RELIGION HEADLINES SAT 8-23-25

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(SRN NEWS)  Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Romania where the Jewish population was devastated by the Holocaust and decades of Communist rule.  Alexander Florian of the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania says “Anti-Semitism is exploding on social media, Facebook, TikTok and Telegram, though less visible in traditional mass media. The COVID pandemic amplified conspiracy theories dating back to the 19th century.”  Last fall there was a public ceremony to commemorate a Romanian fascist leader.  Before World War Two there were 800,000 Jews living in Romania — today there are just 2,500. 

(  )  It is very difficult to build a church in mostly-Muslim Indonesia.  A congregation in East Java had a construction project underway but has now been shut down by the government, despite having previously obtained all necessary permission.  This has been a long fight for the GKJW Church, which first obtained the land for the building in 1995 through a land grant.  The congregation has been fighting ever since to get a building put up.  Indonesia boasts the largest Muslim population on earth and while violence against Christians is not common, there is very little religious freedom.  Muslims make up 87 percent of the population. 

(  )  Being a Christian in Somalia can cost you your life, but ministries based in the West are doing what they can to sustain secret believers.  International Christian Concern is increasing its connection with such people in Somalia, reporting that underground church leaders in Mogadishu “confirm the existence of more than 1,500 hidden believers, many of whom are converts from Islam.  Conversion is viewed as an act of betrayal by both militant groups and local communities, forcing believers to abandon their homes, families, and identities.”  ICC has established a network of safe houses for Christians in Somalia. 

(  )  Things are getting worse for Afghanistan’s tiny community of Christians.  According to a report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the government’s new Islamic morality law is making it hard for believers to go about their daily lives.  The law is a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that freedom of religious belief is a fundamental right and includes expressing one’s faith in public.  The USCIRF is recommending that the State Department designate Afghanistan as a Country of Particular Concern, for its ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations.