Two recent reports and a comment from the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) offer valuable insights into the ongoing kidnappings and massacres in northern Nigeria. While the topic has, thankfully, begun to attract media coverage, articles often lack clarity…
India was ranked 11th on Open Doors’ World Watch List 2024, an “annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.” That and the fact that we have a large South Asian population in the Metro…
Pacific Theatre’s new play isn’t based in Vancouver, but many of the themes will resonate here. The Canadian premiere of God Said This by Leah Nanako Winkler begins this Friday (June 2). Here is the outline: Sisters Hiro and Sophie…
Islamophobia is a major problem in Canada. Or is it? Depends who you ask. A March 13 study by the Angus Reid Institute is titled ‘Islamophobia in Canada: Four mindsets indicate negativity is nationwide, most intense in Quebec.’ British Columbians…
For the past 30 years the religious liberty organization Open Doors has published its annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. The 2023 World Watch List released January 17 includes several key findings: Persecution…
Two recent events in Nigeria have horrified the Christian community around the world, and even received some attention in the secular press. A young student, Deborah Yakubu, was stoned to death by a mob in northwestern Nigeria May 12 by…
The global coronavirus pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated underlying systemic discrimination, un-equal treatment and even persecution experienced by at least 340 million Christians around the world. That’s the conclusion of the 2021 World Watch List, the latest annual survey of…
Open Doors has just released its annual World Watch List, which surveys “the 50 countries where it’s most dangerous to follow Jesus.” The 68-page document, which can be downloaded for free, devotes a page to each of the 50 nations.…
In its 2019 World Watch List, Open Doors International reports that 11 countries score highly enough to fit into the ‘extreme’ category for the level of persecution of Christians. It was the same last year, but five years ago, only North Korea was in that category.…
When Pope Francis visited Myanmar (Burma) earlier this week, most of the world’s attention was focused on whether he would refer to the nation’s persecution of its Rohingya people. He did not, as the CBC’s National Today pointed out November…