Kidnapped Christian back with her family after 10 years

A fifteen year old Christian girl by the name Nadia Bibi was kidnapped in 2001 and forced to marry a Muslim man, Maqsood Ahmed, who beat her and tried to have her convert her parents to Islam.  Thanks be to God, Nadia is now home with her Christian family, but her story is not unique in Pakistan.

After 10 years in December 2011, Nadia found the strength to escape, returning home to her parents. However Maqsood returned with a group of armed men, threatening to kill and kidnap Nadia’s younger sister. The family then fled and turned to the NGO CLAAS (Center for Legal Aid Assistence and Settlement) that protects Pakistani Christians. CLAAS has arranged to host Nadia and her sister in a hidden place, starting a new criminal case against Maqsood.

Commenting on the ten years in which she was forcibly separated from her family, Nadia said:

Maqsood made my life miserable. I was afraid of being killed because Maqsood knew I was not happy with him. I felt totally helpless and I was very confused. Maqsood is inhumane, he has ruined my life. Now I have regained hope and even faith.

The Church Persecuted in 2011

Writing for The Catholic Thing, George J. Marlin summarized the most serious acts of anti-Christian violence that occured throughout the world in 2011.  Be sure to read it.

Sisters discriminated against by Muslims in Bosnia

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, Bosnian Sister Ivanka Mihaljevic, the Provincial Superior of hte Franciscan Sisters of Christ the King, spoke of an increasing discrimination and verbal abuse of religious women in Bosnia.

Due to increasing fears and verbal abuse from Muslims who are imigrating from Saudi Arabia and with whom the Sisters must conduct business, they now only leave their convents in groups of at least two.

Sister Mihaljevic said:

A recent example occurred when one of the Sisters wanted to buy bread.

“Although the loaves were in plain sight, the proprietor claimed he was out of bread,” Sister Ivanka said. “But he simply did not want to sell it to a Catholic nun.”

“Again and again, we are made to feel unwelcome, even though this is our home.”

By contrast, Sister Ivanka emphasized, native Bosnian Muslims are “peaceable,” and are often ashamed of the behavior of their extremist co-religionists who are migrating to the country.

Christians fearful after Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis gain 73% of seats

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis have won 73% of the seats in the lower house of the Egyptian parliament, which has many of the Christians yet remaining in Egypt scared.

Speaking for the Egyptian Catholic Church, Father Rafik Greiche said, "The victory of Islamist parties scares Christians but expresses the will of the Egyptian people."

According to Father Greiche, the victors have said "Christians and religious minorities would have the same rights as Muslim citizens. It is therefore premature to made good or bad predictions."  We will see.

Kidnappers demand $185,000 for release of two priests

The two priests recently kidnapped in Sudan are being held in the border town of Wadakona.  The kidnappers have now demanded 500,000 Sudanese pounds, the equivalent of 185,000 USD.

Two churches bombed in Nigeria

The Evangelical Church of West Africa and Our Lady of St. Lauretto Catholic Church in Fadaman Mada in the state of Bauchi were bombed Monday morning about 5:00 a.m.  No one was injured and little damage was done to the buildings.

Boko Haram kills at least 215 in latest attack in Nigeria, 35,000 flee

The Islamic group Boko Haram orchestrated a series of attacks in the Nigerian city of Kano that have killed at least 215 people:

At least a dozen explosions and gunfire rang out around the city, the second largest in the country, located in the Muslim north: attackers targeted police stations, immigration offices, the headquarters of the secret services, but also homes. The chaos led police to declare a curfew for the more than 10 million inhabitants.

Boko Haram ordered Christians to leave the north of Nigeria.

Following the imposition of a curfew, security in the city has been heightened:

"The police were on a stop-and-search today and in two of the checkpoints, the Boko Haram members on sighting the checkpoints abandoned their vehicles and ran," a high-level police officer told Reuters, asking not to be named.

"The vehicles were later checked and the cars were loaded with explosives. Two brand new Hilux open pick-up vans were also found packed with explosives in the Bompai area of Kano."

We can be thankful more people were not killed.

His Excellency the Most Reverend John Namazi Niyiring, Bishop of Kano, told the Agenzia Fides the city is still in shock:

The attackers seemed well trained and wore camouflage uniforms like those used by the Mobile Police Force. This misled some civilians that directed themselves towards the terrorists, believing them to be policemen, and were killed without mercy.

Reuters reports that Boko Haram has killed 935 people since 2009, yet the group is still not on the U.S. terror list.

According to Aid to the Church in Need, some 35,000 have fled since Friday's attacks.