Tsunami waves crashed across the shore of the Pacific nation of Tonga after the eruption of a huge undersea volcano Saturday, causing “significant” damage in the capital city of Nuku’alofa and bringing the entire U.S. West coast under a tsunami advisory.
A security agency in Nigeria has ordered a prominent Catholic bishop to appear for questioning over his remarks that the country’s government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, has failed to check kidnappings and persecution of Christians, according to media reports.
Islamic extremists are gaining ground in Africa’s Sahel region and Afghanistan, which are set to become hotspots for Christian persecution in 2022, religious freedom charity Release International warns in a report, which says India and North Korea are also “countries of growing concern.”
A magistrate’s court in central England has thrown out a case against a female Christian pastor whom police had fined $21,000 for holding a church gathering for the homeless in a car park during the CVID-19 lockdown.
Archaeologists say a second synagogue dating back to the Second Temple period has been discovered in what is believed to have been the birthplace of Mary Magdalene of the Bible and is "changing our understanding of Jewish life in this period."
Over 500 church leaders from across the UK have written to the government to say they are prepared to face criminal charges if a conversion therapy ban is introduced.
The executive branch of the European Union has withdrawn its “guidelines for inclusive communication,” which suggested that European Commission officials “update” the language they use by replacing the word “Christmas” with “holiday times" and avoiding “gendered” words.
The United States has raised “serious concern” over a resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly, which is part of what is known as the “Palestinian Package” and refers to Judaism’s most holy site, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the first and second Jewish Temples once stood, by only its Muslim name, al-Haram al-Sharif.
A court in Nepal has sentenced a pastor to two years in prison under the country’s harsh anti-conversion law for merely saying that prayers can heal COVID-19, according to reports.
An 11-year-old girl in Israel found a rare silver coin from the first century, with the inscription “Holy Jerusalem,” while volunteering for an archaeological project, Israel Antiquities Authority has announced.
The wife of a California missionary detained in Niger over five years ago has spoken out publicly for the first time, expressing frustrations with the U.S. government and insisting that now is the best opportunity to secure her husband’s release.
Director Alejandro Monteverde, best known for “Sound of Freedom,” is bringing the Nativity to the big screen this Christmas season with “Zero A.D.: The Birth of Christ,” a biblical epic highlighting the courage and faith behind the birth of Jesus. Distributed by Angel Studios, the drama-thriller opens in theaters Dec. 11 and depicts Mary and Joseph’s struggle to protect the newborn Messiah amid political turmoil.
The Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast has chosen the Rev. Paul Donison as its next bishop, ending months of uncertainty following an inconclusive election in May. The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) announced Wednesday that the Texas-based diocese elected Donison on Nov. 7.
Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice-elect Maggie Ellis has announced plans to overturn a rule protecting judges who decline to officiate same-sex weddings because of their religious beliefs.
A law that came into effect this year gives the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) increased powers to restrict religious practice even as several Christians remain imprisoned for carrying out their ministries, according to an advocacy group’s new report. In the past year freedom of religion in China has deteriorated with the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress coming into effect on July1.
Several pastors affiliated with the Calvary Chapel movement have publicly criticized Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa’s affirmation of women serving as pastors, following an announcement by Char Brodersen at the church that once served as the movement’s flagship congregation. The Calvary Chapel Association (CCA), through its Heartland Regional Team, reaffirmed its opposition to appointing women as pastors or elders.