Weekly Bulletin on the Persecution
of Christians Worldwide
7 July 2026
The Universal Christian Church of the New Jerusalem publishes a weekly roundup of the most significant events related to the persecution of Christians who, in every corner of the world, bring comfort to the hearts of the Redeemer and of the Coredemptrix through the balm of their daily devotion.
India
On 22 June, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued two notifications enacting the tenth amendment to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) rules. This amendment strictly prohibits non-governmental organisations from using foreign funds for religious conversion activities. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has described the new provisions as dangerous and alarming, denouncing their discriminatory nature. Behind the ostensibly neutral formula of countering “proselytism,” the measure specifically targets Christian charitable and welfare organisations, which have long been subject to licence suspensions and revocations, and now places hospitals, schools, and charitable works for the poorest at risk.
Indonesia
On 24 June, a group of Muslims stormed a Christian house of prayer in the Hegarmanah Indah residential complex, located in the Bandung Regency, West Java, assaulting community members and threatening to burn the building down in an attempt to force its immediate closure. The place of worship had been established on a land donated specifically for prayer by a believer. West Java remains the province within the archipelago with the highest frequency of religious freedom violations targeting Christian minorities.
Iran
On Sunday 28 June, six Ministry of Intelligence agents raided St Peter’s Evangelical Church in Tehran and remained inside for a long time. The historic church has been confiscated, and approximately twenty Armenian and Assyrian families living on the premises have been ordered to vacate the entire complex within two weeks. The World Council of Churches has spoken out against this latest dispossession targeting the country’s ancient Christian communities.
Furthermore, on 3 July, an appeals court upheld the sentences imposed on five Christians without even holding a hearing. Among them is Joseph Shahbazian, the Armenian-Iranian evangelical pastor. They were handed down for entirely routine Christian activities such as praying, baptising, celebrating communion and observing Christmas, and total more than seventy-one years in prison. The authorities also confiscated their personal belongings, including their Bibles.
Nigeria
On the night of 25 June, Fulani raiders attacked the Christian villages of Umaso and Unguwa-Uku in the Kufana Ward of Kajuru county, Kaduna state, opening fire on homes while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” Luka Aminizeh, aged twenty-three, and Manasseh Mathew, aged twenty-five, were killed in the assault. Three others were wounded and seven people, including an entire family, were abducted.
On 29 June, while national examinations were underway, ISWAP militants raided the Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, a historic Christian stronghold in the Askira/Uba area of Borno State. Two teachers were killed, and approximately forty people were abducted.
Following the release of the remaining hostages on 30 June, the Archdiocese of Kaduna confirmed the deaths of catechist Victor Paul and five other Christians from the Kutaho and Kugir communities. They had been abducted on 9 February 2026. Victor Paul died in captivity, having been broken by torture, untreated illness and starvation.
Pakistan
Amir Peter, a sixty-one-year-old Catholic suffering from advanced dementia and the brother of Capuchin priest Fr Henry Paul, died in Camp Jail, Lahore, on 1 July.
He had been imprisoned for almost a year following a false accusation of blasphemy. Despite being declared medically unfit to stand trial, he was denied the treatment he desperately needed and died abandoned in prison. His tragic case once again exposes the profound injustice of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which continue to victimise the weakest and most vulnerable members of the country’s Christian community.
Central African Republic
On 29 June, Father Crépin Martial Monga, the vicar of St John the Baptist parish in Zémio, in the Diocese of Bangassou, was killed in an ambush on the road leading to the parish residence. The priest was struck in the head and died instantly, while a female parishioner accompanying him was wounded in the neck. The previous day, as President of the local Peace Committee, he had baptised 175 people, most of whom were displaced. The Bishop of Bangassou has suggested that the priest was eliminated precisely to halt the path of reconciliation of which he was an untiring architect.
On the third day of the Triduum marking the return of Maria Giuseppina Norcia to the Heart of the Father, and during this season of Marian ascent, the Church entrusts all her persecuted children for their fidelity to the Gospel, to the Heart of the Universal Mother. The same words that the Saviour said to the daughter of Jairus, calling her back to Life — “Talitha koum” (Mk 5:41)— are the words that the Holy Mother Church addresses today to these devout children who, through their faithfulness, have embraced Eternal Life.
“Do not be afraid; only have faith”
(Mk 5:36)