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Russian Anti-Missionary Law Mainly Hampers Christians

Concerns among Russian Christians that the government’s antiterrorism legislation, adopted last year, would take away their religious freedom have been proven true. The Yarovaya Laws, named for the lawmaker who sponsored them, ban proselytizing, preaching, and praying outside recognized religious institutions. Forum 18 counted 186 cases filed since enforcement began, with roughly half the charges against various Christian denominations and individuals or Christian-affiliated organizations. Officials later dismissed only about 20 percent of the cases. Punishments ranged from fines and confiscation of materials to orders for deportation.

Since July 2016, authorities have prosecuted Christian churches and individuals for announcing an upcoming service, conducting home prayer meetings, distributing religious calendars, failure to fully display a church name, and organizing a concert. In one of the first cases against a Christian, officials in Noyabrsk charged Baptist Union Pastor Aleksei Teleus for allowing children to play on the playground outside his church, where they might overhear sermons and prayers or gain access to religious literature. Officials called it an “unsanctioned children’s camp” and fined the pastor 5,000 roubles (about $85).

Independent Baptist missionary Don Ossewaarde became the first American prosecuted under the law for holding a worship service in his home. Courts up to and including Russia’s Constitutional Court, the country’s highest, ruled against his multiple appeals. Authorities also targeted members of other religions, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hare Krishnas, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. In the most extreme example of persecution under the law, Russian officials labeled Jehovah’s Witnesses “extremists,” liquidated their property, and banned them entirely. The law’s vagueness has caused widespread confusion, attorney Mikhail Frolov told Forum 18. “Believers don’t understand what is permitted and what is forbidden,” he said. “It is possible to sentence people under this for any religious activity.”

 

Two Churches Reopen in Minya with Full Support of Local Community

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on Sunday, September 10, local authorities in Egypt's Minya Governorate reopened St. Mary and St. Michael Coptic Orthodox Church in Ezbat Al-Forn and St. Paula Coptic Orthodox Church in Kidwan village. Security authorities routinely close Egypt's churches under the pretext that their existence would spark community controversy. However, the local Muslim community united with the Christian community in advocating for the reopening of Minya's closed churches, leading President al-Sisi to recommend that the security authorities reopen the two churches. 

Dahi Abdul Salam, the Muslim mayor of Ezbat Al-Forn, told ICC, "There was no form of objection from the beginning by the village Muslims for our Coptic brothers to pray in their church. We formed a delegation of Muslims from the village; we went to the security leaders and leaders of the intelligence sector where we affirmed our appreciation for the need of our Coptic brothers in the village for a place to pray. We (Muslims) pray anywhere and see that it is the right of our brothers Copts to pray as well."

The reopening of the St. Mary and St. Michael Coptic Orthodox Church occurred 20 days after security officials forced its doors to close. Minya police were present during the Holy Mass and some Muslims attended to offer congratulations on the reopening of the church. The church's priest, Father Paula Bebawy, expressed his thanks for the neighboring Muslims' support. "We are grateful to them because they showed Egyptian citizenship effectively. Every prayer held in the church is good for Egypt and for all Egyptians. We pray in the Mass that Egypt may be blessed. And we pray for our leaders, soldiers, and our borders." Gratitude was further offered in a statement offered by the Diocese of Minya and Abu Qurqas who specifically thanked President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for his response to their pleas and the promise of officials to speedily reopen the rest of Minya's closed churches. The statement also echoed the thankfulness of local Christians for the assistance from their Muslim neighbors.

Nady, a local Christian resident of Ezbat Al-Forn, told ICC, "We thank God who listened to our prayers and suffering by moving the hearts of the officials. We thank President al-Sisi for his response to our appeal and for ordering the officials in Minya to reopen our church. We also thank Anba Macarius, the General Bishop of Minya, for standing with us and defending our right since the beginning of the crisis until now. And we thank our Muslim brothers in the village for standing with us and for their genuine love which was showed to us during the crisis." Another resident added, "We are very happy that our church has been reopened and we can now freely pray there at any time."

Claire Evans, ICC's Regional Manager, added,"Reopening these two churches in Minya is a positive step forward in allowing Egypt's Christians the opportunity to exercise their right to worship and practice their faith. However, this process further demonstrates how Egypt's security forces will close a church, citing local objections even when none are present. The opportunity to peacefully practice one's religious faith is a right which should not be denied. The Egyptian government should quickly make good on its promise to open the churches which remain closed and take steps that would prevent future closures based on false allegations."

 

Pakistani Christian Teen Beaten to Death by Muslim Classmates

A Pakistani Christian boy was taunted and beaten to death by some of his Muslim classmates, reports The Christian Post. Seventeen-year-old Sharoon Masih faced discrimination, ridicule, and ultimately physical violence which led to his death. Sharoon was singled out by his fellow students because of his Christian faith. The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) reports on what Sharoon endured: "On his first-day, Sharoon was slapped and told to stand outside the class for an entire day for not wearing the school uniform. His parents say he didn't wear the uniform because they simply didn't have the money to buy it.” 

Sharoon was also called a “filthy Christian,” a “demon,” and a “chura,” which is a derogatory word for Christians in Pakistan. Sharoon’s classmates also refused to allow him any access to water while he was at school. Then, one day, they beat him unconscious, and he died. "None of the school staff took Sharoon to the hospital [but] some pupils took his dead body some hours later,” reported the BPCA. A candlelight vigil will be held for Sharoon in New South Wales, Australia. The vigil will also raise awareness of Christian persecution in Pakistan. Sharoon’s mother said he was “a kind-hearted, hard-working and affable boy.”

 

Mob Violence Terrorizes Small Christian Village in Egypt

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on September 14, a Muslim mob in the village of Tawa in Minya attacked the local Coptic Christian community. Homes, businesses, and cars were destroyed and three Copts suffered minor injuries. These attacks were in retaliation against a Facebook post which was widely shared among Christians. The author, a 22-year-old Christian resident of Tawa named Bassem, had written the post in May following the deadly attack by Islamic extremists against a caravan of Coptic Christians traveling to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor.

Bassem wrote on May 27: "Are we (Copts) Egyptians not from Egypt? No matter that you try to hurt us, one day all your ways will fail. Do you think that I cry? Never! I don't cry because I trust in Jesus very much, I prostrate to him and he loves me. He never leaves me one day. When you demolish the homes of his children, you attack himself. I ask Jesus to touch your heart and change you. Our Lord knows and see what is happening to us. Continue and increase your terrorism, but I'm not afraid because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God."

At the end of the post, Bassem shared photos of Salafi Sheikhs whom he believed bore responsibility for inciting extremist violence against Christians. Bassem deleted the post the next day, on May 28, but not before it had spread across social media. It wasn't until four months later that a Muslim villager in Tawa saw the post on the Facebook page of Bassem's friend, Mena. The post then spread among some of the Muslim villagers, who considered the post an insult to Islam. Essam, a Christian resident in Tawa and an eyewitness to the mob's violence, told ICC, "Many Muslims gathered and the mob began to attack Christian homes and shops. They were pelting stones at the homes while shouting, 'Allah Akbar.' They hurled bricks and stones at Mar Girgis (St. George) Coptic Orthodox Church despite the presence of some security guards who had been assigned to guard the church, but the guards couldn't confront the huge number of the mob. The police then arrived in the village, controlled the situation, and arrested Muslim villagers. The security forces have now deployed across the streets of the village." On September 15, the governor of Mina and the security director toured the village while accompanied by a number of parliamentarians as well as Islamic and Christian clerics. The same day, the prosecution detained 19 Muslims pending an investigation into the violence. The prosecution also ordered the arrest of Bassem and Mena, charging them with insulting Islamic figures and inciting sectarian strife. Both Christian men have fled the village.

Claire Evans, ICC's Regional Manager, said, "Egypt's Coptic Christian community has greatly suffered at the hands of Islamic extremists. In Tawa, Christian men, women, and children were once again terrorized by those who have no desire for peace. This violence is unacceptable. We are relieved to learn that Bassem and Mena were not injured by the mob, but alarmed about the prosecution's decision to charge them although they were clearly targets of the mob's violence. We pray for their safety and that of their fellow villagers. The authorities need to be more intentional in protecting the lives and property of Egypt's Christians."

 

Church vandalised and cross desecrated in Faridabad

A Church was completely vandalized and a cross desecrated by a mob of Hindu extremists earlier this month in the Indian state of Haryana. Pastor KG Matthews, 63, was conducting a morning service in one of the two churches he is responsible for in the Rehoboth Fellowship Church in the Nehru colony of Faridabad, when he received news of the attack on Sunday 3 September. On reaching his church he found it badly damaged.

He said, “About 40 members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS – a Hindu right-wing organization] broke into my Church, which was locked and damaged the entire property of the Church including chairs, tables, benches, musical instruments besides breaking the main door and the door of another room inside the Church. “They broke the cross made from cement which was engraved above the door post of the Church and applied cow-dung on the desecrated cross”, said Pastor K. G. Mathew in an interview with Global Christian News.

Cow-dung on the desecrated Cross of the Rehoboth Fellowship Church

“As I was conducting service elsewhere, nobody was in this Church at the time of the attack thus no one got injured,” said Pastor Mathews. Mathews was born in the southern Indian state of Kerala and moved to North India 42 years ago and since then has been ministering in the locality. He has been running this Church for the past 15 years. “I have been running a school for the underprivileged children of drug addicts who live in the surrounding slums,” said Mathew. Mathew reached the police post to complain about the attack, where he found another Pastor Abraham Thomas, who was brought in by the RSS mob. “I came to know in the police station that the same Hindu mob had also vandalised my Church. The police initially were not willing to hear my complaint, they heard the allegation levied on us by the Hindu extremists and then came to visit my Church. After the police, themselves witnessed the wanton destruction caused by the extremists, they realised the truth in my statements,” said Mathews. The Police offered police-protection to the Rehoboth Fellowship Church for their Sunday services and “two constables were sent to guard my Church during the worship service last Sunday (10 Sep)”. No action has been reported to have taken place against the Hindu extremists.

The CBCI also expressed its gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mrs. Sushma Swaraj for “persistently and perseveringly working to obtain the release of Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil.”

Intervention by the Oman Government helped secure the release of Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil. A statement released by the Oman News Agency said, “In response to the Royal Orders of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and as per a request from the Vatican to assist in the rescuing of a Vatican employee, the concerned authorities in the Sultanate, in coordination with the Yemeni authorities, have managed to find him.” Later another version of the statement was released online which omitted the words “as per the request of the Vatican” and referred to Fr Tom as a “Vatican priest” and not a “Vatican employee”.

The Government of Oman claimed that Fr. Tom’s release had been secured with “Omani help” and said that “Tom Uzhunnalil, a Vatican priest expressed thanks to God Almighty and appreciation to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. He also thanked his brothers and sisters and all relatives and friends who called on God for safety and release.” Meanwhile Mrs Sushma Swaraj on 13 September 2017 at around 4 pm IST announced from her Twitter account that Fr. Tom was indeed in Vatican and had spoken to her. She wrote in a three-part tweet, “Fr Tom has spoken to me from Vatican. He profusely thanked the Government of India especially the Prime Minister for efforts to rescue him. He also conveyed his thanks to the Governments and people who helped in his rescue mission. He has also conveyed his thanks to the people of India for their concern and prayers for his release.”