Persecution

ST. PAUL, Minn., (BP) – U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says she has spoken to a Minnesota pastor following a disruption by protestors during Cities Church’s morning worship service Jan. 18.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (BP) – Violence against Christians is at an all-time high in 15 nations including Nigeria and Syria, Open Doors International said Jan. 14 in releasing its annual World Watch List of the 50 most dangerous countries for believers.

WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. government should use “peaceful methods” to fight religious persecution in Nigeria, a northeast Nigerian minister and humanitarian said in testimony before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in Washington Jan. 13.

NEW YORK (BP) – A Chinese dissident whose filming provided documentation of detention camps for Uyghurs, a Muslim people group in northwest China, appeared before an upstate New York judge yesterday (Jan. 12) for possible deportation to his home country.

TEHRAN, Iran (BP) – Christians have been shot as police respond to protests across Iran, a U.S.-based evangelist told Baptist Press, with Southern Baptists requesting prayer for persecuted Christians and others across the nation.

NASHVILLE (BP) – American Christians keeping track of recent protests throughout Iran should continue to pray for an evangelical Church with a bigger footprint than most may imagine, said a Southern Baptist seminary professor.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (BP) – Nigeria, Rwanda, China, Mozambique and Mexico were the most dangerous countries for Christians from 2023-2025 in five distinct categories of persecution, Global Christian Relief (GCR) said in its second annual Red List.

NIGER STATE, Nigeria (BP) – Militants have killed at least 58 individuals in Christian villages in northeastern and northcentral Nigeria since Christmas, and kidnapped others from a Catholic boarding school, according to numerous reports.

NASHVILLE (BP) – The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission expressed hope that religious persecution will lessen in Nigeria. Pres. Donald Trump ordered Christmas Day air strikes aimed at terrorist groups that had “been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.

KADUNA, Nigeria (BP) – Nigerian Christian leaders verified Dec. 16 that Christians there are persecuted for their faith, refuting a growing international narrative that violence in the deadliest country for Christians is not religion-based.