Ethics · Society · Theology · Mission · Sociology of Religions
In December 2015, three Christians in the Sudan were arrested – a local pastor, one of his co-workers, and one Czech aid worker. The charges did not directly have to do with religion. Rather, they officially had to do with criminal actions against the state which could have promoted revolution. Nevertheless, what developed were worldwide protests.
Together with members of the Royal Ghassanid family from Lebanon and Jordan including Prince Gharios and Sheikh El Chemor, which ruled Lebanon until the 18th century, I had the privilege to discuss religious freedom with the President of Lebanon.
His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II was invited to give a talk in a discussion panel on “Protecting Freedom of Belief and Christian Minorities in Zones of Conflict.”
For years I have criticized the number of 100,000 or 90,000 Christians who are allegedly killed every year on account of their faith. I have, for instance, repeatedly done so in interviews with the BBC.
According to the Evangelical theologian and sociologist Thomas Schirrmacher, Associated Secretary General of World Evangelical Alliance, issues facing Christianity around the world have increased and include more and more countries and various circumstances. At the same time, Jesus’ church is growing to an extent never before known, and in some regions such as Iran or China it is seemingly growing almost on its own.
Our IGFM letter on the 25th anniversary of the Patriarch's office
Thomas Schirrmacher thanking the Great Imam of Lahore, Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad, leading the second largest mosque in the world with up to 100.000 visitors on Fridays, that he several times stoped a mob, that want to burn Christian quarters