Persecution

“The national-security law in Hong Kong now prohibits secession, sedition, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. Those terms are so broadly defined that they can be used arbitrarily to prohibit any form of dissent. What worries religious minorities, and Catholics and other Christians in particular, are the law’s collusion and subversion and clauses.” - N.Review

“So far in 2020, the US has resettled fewer than 950 Christians from the 50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian, according to Open Doors’s annual World Watch List. At this rate, the US will receive 90-percent fewer Christian refugees this year than five years ago.” - CToday

According to Voice of the Martyrs: “In Shandong Province, officials issued guidance forbidding online preaching, a vital way for churches to reach congregants amid both persecution and the spread of the virus” - Fox

“Junaid Hafeez, a university lecturer in Pakistan, had been imprisoned for six years when he was sentenced to death in December 2019. The charge: blasphemy, specifically insulting Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.” - The Conversation

“The author of that booklet,which sets forth the Biblical teachings about sexuality, is also under investigation for the crime of ‘agitation against an ethnic group,’ a statute which added “sexual orientation” to the list of protected classes. The maximum punishment is two years in prison.” - Gene Veith

“Most U.S. adults know what the Holocaust was and approximately when it happened, but fewer than half can correctly answer multiple-choice questions about the number of Jews who were murdered or the way Adolf Hitler came to power” - Pew

“Terrorists killed Lawan Andimi yesterday (Jan. 20), according to Today.NG, which described Andimi as a Michika pastor who led a local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).” - BPNews

“Its Religious Affairs Office has announced that not only must all religious organizations get state approval for any activity they undertake. They are also expected to ‘spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party.’” - Acton

“China will enforce new restrictions on religious groups, organizations, meetings, and other related events starting on February 1.” - Catholic Herald

“Major news outlets are reporting that a secretive court in China has sentenced detained Christian pastor Wang Yi to 9 years in prison for inciting subversion of the government. Yi is one of the country’s most famous Christian leaders who founded and leads a large, well-known house church in the country.” - RNS