Carmen Hombre Ponzoa, a teacher in Spain, was imprisoned and later executed while pregnant, together with her husband. She belonged to the small Protestant minority.

Attackers “burned the evangelical church, took the land, stole their cattle and destroyed the homes of 13 Christians”, pastors in the region denounce.

The instinct to withdraw into isolationism and nationalism is understandable, yet it plays into the hands of authoritarian, anti-democratic forces.

In the traditional ceremony, evangelicals pastors called for unity, reconciliation and justice. Freedom of worship should be enshrined in the Constitution, they said.

Remember how 2020 was expected to be a watershed year? The hopes that Covid-19 would force lifestyle changes? 

The effects of the restrictions are analysed by churches in Germany, Slovakia, UK and Portugal.

The church’s worship was previously disrupted in May, when at least 40 Muslims stopped the midday service at the café.

The Breccia di Roma has paid €12,000 in legal fees to defend their right to a have a recognised worship place. “As a minority, you have to work two to three times harder to access what other groups have more easily”.

The regional parliament tries to solve the problem of worship places and creates an Interreligious Council for faith minorities.

Evicted from its church building in February 2021, banned from meeting for worship in the church car park, Minsk's New Life Pentecostal Church has now seen its building bulldozed.

In the Central European country, bans on worship lasted longer than elsewhere. Jan Figel’ brings a challenge to the European Court of Human Rights.

According to data presented by the Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom, almost 500 religious sites have been damaged in the first year of the war.

When travel, gatherings, and churches were curtailed and closed, many Christians began to ask for the first time, ‘Must I obey?’ Fortunately, this is not a new question.

There is “extreme persecution” in 10 countries in Africa and the Middle East, says Open Doors. Elsewhere, worrying trends are observed in key geopolitical actors such as India, Saudi Arabia and China.

According to the government, Christians were 1.9% of the population in 2021.

Religious organisations denounced some points “attack” the freedoms of worship and association, but the Council ruled the law is “in conformity with the Constitution”.

According to a report by the US embassy in the country, they increased from 12% in 2008 to 26%-30% in 2020. It is the faith that has grown the most.

Evangelicals denounce that the Constitution “will divide rather than unite the people of Chile, weaken democracy” and that the government did reject their proposals.

“We regret that Geneva is trampling on its tradition of tolerance and damaging its reputation as a capital of human rights”, says an evangelical representative in the Swiss Canton.

In Norway, a prolonged controversy seemed to be nearing its end after a church was given a go to keep their illuminated cross. That was until a neighbour appealed the decision.

Of the 186 known Christian fellowships, only a small minority are allowed to worship in their own buildings. The Turkish Association of Protestant Churches denounces that money has been offered to individuals who offer information about churches and pastors.

The agreement between religious minorities urges to “combat violence, extremism and hatred”. They are now suffering a campaign of insults and threats.

The law of 2018 worried evangelical Christians, as it strongly limited religious activities outdoors and limited faith expressions of civil servants.

“Keshab went to the court for his regular hearing. We had no idea that he would be convicted that day and not return home”, says his wife. Christian leaders in Nepal are appealing to the international community.

The government says it has investigated around one hundred mosques and Muslim prayer halls because of possible “separatist” ideology.