January 2005

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Christians remain targets in Iraq. On November 8, car bombs were detonated at two churches in southwest Baghdad. Three people died and fifty others were injured. On October 16, the second day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, assailants bombed and then burned five churches in Baghdad. The attacks follow the bombing of five churches in August (ct, October, p. 19). In Mosul, where one church was bombed, church leaders report threats by Islamic militants. Barnabas Fund says that 1,500 Christian women, harassed by other students for not wearing Muslim veils, have stopped attending classes at a Mosul university. Citing dangerous conditions, World Vision has pulled out of the country.
• Protestant pastor Rinaldy Damanik, who informed the international community about attacks against Christians in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, was released from prison in November. Charged with possessing illegal weapons, Damanik was set free ten months before the end of his three-year sentence. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that Indonesian Muslim militants have launched a terror campaign against Christian leaders and pastors.

In November the Department of Justice announced it is appealing a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to allow the state of Oregon to use otherwise federally controlled substances in assisted suicide. "What we need is not more power for doctors to use drugs to kill their patients, but more power for doctors who use drugs to heal and comfort their patients," said Gene Rudd of the Christian Medical Association.

Anglicans in Rwanda broke ground in August on Kigali Theological College. Leaders hope to start with 45 students, ...