World

Religious leaders and members of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States are growing increasingly concerned over the threat of a dramatic escalation of the nearly decade-old conflict and have stepped up efforts to show support for family members and their Eastern European homeland.

We highlight the spiritual, physical, and legal trials facing minority religious groups in both Russia and Russian-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine. We then urge politicians, pundits, and preachers to recognize the extent of the Russian threat as Putin’s troops amass on Ukraine’s borders.

Egypt’s president on Wednesday swore in the first-ever Coptic Christian to head the country’s highest court. Judge Boulos Fahmy is the 19th person to preside over the Supreme Constitutional Court since it was established in 1969.

Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics, largely under the assumption that the Games would improve civil liberties in the country. There is no such talk now.

Baptists in Western Ukraine have made plans to shelter fellow believers in the case of a Russian invasion at Ukraine’s eastern border, a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate who now leads a Baptist seminary in Ukraine told Baptist Press.

Pope Francis denounced fake news about COVID-19 and vaccines Friday, blasting the “distortion of reality based on fear” but also urging that people who believe such lies are helped to understand true scientific facts.

In a recent speech the pope revived his criticism of rich countries that force their values on poorer nations, erasing their local cultures and traditions. Francis’s thinking, experts say, can be traced back to his days in Argentina, where, as Jorge Bergoglio, he led the Archdiocese of Bueno Aires.

Afghanistan is the most dangerous country for Christians, according to an annual list put together by the Christian watchdog group Open Doors. It is the first time in two decades that North Korea has not been at the top of the list. Open Doors said the Taliban’s takeover of the Afghan government in mid-August forced many Afghan Christians — most of whom are converts from Islam — to go into hiding.

Preemptive Love, a nonprofit long championed by Christian influencers and celebrities for its work in Iraq and elsewhere, plans to cut ties with its founders after former employees complained of an abusive work environment and misleading fundraising practices.

Over the past 20 years, Argentine prison authorities have encouraged, to one extent or another, the creation of units effectively run by evangelical inmates — sometimes granting them a few extra special privileges, such as more time in fresh air.