Places of worship belonging to religious minorities in Malaysia are continuing to be targeted in a dispute over the use of “Allah” by non-Islamic faiths. The new general secretary of the World Council of Churches has expressed “deep concern” about the situation in the Muslim-majority country.
The drive-by gunfire killing of six Coptic Christians in Egypt at their church on January 6, the eve of their Christmas celebration, has drawn widespread shock from the Vatican and church leaders in Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
Jerusalem Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan has denounced the killing of the Christians and a Muslim security officer. Some nine others were injured in the attack in the upper Nile city of Nag Hammadi. Younan said January 11 that he offered support to the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.