Four years ago, the Pentecost Sunday service at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Nigeria, was suddenly interrupted by gunshots and explosions. As worshippers fled the building, they were confronted by armed attackers. By the time the situation was brought under control, at least 40 congregants had been killed and dozens more injured. (Additional details about this devastating incident are available here.)
On November 18th, Communist authorities formally arrested 18 church leaders (pastors and other staff members) of the Beijing Zion Church, charging them with "illegally using information networks." These charges were part of the officials' ongoing campaign to target the church and its various campuses. (Learn more about these arrests by reviewing this previously posted report.)
For more than 1,400 years, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has coexisted with Muslim communities in a unique truce with only occasional tension between them. (This long-standing relationship traces back to the year 615, when the King of Aksum granted asylum to a group of early Muslims.) Any subsequent religious opposition in Ethiopia has primarily been between adherents of one of these two religions and those belonging to other groups, including evangelical Christians. In recent months, however, there has been a troubling shift. Militant Islamic groups have reportedly begun targeting Orthodox Christian communities, particularly in areas of the country that are now primarily Muslim.
