Persecution

Under pressure from the central government, local Chinese officials from Fushan city secretly offered to pay $219,000 (1.5 million yen) in damages to the megachurch it leveled last week.

On Saturday night, security officials cornered six Fushan church leaders and brought them to a secret meeting place to negotiate with 20 government officials, according to ChinaAid Association.

The security officials expressed a desire to make amends with the church leaders after the central government placed pressure on them. The central government reportedly fears that if the incident is made widely known then it will mar the 60th anniversary celebrations of National Day on Oct. 1. more >>

Thirteen Pakistani Muslims accused of anti-Christian attacks in the eastern city of Gojra were granted bail, reported a Christian human rights group.

Included in the group were radical clerics who incited a mob attack that resulted in the deaths of 11 followers of Christ and the burning of over 40 believers’ homes in Gojra, noted International Christian Concern.

Jonathan Racho, ICC’s regional manager for Africa and the Middle East, said the group condemns the decision by the Lahore High Court to release those responsible for the “carnage” in the Christian town where about 2,000 families reside. more >>

The daughter of a Coptic man was recently kidnapped in Egypt to force her father to agree to a “reconciliation” session with the families of the men who murdered her brother, reported a Coptic advocacy group.

Amal Estephanos, 19, was reportedly abducted in broad daylight on Sept. 12 by a Muslim man named Ibrahim Ali Negan, Free Copts reported. The abduction, the Coptic father said, was witnessed by several people.

“With this abduction, they want to humiliate me, and force me to cave into their reconciliation efforts,” he told the persecution news agency. But Estephanos has refused to give in. more >>

Pressure on religious leaders in Cuba has increased significantly over the past year, according to a new report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Comprehensive evidence within the document details a sharp rise in religious liberty violations in the country, especially against the independent churches, noted the human rights watchdog.

Independent church leaders from the fast growing Apostolic Movement have been particularly targeted for harassment, detentions and court summons by the government, according to the report. more >>

A megachurch in eastern China was recently demolished by reportedly 400 people in police suits, a human rights group reported Tuesday.

Before dawn last Sunday, the mob raided the “Good News Cloth Shoes Factory,” which also serves as the site for the Fushan Church. Men tore at the building’s foundation with shovels as bulldozers worked to level other buildings on the site, according to ChinaAid Association.

Meanwhile, dozens of church members sleeping at the construction site of the new church building were suddenly attacked with bricks and other objects. Several members were severely injured and were sent to the emergency room, and some members were unconscious. more >>