For the first time in nine years, Asia Bibi will be with her husband on Christmas.

But many of her fellow Christians in Pakistan are afraid of a backlash this holiday season in the wake of Bibi’s on October exoneration by the nation’s Supreme Court on blasphemy charges.

Recent cases of abductions, allegations of blasphemy and hate crimes against Christians, who make up 2 percent of the South Asian country’s population, have led churches to beef up security as parishioners sing carols around bonfires and watch Nativity dramas.

“This is the best time for us. We plan the Christmas play throughout the year and arrange several programs in the festive season,” said a 17-year-old college student in Lahore. “But it is a tense situation in the country. We hope that the government will facilitate us in marking our religious season.”

A mother of five, including three stepchildren, Bibi was arrested on blasphemy charges in 2010 after she allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammed during an argument over whether she should have drunk from the same water bucket used by her Muslim co-workers on a farm.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted her of the charges. That sparked unrest in Pakistan as Islamic hard-liners called for her death. She and her husband are now in hiding in a government safe house.

The backlash has led many Christians to tone down their celebrations this year.

“We used to conduct carol singing in our neighborhood every Christmas,” said Natasha Joseph, a 31-year-old housewife in Karachi. “This year we are scared to use loudspeakers as some Muslims might complain.”

Some Christians will stay inside this Christmas.

As Christmas approaches, officials in China have requested strict controls on festive celebrations as the country continues its crackdown on religions at the end of a year that has seen stepped -up persecution of Christians.

Shops and street vendors alike are reportedly being banned from selling wares considered “controversial” by the state in various parts of the country.

Meanwhile, some underground churches — including those organized at people’s homes, and others not sanctioned by the officially atheist, communist government — have been warned not to hold any gatherings.

A notice issued by the Urban Management Bureau in Langfang city of Hebei province in northern China on Dec. 15 that was circulated online requires all local law enforcement agencies to “comprehensively ban all Christmas items such as Christmas trees and Santa Claus placed along the street.” Moreover, they have been instructed to “clear away all Christmas stickers, banners, signs, light-box advertisements and other related promotional items.”

Two Christian brothers have been sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges, the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) announced on December 14.

Qaisar and Amoon Ayub, from Lahore, were arrested in 2015 after one of the two was accused of posting offensive material against Islam on their website. Qaisar and his wife Amina have three children, whilst Amoon is married to Huma, a teacher at Lahore Cathedral School.

The allegations surfaced in 2011 when they were accused of posting disrespectful material on their website; however, the accused say that their website was not active since 2009.

The two brothers have been held in Jhelum District Jail since their arrest. Additional Session judge Javed Iqbal Bosal informed them of the sentence directly in the prison for security reasons.

CLAAS, an interdenomina-tional organisation dedicated to the victims of religious intolerance, has been representing the accused and now plans to appeal the sentence before the Lahore High Court.

Blasphemy charges tend to trigger violent reaction among Islamic radicals, who interfere with the proper operations of the court system and threaten judges.

A church in Dubai has cut down on its golden jubilee celebrations and donated 10 million rupees (Dh 542,643) to the flood-ravaged south Indian State of Kerala, church officials said. Announcing the details of the valedictory function of the 50th anniversary celebrations of St Thomas Orthodox Cathedral scheduled on Dec. 28, church officials said many programs in the year-long celebrations were called off to divert the money for flood relief. Worshipers, majority of who hail from Kerala, also generously contributed to the church’s management which donated 200,000 rupees to the state Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund and directly helped 130 families affected by the deluge in August.

While many would search online for wallpapers and images of Jesus Christ on special occasions like Christ-mas, this Indian expat has one of the largest collections of Christ’s images on the wall of his Dubai accommodation.

Lorence Maman Neriam-parampil, 45, proudly owns a collection of over 25,000 unique pictures of Jesus. He has displayed all of them in a massive fabric banner measuring 33×8 feet on the wall of his apartment in Al Ghusais.

Hailing from the south Indian State of Kerala, Lorence was born in a family with strong connections with the Catholic Church, with 10 priests and 31 nuns belonging to the family.

“We had the rare privilege of Mother Teresa visiting our ancestral home. My family has built a church as an offering in my name in Eenthumkari village in Kannur district,” Lorence, a Dubai resident for 15 years, told Gulf News.

His cousin, Fr George Alumkal, who has a mammoth collection of crosses and statues and figurines of Jesus and Mother Mary in Kerala, was the inspiration for Lorence to start a collection of Christ’s images. That was when he was just 20.

The St Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi has a message of peace to deliver Pope Francis during his visit to the capital from February 3 to 5. According to the official itinerary of Pope Francis released by The Vatican, he will make a stop at the St Joseph’s Cathedral on February 5 Tuesday before heading to Zayed Sports City. “We are very excited the Pope will make a visit to our church. The church committee has prepared a symbolic message which will be delivered to the Pope during his short but one we know will be a very sweet visit,” said Fr Gandolf Wild OFMCap.

“The theme we have picked for the message is ‘Make me a channel of your peace,’” he added. In an interview to Gulf News at the Cathedral, Fr Gandolf revealed a logo developed by the church to symbolise this message of peace. The logo has been framed and ready to be handed to the Pope.

“We have a dove carrying an olive branch twig. The olive twig is a symbol of peace and so is the dove. The wings of the bird have been done in UAE flag colours signifying the country and its inherent values towards peace. There is a wonderful co-operation between the Vatican, our church and the UAE government to ensure the Pope’s visit is a great success,” he said.

The office of Rodrigo Duterte, the controversial Philippine president, on December 6 was forced to play down remarks he had made about killing bishops, claiming it was only “hyberbole” and not a genuine threat. In a speech to local government officials on December 5, Mr Duterte, who has a running feud with the influential Catholic Church over its criticisms of his drugs war, lashed out again, calling it “the most hypocritical institution” and denouncing priests as “useless.”

“These bishops, kill them, those fools are good for nothing. All they do is criticise,” he said, according to the Rappler news site.

Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesman, later clarified to reporters that the president’s provocative statement was borne out of frustration that his efforts to improve the country were being under-appreciated.

“I think that’s only hyberbole on the part of the president. We should be getting used to this president. He makes certain statements for dramatic effect,” he said.

“The president, just like any ordinary human being, is upset when the good things that he does for this country and not even appreciated by people who are supposed to support it, like the Church,” Mr Panelo added.

However, the country’s Commission on Human Rights slammed his statements against religious leaders as “gravely alarming,” warning that they could embolden violence against government critics, reported the Philippine Star.

“Churches and priests… work directly with communities and families who continue to suffer the many forms of human rights violations allegedly stemming from the government’s drug campaign,” said Jacqueline Ann de Guia, the CHR spokesperson.

“In light of the difficulties and challenges you face in the midst of the current situation in the Middle East, and in light of the bleak migration that threatens your future and the Christian presence [in the region] as a whole, we stand by you,” the Conference of the Catholic Patriarchs of the East wrote in a statement capping their Nov. 26-30 annual meeting in Baghdad.

The meeting ran under the theme “Youth is a sign of hope in the Middle East countries.”

“As we share the same present pain, we look forward to a bright future with your presence, and we assure you that we will work together to provide the foundations of your steadfastness and steadfastness in your land,” the patriarchs said, as reported by Catholic News Service.

The last official census in Iraq in 2003 put the Christian population there at between 1.2 million and 2.1 million but their numbers have since dwindled to about a quarter of a million, according to the American NGO Open Doors.

Cardinal Louis Sako, Patriarch of Chaldean Catholics, drew attention to the danger posed by groups like Islamic State (IS), which routinely target Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities for kidnappings and killings.

Filipino Catholics are not letting relentless attacks by President Rodrigo Duterte on the church and its leaders go unchallenged. An influential lay organization has called on Catholics “to stand up for God and defend our faith in Him … [and] renew our commitment to go and fill our churches.”

The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, the Council of the Laity, said “more than ever, [Catholics] are called upon to live a life worthy of our Christian vocation.”

Julieta Wasan, its president, called on Catholics to proclaim their faith “courageously” not only through words but especially “by the life that we live as faithful followers of Christ.”

The Catholic Theological Society of the Philippines, mean-while, has expressed its “solidarity” with Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, who has been a major target of Duterte’s vitriolic attacks. The president claimed the prelate stole money from church collections and even insinuated that the bishop may even be involved in illegal drugs, making him a target for extrajudicial killing, according to some observers.

About 100 Protestant Christians and seminary students were arrested in Chengdu (Sichuan) between 9 and 10 December. Some of the faithful, later released claimed they were “raped and abused” by the policemen who kept them in custody.

Among those arrested are Pastor Wang Yi and his wife Jiang Rong , taken away by the police; two others, Guo Hai and his wife, were dragged away from home, leaving their two children alone.

Many were arrested at the community headquarters; others were taken from their homes. The arrests continued even today, when Li Yingqiang, who had hidden himself in the first raid and warned the media, was also arrested.

The community has about 500 members and 300 sympathizers. It is not new to arrests and raids. Last June their headquarters was closed because the community had wanted to remember the people killed in the Tiananmen massacre with a memorial service. Some of his members were arrested two months ago because they were evangelizing in the street near the Chengdu station.