World

The U.S. State Department has added Nigeria to its list of countries deemed to have the most egregious violations of religious freedom. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom hailed the State Department’s decisions.

Pope Francis says the Christmas season provides reason for hope amid the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic. During his Sunday blessing, Francis noted that the Vatican’s Christmas tree had gone up last week in St. Peter’s Square, and that work is underway to build the life-size Nativity scene next to it.

Only a few dozen people attended the lighting of the Christmas tree in the biblical city of Bethlehem on Saturday (Dec. 5), as coronavirus restrictions scaled back the annual event that is normally attended by thousands.

The coronavirus has cast a pall over Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, all but shutting down the biblical town revered as Jesus’s birthplace at the height of the normally cheery holiday season.

As a church planter and missionary in Croatia, Eric Maroney looks for new strategies to share the Gospel. When a Brazilian ministry partner pitched the idea of a radio ministry, Maroney saw it as a part of a larger strategy to spread the Gospel and connect seekers with local congregations. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry has recommended strict limits on Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Celebrations in the biblical town revered by Christians as Jesus’s birthplace are usually attended by thousands of people from around the world.

A German government official warned Tuesday (Nov. 24) that anti-Semitism is emerging as a common position among people protesting pandemic lockdown measures who otherwise come from widely differing political backgrounds.

As Honduras also grapples with the economic impacts of COVID-19, the Association for a More Just Society expects that the aftermath of the storms will send residents further into poverty.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up a trip to Israel on Friday (Nov. 20) with a visit to a museum in Jerusalem that honors Christian Zionists and was founded by a prominent evangelical adviser to the Trump administration. 

German Protestants in the free church tradition — including Baptists — issued a statement urging a balance of religious freedoms and health needs during the pandemic, and also called on Christians to reject conspiracy theories sparking misinformation and distrust.