Morning Star News, 14 February 2022 (excerpts)

Christian churches, seminaries and other ministries have been shaken by a Dec. 20 government announcement that all religious information on the internet will be forbidden unless organizations obtain government permission – an option that is not open to unregistered house churches.

Only 5 government-approved religious organizations may apply for such permission: The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (representing officially-approved Protestant churches), the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and the official organizations of Buddhism, Islam and Taoism.

The measures follow complaints by President Xi Jinping that prohibitions against using the internet to “advertise” religion were easily eluded and more should be done to make sure that the internet and social networks are not used as tools for “religious propaganda,”  according to religious rights magazine Bitter Winter.

“They can broadcast sermons and lessons but would be checked by the authorities for their ‘Sinicized’ content, making sure they promote socialist values and are not used as proselytization tools,” according to Bitter Winter.

Religious universities and colleges may disseminate content via the internet only to their students; any attempt to spread religious content to minors or “induce minors to believe in religion” will lead to the termination of the license.

“Organizations which will not obtain the license, and individuals, may not disseminate any religious content or even allusions through the internet,” it stated.  “Sharing images or comments on ‘religious ceremonies …’ will be severely prohibited.  Xi Jinping asked for a crackdown on religious content on the internet.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 15 February 2022  (excerpts)

Five United Nations (UN) Special Procedures have signed onto a joint communication to the Cuban government requesting information about the treatment and detention of Cuban Protestant pastor Reverend Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, who participated in nationwide peaceful protests in July 2021. 

The communication also raises concerns regarding alleged threats, torture and other mistreatment that the pastor has suffered at the hands of Cuban State Security.  It calls on the Cuban government to provide information on why the pastor was arrested, the justification for the charges against him and why he was held in incommunicado detention. 

The communication, dated 16 December 2021, gave the Cuban government 60 days to respond to their request, but no response was provided.

Reverend Rosales Fajardo was arrested on 11 July 2021.  He has been imprisoned in Boniato Maximum Security Prison since August 2021 and is facing charges which include ‘disrespect’, ‘assault’, ‘criminal incitement’ and ‘public disorder,’ for which the government has previously indicated that they are seeking to impose a 10-year prison sentence.  He was tried on 20 and 21 December 2021 and informed that he would be sentenced on 5 January 2022, but this has been repeatedly delayed.

Barnabas Fund, 15 February 2022 (excerpts)

Police in Pakistan have registered a murder case against over 150 Muslims following the death of Christian shopkeeper Pervez Masih on 14 February in Lahore.

The incident happened after a group of Muslims was involved in an altercation the previous evening with Pervez at the games shop he ran. The dispute was apparently settled following the intervention of mainly Christian members of the local community.

The next morning, however, the Muslims went to the shop with guns, clubs and iron bars. One of them hit Pervez with a brick, causing a critical head injury. Pervez, in his late 20s, died in hospital.

Large numbers of police officers have since been sent to the area to calm tensions where Christians are a minority.

Police Superintendent Sukhera said, “We engaged elders of the Christian community and defused the tension.”

A team from the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement, which provides legal aid to Christians, is investigating the killing and helping Pervez’s family following the funeral, held on 15 February.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government has “zero tolerance” for those taking the law into their own hands and perpetrators would be dealt with by “the full severity of the law” and action taken against “police who failed in their duty”.

Morning Star News, 28 January 2022  (excerpts)

Suspected Fulani herdsmen killed 4 Christians in Plateau state on January 22, after 18 Christians were slain in another area of the state on January 11, where six of those slain were children.  The latter attack lasted for over two hours undistracted and unchecked.

In the two attacks, eight other Christians were reported wounded, and in one village 24 homes were burned down.

Fulani herdsmen also attacked the area in May, killing seven Christians.

Davidson Malison, a representative of the predominantly Christian Irigwe ethnic group, said, “We have called on security agents and the government on several occasions to grab the political will to end the spate of carnage being unleashed on Christians, yet no concrete and tangible efforts have been made.”

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year.

Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.

In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.