View of the Church of Cocula on May 19, 2020, in Cocula, Mexico. | Getty Images
Most Americans presume that Mexico is a Christian country, unaware that many Mexicans who identity as Catholic regularly practice a form of pagan idolatry, according to Universidad Cristiana de Mexico President Jaime Castro.
Castro leads an evangelical Christian university in Querétaro, Mexico. As Mexican Christians share the Gospel, they often face persecution from Mexican traditionalist Catholics, he told The Christian Post.
Unlike Christianity, traditionalist Catholicism relies on giving gifts to the gods in exchange for health, good fortune and protection from evil. They often participate in animal sacrifices to the gods and worship saints, incorporating practices from pagan Aztec beliefs.
A church in Burkina Faso. | Flickr/Khym54
The body of a priest who went missing in Burkina Faso was found dead in the western African country’s southwest forest, an area riddled with jihadist presence and activity.
Two days after Father Rodrigue Sanon disappeared in Burkina Faso’s southwestern region, his body was discovered in a nearby forest, the bishop of the Diocese of Banfora announced in a statement shared by Vatican News.
“It is with deep sorrow that I bring to everyone’s attention that the lifeless body of Fr. Rodrigue Sanon was found on Jan. 21, 2021, in the protected forest of Toumousseni, about 20 kilometers from Banfora,” Bishop Lucas Kalfa Sanou said.
Police in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province have withdrawn criminal charges against three Muslim men accused of abducting a 12-year-old Christian girl who was forced to marry one of the accused, tortured and chained up in a cattle pen for up to five months.
The United Nations logo is displayed on a door at U.N. headquarters in New York February 26, 2011. | (Photo: Reuters/Joshua Lott)
Countries that have engaged in religious freedom violations, such as China, Russia, Pakistan and Cuba, have been elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
On Tuesday, the 193-member General Assembly elected 15 countries to serve on its premier body for protecting human rights worldwide for there-year terms. The council not only proposes resolution on human rights issues but also oversees investigations into violations of religious freedom.