Church in China, driving us onto the path of despair,” writes Benedict, an underground Catholic in northern China. He and Fr John, a priest in northern China, have added their voices to AsiaNews‘s investigation into the situation of the Church in China a few months before the provisional agreement between China and the Holy See comes to an end.
Benedict’s bitter cry is complemented by the clergyman’s sober thoughts. The latter says he understands the motive behind the pontiff’s move, which is to show mercy towards the priests and bishops in the official Church, who are caught between the need to show obedience to the regime and their allegiance to the Church.
Two other elements emerge from these two stories. The first one is that the state’s repression against the Church is directed towards other religions as well, in particular Protestants. The second is that the crackdown is not uniformly applied across this vast country. Fr John notes that government officials, following their conscience, have protected the freedom of some communities, at their own risk and peril.
“In my opinion, Sino-Vatican talks and negotiations reflect the Pope’s concern and care for the Church in China. He has tried every way possible to break the chains that tie our bodies and hearts. For some, this makes sense because they no longer have to endure the problems of [legal or illegal] consecration or sacramental communion caused by China.”

A conference on ‘Collective efforts for advancing diversities’ was held, eve of Pakistan’s Mi-norities Day.
A number of speakers representing religious and civil society groups addressed the ga-thering. One of them was Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad who said that “disparities of rights in policies and laws can never ensure equality of status and treatment.”
For the prelate and the other participants, the government has failed to take seriously the pro-blems minorities face, noting that quotas for minorities are a futile attempt to ensure political, reli-gious, social and economic equa-lity if they do not have proper enforcement mechanisms.
According to various sources, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Shias are the most discriminated in Pakistan, a country of 212 million inhabi-tants, in which ethnic Punjabis and Sunni Muslims are the largest groups.
Catholics and Protestants number around 2 million each (just under 1 per cent of the popu-lation respectively).
Rizwan Ullah Kokab, who teaches history at the Government College University, points out that Pakistan is a land of many religions and different cultures. For this reason, the authorities’ “ethnocentric” approach is not useful to the cause of national unity.