This article is the final of a series of releases of information from the report “Nation and the Growing Church,” published by the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF). Click here for Part 1 (Africa). Click here for Part 2 (Middle East). Click here for Part 3 (India) and click here for Part 4 (China).
In the Latin American context, there is persistent evidence of pressure and violence from criminal groups that have traditionally been concentrated in rural areas, particularly in countries such as Colombia and Mexico. .
Violence arises not only in the existence of dominant criminals, but also in conflicts and power struggles between them. This situation puts pressure on the church and has a negative impact on religious activities.
Religious leaders crossing from one area to another are at risk of being mistaken for informants.
Criminal groups often demand additional fees and the risk that religious leaders intersecting from one area to another are mistaken for informants. If a religious leader has a high social profile, attempts to negotiate a trans or start a dialogue with a criminal leader can be targeted for attacks from rival groups.
In Mexico, this attacked 46 people, 250 Christian property, and forced 745 followers to flee. Lawless Haiti saw 59 Christians being murdered. Cuba is not where the government acts like a cartel, but it is attracting attention for its number of arrests and a surge in sentences of 156.
In Nicaragua, the Catholic Church, and more recently the evangelical church, faces a variety of hostilities. Over the past three years, violations of religious freedom of life for political reasons have intensified, fully using national mechanisms to silence and punish religious leaders and parishioners identified or recognized as government opponents. Masu.
Tiny Nicaragua ranked third in the top 10 countries in the world to arrest and declare Christian leaders.
This led to the massive closure of places of worship, the arrest of numerous priests and pastors, and in some cases, expulsion from the country and revocation of nationality. Tiny Nicaragua ranked third in the top 10 countries in the world that have arrested and declared Christian leaders, with 226 incidents recorded.
In El Salvador, the situation is clear. In 2022, there was an unprecedented surge in arrests of religious leaders and members of evangelical churches. The detained were primarily pastors involved in rehabilitation programs for former gang members or former gang members who joined the church.
This occurred in the context of strict anti-crime measures by the government. This led to arbitrary arrests under the pretext of gangster ex-gang members suspecting his idyllic work. However, recent reports have shown a decline in such arrests, and the overall reduction in violence and anxiety in the country has also significantly reduced cases of gang-related violence targeting churches.
We pray that such reductions will increase throughout these unstable parts of Latin America that threaten the happiness of local churches.
It was previously published by the International Institute for Religious Freedom. It was reissued with permission.
This commentary is based on data available in the International Institute for Religious Freedom’s Violence Case Database. This is freely accessible at https://iirf.global/vid/.
Dr. Ronald Boyd Macmillan is Head of Global Christian Relief Research and Global Strategy. He is also a senior researcher at the International Institute for Religious Freedom and a researcher at the Oxford Mission Research Centre. Furthermore, Ronald is an adjunct professor of Practical Theology at Fuller Theology, which not only visits Professors of Practical Theology and Spiritual Formation in Pakistan, but also focuses on understanding and learning from struggling churches.
