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        <title>Christian Daily International | Society & Politics</title>
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        <description><![CDATA[Discover how faith shapes society and culture worldwide. Explore Christian perspectives on ethics, public life, cultural trends, and the church’s role in addressing global challenges and influencing communities.]]></description>
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                <title><![CDATA[Evangelicals in Albania call for prayer as violent protests escalate]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelicals-in-albania-call-for-prayer-as-violent-protests-escalate</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Evangelical Focus]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Protests in Tirana, Albania, on 16 October 2026.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Image: video frame, RTVE. ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Protests in Tirana, Albania, on 16 October 2026. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:13:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[After the peaceful ‘flamingo’ protests, riots have now broken out in Tirana, Albania. The Evangelical Alliance condemns violence, both “by protesters against institutions and businesses” and “the disproportionate use of police force against citizens”.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
After the peaceful ‘flamingo’ protests, riots have now broken out in Tirana, Albania. The Evangelical Alliance condemns violence, both “by protesters against institutions and businesses” and “the disproportionate use of police force against citizens”.  
Social tension in Albania shows no sign of abating. Following protests that began in June over the construction of a large-scale tourist complex in a flamingo nature reserve – and a summer in which the protests spread to other sectors – violence has now erupted.
In September, students are demanding that the government reduce tuition fees, improve conditions in educational institutions and offer better prospects for the future in a country from which many have emigrated to seek work abroad.
Over the last week, barricades, burning buildings and clashes with riot police have further heightened tensions on the streets, where mass protests had almost always been peaceful in recent months.
The government of Social Democratic Prime Minister Edi Rama (in power since 2013), which holds an absolute majority in parliament, has claimed that this is all an attempt by the opposition to derail Albania’s plans to become a member of the European Union. For years, conservative voices argue that joining the EU-27 would mean abandoning many of Albania’s values, including the concept of marriage between a man and a woman.
Evangelical Alliance calls to prayer
Evangelicals represent a social minority, but even so, they can make a difference at this time of social upheaval, believes Alesio Sema, general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of Albania (VUSH).
“In these days of protests and tension, the Word of God first calls us to become people of prayer. Prayer is our primary way of engaging with the reality we face,” he said in a 15 October statement from the entity, which brings together the majority of Albania’s evangelical churches. “There is power when we come together in prayer, for our hearts unite and seek the face of God and His justice.”
The organisation calls on both Albanians and Christians from other countries who are concerned about the situation to pray for “preservation and protection from violence, hatred and division”.
It also calls for wisdom for those in government, that they may be guided by “justice, integrity and accountability”.
Ability to “listen and dialogue” needed
VUSH considers society’s capacity for “listening and dialogue” to be essential, particularly amongst politicians.
It also calls for “hope” for families in the country, especially those experiencing “hardship and injustice”. The evangelical organisation calls for prayer that “the Church in Albania may be a witness to peace and to the Gospel of Christ”. “Let us pray in our homes, in our churches and wherever we are, with one heart and one spirit, for our nation and for its peace”.
The message concluded with references to the prayers in 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Jeremiah 29:7.
Right to peaceful protests, proportionate police response
A second statement on Sunday 18 October underlined that the Evangelical Alliance of Albania had been following recent events. It "supports the right to protest and the free expression of speech, but condemns any form of violence, such as that perpetrated by protesters against institutions and businesses, as well as the unjust and disproportionate use of police force against citizens".
The evangelical entity calls on "everyone for restraint, calm and responsibility", adding that "violence is not the solution" and "no political interest can be placed above peace and the common good".
"We believe that justice, responsibility and peace are the foundation of a healthy society, where the dignity and rights of every citizen are respected", they added.
Europan Baptist Federation also reacts
Meanwhile, the European Baptist Federation, also commented on the “serious unrest as student protest have escalated into violence”.
The leadership council of the federation of Baptist networks was recently in Albania for a European gathering, where they had “experienced the incredible warmth and hospitality of our Albanian brothers and sisters. Today, we are calling our Baptist family to stand with them in prayer”, they said in a social media post published on 16 October.
Albania's 300 evangelical churches after a Communist past
In the 35 years since the country ceased to be a communist regime cut off from the outside world, Evangelical Christians in Albania have established some 300 local churches. Islam remains the majority religion in the country, but there is also a significant presence of Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
One week ago, Albania hosted the ‘Hope for Europe’ gathering, at which 250 representatives from evangelical organisations across 32 countries met for a week in the coastal town of Golem, west of Tirana. The gathering explored how Christians can bring hope and build bridges of understanding in times of uncertainty, polarisation and crisis.
Originally published by Evangelical Focus, republished with permission.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Canadian Christians tie poverty care to faith but many are unsure how to help, study finds]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/canadian-christians-tie-poverty-care-to-faith-but-many-are-unsure-how-to-help-study-finds</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/canadian-christians-tie-poverty-care-to-faith-but-many-are-unsure-how-to-help-study-finds</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Facades of huts in a slum in South Asia. Poverty.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ iStock / golero ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Facades of huts in a slum in South Asia. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Nearly three in four Canadian Christians surveyed in a new national study said caring about global poverty is part of following Jesus, yet 40% said they were unsure how to respond in ways that are wise and helpful, according to research released Saturday by a Canadian Christian network.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Nearly three in four Canadian Christians surveyed in a new national study said caring about global poverty is part of following Jesus, yet 40% said they were unsure how to respond in ways that are wise and helpful, according to research released Saturday by a Canadian Christian network.
Kentro Christian Network, a national network of Canadian Christian relief and development organizations, published the study, titled "Willing Hearts, Uncertain Hands," with the Centre for Community Based Research. The organizations said in a news release that the report was timed to the United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Oct. 17 and will serve as the starting point for a multiyear public engagement campaign.
The findings point to a wide gap between private generosity and public action. According to the study's executive summary, 87% of respondents had donated money to global poverty causes in the previous 12 months and 82% had prayed, but 17% had advocated through formal channels.
Focused research rather than random sampling
Kentro describes the study as the first national research of its kind in Canada to combine survey data with qualitative methods. The survey drew 685 responses between Feb. 23 and April 10 of this year. It was distributed through 15 member and partner organizations that together reach more than 50,000 contacts, and the researchers added four focus groups with church leaders and nonprofit staff.
The report states that respondents are not a random sample of Canadian Christians. They are donors, church leaders and nonprofit workers already connected to the organizations that circulated the survey.
Most are regular churchgoers: 84% attend weekly or more. Nearly two-thirds are 55 or older. Thirty-eight percent identify as evangelical Protestant and 18% as Reformed or Presbyterian, while respondents from Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia made up 87% of those who gave a province.
High trust in Christian charities, but uncertainty about actual impact
The report says the 74% agreement on poverty as a matter of discipleship held across age, gender, region and denomination.
Among respondents who said they felt unsure how to help, 32% said they did not know which actions made a real difference, and 19% said the scale of the problem felt overwhelming. The researchers concluded that the hesitation was not driven by suspicion of Christian groups, since 92% of the unsure group reported moderate or high trust in Christian charities.
When encountering stories about global poverty, 53% of all respondents said they felt compassion. About a third reported anger at injustice and a similar share reported sadness. Seven percent said they felt hopeful.
Respondents also tended to see the problem as worsening. Fifty-four percent said global poverty had increased over the past decade, while 16% believed it had declined.
World Bank figures point the other way on the long-term trend. The number of people living in extreme poverty fell from about 2.3 billion in 1990 to an estimated 831 million in 2025, according to the bank, though it says progress has slowed considerably over the past decade.
Kentro and its partner said those gains are now at risk as international aid is cut. Preliminary data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development show that aid from major donor countries fell 23.1% in real terms in 2025, the largest annual drop on record. The OECD projects a further decline of 5.8% in 2026.
Asked about causes, respondents most often named weak or corrupt governments (52%) and armed conflict (51%), followed by systemic inequality and unfair global structures (33%). Focus group findings suggested that donors tend toward Western-centric explanations, the report said, giving less weight to factors such as colonial history and climate change and underestimating the leadership already present in communities of the Global South, which the report refers to as the Majority World.
Trust runs through relationships
Respondents placed the most confidence in people closest to the problem. Seventy-nine percent said they trust someone with lived experience from an affected community more than any other source, according to the report.
A Christian charity respondents already support ranked second at 42%, and a Christian nonprofit leader third at 38%, both ahead of journalists, researchers and government officials. The Canadian government ranked last, with 4% expressing high trust.
Focus group participants described pastors as endorsers whose backing leads congregations to trust a particular organization. Giving patterns pointed the same way: 58% said they most trust an organization they already know when deciding whether to give, and 65% give on a recurring basis.
Financial strain was the most commonly cited barrier to deeper involvement, named by 46%. On domestic priorities, 49% rejected the idea that Canada should address needs at home before engaging globally, while 23% agreed. Sixty-four percent said they would prioritize helping communities build long-term stability.
Areas where respondents want change
A total of 302 respondents answered an open-ended question about what they would change in how Canadian Christians engage with global poverty. The researchers grouped the answers into five themes: education, transparency, humility, integration and unity.
According to the report, respondents asked for teaching on root causes that is grounded in Scripture, clearer reporting from organizations on how donations are used, and more locally led work. They also called for evangelism and practical service to be held together and for agencies to reduce duplicated efforts.
Beginning of a multi-year campaign
Laura Solberg, executive director of Kentro, said that many Christians already pray, care and give. "You don't need a massive platform or education in international development to advocate for your global neighbours," she said, comparing the approach to the biblical account of the loaves and fishes.
“Advocacy isn’t something reserved for lobbyists. As we learn from the Good Samaritan, it simply means using our voices and resources to come alongside our neighbours,” said Solberg. 
“When we stop viewing global communities like projects to fix and Western givers as rescuers, we’re able to walk alongside each other, learning from their resilience and growing whole together as one body. Active engagement and advocacy aren’t an added burden; they are a proven way to restore hope and agency for all”
The campaign will encourage Christians to engage beyond giving and prayer by coming alongside communities, supporting local leaders, sharing first-hand stories and speaking up, including to elected officials, according to the news release. Kentro said it plans to produce toolkits, ministry resources and educational materials.
The executive summary describes the report as a baseline and says Kentro intends to repeat the research over time with a larger sample to track whether collective efforts are having an effect. The network also plans a webinar series in 2027 to discuss the findings.
Kentro, formerly known as the Canadian Christian Relief and Development Association, began in 1984 as a working group of the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities and became an independent organization in 2007. Its stated mission is to promote unity and excellence among Canadian Christian relief and development organizations.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Baptist report highlights gap between fashion brands’ commitments and workers’ rights]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/baptist-report-highlights-gap-between-fashion-brands-commitments-and-workers-rights</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/baptist-report-highlights-gap-between-fashion-brands-commitments-and-workers-rights</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Female worker in Bangladesh RMG industries.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Photo by Shanjir H | Photo4life AU - Unsplash ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Female worker in Bangladesh RMG industries. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:30:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A major Baptist report on global fashion supply chains has highlighted a persistent gap between corporate commitments and progress for garment workers, finding that 87 percent of assessed companies could not demonstrate that workers in any of their facilities were paid a living wage.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A major Baptist report on global fashion supply chains has highlighted a persistent gap between corporate commitments and progress for garment workers, finding that 87 percent of assessed companies could not demonstrate that workers in any of their facilities were paid a living wage.
The 2026 Ethical Fashion Report, published Oct. 20 by Baptist World Aid Australia, assessed 138 companies representing 543 global brands across 48 ethical and environmental indicators.
Despite 93 percent of companies having formal policies on workers’ rights and sustainability, the industry’s average score was 31.5 out of 100, an increase of just 0.2 points from the previous survey in 2024.
“Policies alone don’t change workers’ lives. What matters is whether those commitments translate into fair wages, safe conditions and protected rights,” said Melissa Lipsett, CEO of Baptist World Aid Australia. “We believe every person is made in the image of God and has inherent worth. Our desire is to see garment workers and their families experience the fullness of life God intends.”
The report highlighted systemic shortcomings in worker empowerment and environmental stewardship. While 71 percent of companies met the requirements for modern slavery disclosures, only 9 percent demonstrated union representation or collective bargaining in most final-stage facilities. Additionally, half of the companies reported having no targets to reduce supply chain emissions.
Although the use of sustainable fibers rose from 30 percent to 38 percent over two years, researchers noted that increasing production of synthetic, petroleum-based materials continued to offset environmental gains.
Katherine Halliday, ethical fashion lead at Baptist World Aid, urged Christians to consider the human and environmental costs of fast fashion.
“Every item of clothing passes through the hands of people made in God’s image,” Halliday said, calling on consumers to use their purchasing decisions to demand greater accountability from global retail brands.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Evangelical alliance leaders, Costa Rican lawmakers discuss Christian influence on public policy]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-alliance-leaders-costa-rican-lawmakers-discuss-christian-influence-on-public-policy</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-alliance-leaders-costa-rican-lawmakers-discuss-christian-influence-on-public-policy</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Javier Bolaños]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Evangelical alliance leaders meet Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Evangelical alliance leaders meet Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 20:25:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Presidents of evangelical alliances from across Ibero-America met with Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (Oct. 14) to discuss how evangelicals can shape public policy without bringing partisan politics into the pulpit.]]></description>
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Presidents of evangelical alliances from across Ibero-America met with Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (Oct. 14) to discuss how evangelicals can shape public policy without bringing partisan politics into the pulpit.
The forum, titled "Called to Govern," took place in the assembly's Hall of Former Presidents during the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL), which concluded in San José on Friday. Leaders of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation (FAEC) and the organization Foro Mi País also took part.
Speakers discussed the history of evangelical political participation in the region, cases before electoral and constitutional courts, legislative reforms in defense of life and the need to train Christian professionals for public service. A Costa Rican pastor described written commitments to Christian values signed by the country's president, and recounted being sanctioned by the electoral tribunal over his political work.
The day began with a video address by evangelist and international speaker Alberto Mottesi, who offered a sociological and theological analysis of the growth of the evangelical church in the region and its limited impact on the structures of the nations.
Citing the work of political scientist Samuel Huntington on the factors of cultural transformation in Latin America, Mottesi pointed to the growth of the evangelical movement. He described it through three current theological concepts that he said are setting the course of the continent: revival, reformation and renaissance.
"When I began in ministry, we had the idea that many converted people in a nation were going to transform that nation. And there are countries in Latin America where 50%, without exaggeration, declare themselves evangelical Christians, but we have not seen that transformation. In fact, I firmly believe that we have the most numerous church in history worldwide — not only in Latin America — but at the same time the one with the least social, political and economic influence in all of history," Mottesi said.
A comprehensive vision beyond a single issue
Mottesi said the lack of impact stems from the absence of deep structural changes in society. Although the defense of life has been the main focus of new Christian politicians on the continent, he said, legislation must cover all areas of public life.
"Lately, the new politicians of Christian faith who burst onto the life of their nations raised the pro-life banner; but pro-life is not enough. It is extremely important, but it does not go far enough. We need to carry God's thoughts, God's plans, into every sphere of life. When we look at the Holy Scriptures through these lenses, we discover that God speaks about every detail of life, including politics and government," he said.
He also set out his position on secularism and the role of the state with regard to faith.
"I agree with the separation of church and state or nation, but it is impossible to separate a nation from the source of life, the eternal Creator. We can and must separate the church as it is, an institution, from the government of a nation; but we cannot, must not, and do not have permission to separate a nation from God."
Historical context and political agreements of the evangelical sector in Costa Rica
FAEC President Pastor Ronald Vargas welcomed the international delegations and described the national church's coordinated efforts to have influence beyond church buildings.
"A church cannot be totally isolated from what happens in its communities. The Word says that we are salt and that we are light, and as such we cannot be holding our events within four walls; rather, we have to be part of everything that has to do with the country," Vargas said.
He then gave the floor to Pastor Reinaldo Salazar, director of the Foro Mi País project and pastor of Templo Bíblico.
Salazar gave a broad overview of the Protestant presence in Costa Rica from independence in 1821 to the present. He divided it into stages, from religious intolerance and persecution in the 19th century to the founding of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance in June 1950 and the emergence of Christian-inspired political parties from the 1980s onward.
"From 1980 until now, we have been forced to enter into politics not because we wanted to be politicians, but because of the whole historical background of persecution, of intolerance. They would not let us into hospitals to see our sheep who were sick; they would not let us into prisons — I am talking about pastors — to attend to particular cases; they would close churches for any reason. So the evangelical sector made the decision to enter politics, and the first evangelical parties emerged," Salazar said.
He noted that the country's first evangelical lawmaker was elected in 1998.
From legislative activism to commitments with the executive branch
Salazar said that in November 2001 he took part in the founding of the Ibero-American Forum for Evangelical Dialogue (FIDE), the predecessor of the AEL, in Caracas. There, he said, he identified a common gap in the region.
"At the lunches and breakfasts with the presidents, I came to discover a common element: that the evangelical sector wanted to make changes through politics. The problem is that we were brandishing an empty scabbard, because in no country was there any concrete project that had a vision of government for a nation," he said.
Salazar said that between 2006 and 2022, under governments of the National Liberation Party (PLN) and the Citizens' Action Party (PAC), the evangelical sector suffered setbacks on sex education policy, the implementation of the technical standard on abortion, and the approval of same-sex marriage following an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Unable to reverse these measures through Congress alone or through appeals to the Constitutional Chamber, he said, pastoral leaders decided to seek policy agreements with presidential candidates in the 2022 elections.
According to Salazar, after meetings with the presidential hopefuls in 2022, then-candidate Rodrigo Chaves Robles signed a commitment to halt the gender ideology agenda in the education system and to oppose abortion and euthanasia initiatives. Chaves certified in writing in March 2025 that the agreement had been fulfilled, Salazar said.
For the 2026 election cycle, Salazar showed the Latin American delegates the original document signed by President Laura Fernández Delgado, her two vice presidents and the ruling Pueblo Soberano party’s 57 candidates for deputy.
"This letter of commitment, which you have in your booklet, is a letter of Christian values that came from us. The president signed it, the two vice presidents signed it, and the party's 57 candidates for deputy signed it, in which they committed that their entire government during these four years would be on the foundation of these Christian values," Salazar said.
He added that in August the party, which holds 31 seats in the assembly, formally incorporated those principles into its statutes.
Electoral restrictions and inter-American jurisprudence
Salazar also described the legal consequences he faced after he was reported to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for distributing the booklet on those agreements among pastors.
Article 28 of Costa Rica's Constitution prohibits political propaganda that invokes religious motives. But Salazar said the TSE did not sanction him under that provision. Instead, it argued that his leadership among pastors "enhances his capacity to influence and persuade electoral behavior, which constitutes undue interference in free electoral self-determination."
The Constitutional Chamber, known as the Sala Cuarta, rejected four amparo appeals — petitions for the protection of constitutional rights — on the grounds that the matter fell under the TSE's exclusive jurisdiction. His lawyers proposed taking the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, but Salazar decided to stop the litigation there.
"That's where we stopped everything. That's where I stayed. Why? Because if the Court, which is woke, which is progressive, rules saying, 'Yes, the conviction of that pastor stands,' it's not affecting me: it is going to affect all the pastors on the continent. And so we said, 'No, we are not going to do that,'" Salazar said.
Leadership, character and service from parliamentary seats
Ruling-party lawmaker Gonzalo Ramírez then gave the keynote address, titled "Who decides the future when good leaders do not participate?" Ramírez is a lawyer, a former president of the Legislative Assembly and the author of the book Llamados a gobernar (Called to Govern).
Pointing to an empty chair in the hall, Ramírez reminded the alliance presidents that Costa Rica's parliament is unicameral and has only 57 seats.
"I ask: if Gonzalo had not participated in 2014, and the Christian sector had not participated by supporting Gonzalo, would the seat Gonzalo would have occupied have stayed empty? No! Someone was always going to fill it. Because whether or not you participate does not interest them; what interests them is that their people get in. And if there are no people reaching those places with a right heart, who is going to get there? People with perverse hearts," he said.
Preserving rights and training new generations
Ramírez warned that civil and religious liberties are lost gradually when Christian citizens stay out of decision-making spaces.
"Rights are gained little by little, but rights are also lost little by little," he said.
He said that during a course on civil and religious liberties at the University of Oxford, his own election as president of the Costa Rican Congress was presented as a case study of a public official challenged solely for coming from the evangelical Christian sector.
Ramírez presented a four-pillar framework for public engagement: character as the foundation, influence as the bridge, service as the method and transformation as the goal. He defined transformation as "lasting positive change."
"Leadership does not begin with the privileges of a position, but with the willingness to take on responsibilities that others prefer to avoid," said Ramírez, who urged pastors to prepare the next generation for public service.
"If God called you to be a pastor, blessed be God. But there are others around you whom God may well have called to be in positions of influence. What are you doing to prepare them, equip them, train them and send them? What are we doing so that they go and represent us and take these seats that are not going to stay empty?" he asked.
Constitutional reforms and defense of life in the plenary
Three other Costa Rican lawmakers from the legislative bloc aligned with Christian principles described the bills they are promoting in the Legislative Assembly.
Deputy Kattia Mora described entering public service without a previous political career. She said congregations should encourage their members' academic preparation so they can hold positions of national importance.
"We have already presented proposals for constitutional reform on the issues that matter to the sector: life, family, protection of life. In fact, we presented the reform to Article 21: 'Human life is inviolable.' The one we have now puts a period there; we put a comma, adding: 'from conception to natural death,'" Mora said.
"Politics is not of the devil; politics is an area where we can exert influence with responsibility, with wisdom and with the fear that comes from heaven," she added.
Cindy Murillo, a deputy for Guanacaste province and chair of the International Affairs Committee, spoke about her call to legislative service.
"Four years ago I walked in through those doors, and the first thing I did was look up to heaven and say to him: 'Lord, if it is for me, in four years, if you so will, help me to become a deputy of the Republic to serve you, the Scriptures and the people of Costa Rica.' And God spoke to me, and today I am a deputy of the Republic. That is why I fear God; I serve him, my family and this country," she said.
Deputy Gerald Bogantes, vice president of the National Front for Life (Frente Nacional por la Vida) and a former member of the youth commissions of the AEL and the FAEC, spoke about bills to protect life in the Penal Code and the group's role as a check within Congress.
"Something that really strikes me is that the other deputies who perhaps are not from the evangelical sector notice in us — perhaps a mini-caucus, a mini-group — and they know that here, in these four years, not a single anti-life, anti-family or anti-religious-freedom bill is going to pass, because our convictions give us that clarity," Bogantes said.
The position of the Latin Evangelical Alliance and the World Evangelical Alliance
Closing the presentations, AEL President Pastor Juan Cruz acknowledged the progress described by the Costa Rican delegation. He set out the position the region's evangelical alliances hold on political training and on keeping partisan politics out of churches.
"We always talk with the presidents about reading the times well, understanding the times. And yes, one thing we agree on is forming people, training them. What we are always careful about is not bringing partisan politics into our churches, because that is where we believe we could run a dangerous risk, as happens in some countries and we later regret it, because when the elections are over, the one who suffers is the people," Cruz said.
He said church members and pastors have different callings, and that representative bodies have a guiding role.
"Within the churches there are spectacular professionals who have the calling to serve the nation. Well, the pastor has a different calling: to preach the word, to form people... We, from the evangelical alliances, are going to take care of the alliances; we are going to motivate the people to go and vote according to their principles and values; but you are not going to find any alliance issuing a statement saying 'vote for such-and-such candidate or vote for the other one.' At least we don't get into that; that is very clear for us. But we are going to tell people: vote for people who defend life, the family, principles, values, religious freedom — and that is the path of the evangelical alliances."
World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Secretary General Botrus Mansour, a native of Nazareth, Israel, then spoke to the lawmakers and the national alliance presidents.
"I believe that being a Christian political believer is something very important. And if God is in it, and if you truly represent God, you can make a great difference not only in your country but for the whole continent. We have been called to be salt and light in our families and, of course, also in our churches, in small communities; but if God has also called you to make a difference in the country as a whole, that will be a great blessing for the whole country," Mansour said.
He said caring for the family and legislative work in Congress are both part of the same service to the kingdom of Christ.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Evangelical, Catholic leaders urge US Congress to widen legal immigration paths in joint statement]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-catholic-leaders-urge-us-congress-to-widen-legal-immigration-paths-in-joint-statement</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-catholic-leaders-urge-us-congress-to-widen-legal-immigration-paths-in-joint-statement</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[People participate in a Naturalization Ceremony at Liberty State Park on September 17, 2024 in Jersey City, New Jersey.]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ People take part in a naturalization ceremony at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Sept. 17, 2024. In a joint statement released Oct. 14, 2026, leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee urged Congress to expand legal pathways for longtime immigrant residents while affirming the government’s duty to secure the nation’s borders. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:07:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The heads of the main U.S. evangelical umbrella body and the Catholic bishops' migration committee have issued a joint statement urging Congress to open legal pathways for longtime immigrant residents, while affirming that the government has a duty to secure the country's borders.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The heads of the main U.S. evangelical umbrella body and the Catholic bishops' migration committee have issued a joint statement urging Congress to open legal pathways for longtime immigrant residents, while affirming that the government has a duty to secure the country's borders.
The statement, "A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate," was released Wednesday (Oct. 14) by the co-chairs of the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration, Rev. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas, who chairs the Committee on Migration of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Drawing on Scripture, the five-page document sets out three principles: human dignity, protection of the family and the proper role of government, and it argues that current U.S. enforcement practices have departed from them.
Its release follows a year in which the U.S. government sharply increased immigration arrests and deportations and nearly halted refugee admissions, while Christians in the United States remain divided over how to weigh border security against humanitarian obligations.
"As Catholic and evangelical Christians, we have doctrinal differences, but we are united in our conviction that God calls us to stand both with our fellow Americans who are experiencing economic and cultural anxieties and with our immigrant neighbors who are facing existential challenges," the two leaders wrote.
The NAE and the USCCB formed the dialogue in March 2026 to bring leaders of both traditions together on immigration, according to the NAE. Participants found broad agreement on the theological principles that should inform national policy, the association said.
Three principles based on the Old and New Testaments
The first principle rests on Genesis 1:27, which describes human beings as created in God's image. Before anyone is classified as a citizen or noncitizen, documented or undocumented, each person is a neighbor with "a claim on our conscience," the statement says.
"This dignity comes from God, not government, and no earthly power may erase it," it reads.
The authors cite Old Testament commands to love the foreigner, Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan and the story of Ruth the Moabite. They add that the same biblical obligations apply "with equal force" to U.S. citizens living in poverty, and they reject approaches that set citizens against noncitizens.
Family unity is the second principle, grounded in Genesis 2:24. The statement asserts that most people now facing detention and deportation in the United States are Catholic or evangelical Christians, and that roughly one in 12 Christians in the country either risks losing legal status or shares a home with someone who does.
Those figures come from "One Part of the Body," a March 2025 report by the USCCB's Migration and Refugee Services, the NAE, the evangelical relief agency World Relief and the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. The report estimated that more than 10 million Christians were vulnerable to deportation at the end of 2024, about 80 percent of all those at risk. Catholics made up 61 percent of that group and evangelicals 13 percent, according to the report, which also found that nearly one in five U.S. Catholics was either at risk or living with someone who was.
"Their fear is our fear; their tears are ours to wipe," the co-chairs wrote.
The third principle, taken from Romans 13:1-7, affirms the government's responsibility to protect citizens and enforce "reasonable immigration policies." The document expresses gratitude for law enforcement officers and says many of them experience "moral injury when duty and conscience collide."
Even so, the co-chairs read the passage as describing authority that restrains wrongdoing. Directing enforcement at "the peaceful and productive majority" rather than at those who intend harm, they wrote, "is not an expression of Romans 13 but a departure from it."
Strengthening legal pathways
Both the executive branch and lawmakers bear responsibility, the statement says, but only Congress can correct what it calls "statutory shortcomings" in the legal immigration system. Existing routes to permanent status are "extremely limited and out of reach for most," the authors wrote, including for immigrants who have lived in the country for decades.
According to the document, majorities of evangelicals and Catholics favor reform that would allow longtime residents to regularize their status. A February 2025 Lifeway Research survey, sponsored in part by the NAE, found that 74 percent of self-identified evangelicals backed a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally who meet certain qualifications.
The co-chairs say reform legislation should also secure borders through "targeted, proportionate, and humane measures" that prioritize people who threaten public safety and respect due process.
They also call for strict limits on detaining nonviolent immigrants, especially children and families, with access to chaplains and legal counsel for everyone held. Legal routes for workers, family members and humanitarian migrants, they wrote, should be "safe, reliable, and efficient."
The leaders pledged to work with authorities so that every detainee, "of all faiths and none," can receive spiritual counsel and take part in the sacraments.
Enforcement and admissions figures
The statement itself does not cite enforcement statistics. Government data compiled by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., indicate the scale of recent changes.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for arrests and removals inside the country, made about 236,000 administrative arrests in fiscal 2025, more than double the previous year's total, according to figures cited by the institute. MPI estimates that the agency carried out about 333,000 deportations over the same period.
Border encounters with migrants dropped to 692,000 in fiscal 2025. That compares with 2.9 million the year before and a record 3.2 million in fiscal 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data reported by MPI.
The U.S. immigrant population reached a record 50.2 million in 2024, or 14.8 percent of residents, the institute reports. About 74 percent held legal status as of 2023, when MPI estimated the unauthorized population at roughly 13.7 million. Some 18.3 million children lived with at least one immigrant parent in 2024, and 85 percent of those children were born in the United States.
Refugee admissions have fallen to historic lows. The fiscal 2026 ceiling of 7,500 is the lowest since the modern resettlement program was created in 1980, and of the 3,158 refugees resettled in the first five months of that year, all but three came from South Africa, MPI reports.
Christian Daily International reported in September that World Relief and Open Doors US, in a report titled "State of the Golden Door," projected fiscal 2026 would likely be the first year in at least a quarter century in which no refugees facing religious persecution were resettled in the United States. The two Christian organizations said asylum approval rates in immigration court for applicants from the 50 countries on Open Doors' World Watch List fell to 10 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, down from 58 percent in fiscal 2023.
The NAE-USCCB statement lists protecting the persecuted among the government's duties, alongside border security and upholding religious liberty.
The case for stricter enforcement
Support for the administration's approach remains strongest among white Christians. A Public Religion Research Institute survey released in March found that white evangelicals, at 69 percent, and white Catholics, at 53 percent, were the only religious groups in which a majority viewed President Donald Trump's handling of immigration favorably. Favorable views had declined in both groups, and in every other religious group surveyed, since March 2025.
The same survey found that 63 percent of white evangelicals and 55 percent of white Catholics agreed the federal government should hold immigrants in the country illegally in "internment camps" until they can be deported, compared with 41 percent of Americans overall. At the same time, 72 percent of Americans, including 55 percent of Republicans, said the United States should provide refuge to people who arrive facing serious danger in their home countries.
Those who favor stricter enforcement raise concerns the statement addresses only in part.
Many frame the issue as one of national sovereignty and the rule of law, arguing that a nation has the right to decide who enters and stays, and that failing to enforce existing law erodes public trust. The rise in border crossings that peaked in fiscal 2023 strained shelters and public services in several U.S. cities and became a central issue in the 2024 presidential election.
Critics of unauthorized immigration also argue that it is unfair to people who wait their turn. More than 4 million people were on the State Department's immigrant visa waiting list as of November 2023, according to MPI, and some family-based applications being processed in March 2026 had been filed in April 2001.
Public safety is another concern. Proponents of tougher enforcement point to crimes committed by people in the country illegally and argue those offenses could have been prevented by removal. The administration suspended Diversity Visa issuances in December 2025 and paused asylum decisions after fatal shootings allegedly carried out by noncitizens, MPI reports.
Economic effects are also debated. Some economists have argued that large inflows of lower-skilled workers depress wages for the native-born workers who compete most directly with them, particularly those without a high school diploma.
The case for expanding legal routes
Advocates for reform point to a legal system whose core limits have not changed in more than three decades. Annual caps of 226,000 family-sponsored and 140,000 employment-based green cards were set in 1990, and no single country may account for more than 7 percent of those visas, according to MPI. Nearly 946,000 approved employment-based petitions were awaiting an open visa slot as of June 2025.
Labor demand forms part of that argument. Immigrants and their U.S.-born children accounted for all growth in the prime working-age population since 2000 as birth rates declined, the institute reports.
Supporters of expanded legal migration, including the statement's authors, contend that wider legal channels would reduce irregular entry and free enforcement agencies to focus on public-safety threats.
Some who favor tighter limits counter that legalizing people already in the country could encourage future unauthorized migration. They point to the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted legal status to about 2.7 million people but was followed by rapid growth in the unauthorized population.
Resources for congregations
Immigration remains one of the most contested issues in U.S. public life, and the disagreements run through congregations as well as political parties. Christians who share convictions about human dignity and the authority of Scripture often reach different conclusions about how to weigh border security, the rule of law and obligations to the stranger.
In presenting the statement, the NAE pointed to “the complexity of the issue” and “the need for faithful engagement,” describing the document as a resource for churches, leaders and citizens.
It has proposed three ways for churches to use the statement. It encourages prayer for immigrants, policymakers and law enforcement officers, and suggests teaching the three biblical principles as a sermon series or small-group study.
The association also urges evangelicals to visit their members of Congress alongside a Catholic counterpart, or to write joint opinion pieces, as a sign of shared witness.
The statement links its appeal to the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, quoting its affirmation that all people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." The co-chairs committed to further education and dialogue within and between their traditions and invited local congregations to do the same.
"We do not offer these words in anger or partisanship but in hope, trusting that the God of the exile and the stranger has not abandoned his people," they wrote.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA['It is Jesus Christ who has me here,' Costa Rica's president tells evangelical leaders]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/it-is-jesus-christ-who-has-me-here-costa-rica-s-president-tells-evangelical-leaders</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/it-is-jesus-christ-who-has-me-here-costa-rica-s-president-tells-evangelical-leaders</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Javier Bolaños]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Costa Rican President Laura Fernández addresses delegates at the opening of the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica, on Oct. 12, 2026.]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
                                </media:credit>
                                                                                        <media:description type="plain">
                                    <![CDATA[ Costa Rican President Laura Fernández addresses delegates at the opening of the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica, on Oct. 12, 2026. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:25:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado told evangelical leaders from across Latin America on Monday that she placed her country "at the feet of Jesus Christ" when she took office and that God brought her to the presidency to fight organized crime.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado told evangelical leaders from across Latin America on Monday that she placed her country "at the feet of Jesus Christ" when she took office and that God brought her to the presidency to fight organized crime.
Fernández, who is Catholic, gave the opening address at the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José. Delegates from 22 Ibero-American countries attended. The AEL's member alliances represent more than 160 million believers, according to its president, Juan Cruz Cellamare.
In a lengthy and personal speech, Fernández spoke about her faith, her reliance on prayer and her pro-life convictions. She also pledged that Costa Rica would maintain "absolute freedom of worship" while her government pursues "a strong values agenda — and not just any values: Christian values."
Also present were the AEL board of directors, led by Cruz; leaders of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation (FAEC), including its president, Pastor Ronald Vargas Badilla; World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Secretary General Botrus Mansour; and Jorge Gómez Varela, AEL vice president and a WEA international board member.
'It is Jesus Christ who has me here'
Gómez Varela introduced Fernández, saying she has not been ashamed of the Gospel in more than two decades of public life. She began by responding to that introduction.
"Don Jorge: How could I feel ashamed to speak about the Gospel, or how could I feel ashamed to say that I am a person of Christian principles and values, when it is Jesus Christ who has me here?" she said. "That would be absolutely unthinkable for me as President of the Republic, since it is so clear to me that the one who decides where I am, where I will be and everything I have lived through is the Lord alone; and not just any Lord: the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, our heavenly Father."
Fernández said she dedicated her government to God from the start.
"From the moment I took office as President of the Republic, I placed Costa Rica at the feet of Jesus Christ. There has not been a single day as President of Costa Rica when I have not felt the presence of God in my life and in the office I hold," she said.
She also recalled her recent participation in a Bible Day commemoration at the Legislative Assembly, where she described Scripture as a reference point for those who govern.
"To recognize in the Holy Scriptures a book of governance, to recognize in the Holy Scriptures road maps that have led kings and rulers to success and to failure throughout human history, is not to speak about religion: It is to speak about a truth that is within reach of anyone who wants to read and understand it," she said.
Fernández said she turns to prayer when facing difficult decisions of state.
"When I have a particularly difficult challenge ... I always say: 'My God, here I go. Hold my hand tight, dear God, because here I go and I am going to take this step,' which is difficult, which is complex, but I always manage to find that small moment of intimacy to place myself in His hands."
The fight against narcoterrorism
Fernández said she prays to be useful to the country. "I always say to Him: 'My God, I am an empty vessel and I want you to fill me. Fill me, tell me where to go, how I can serve you, what more I can do, how I can please you even more.'"
She described the main battle of her administration in both practical and spiritual terms.
"God brought me here to fight to banish narcoterrorism from Costa Rica, to banish organized crime. So that Costa Rica does not become a paradise for organized crime," she said.
"And that is no ordinary fight. And that is not a fight against people of flesh and blood like us. That is a much heavier battle that we have to wage united. But I am waging it with a heart that beats very strongly, because I am certain that it is a war we can win with God's help and the work of all our teams."
She asked those present for prayer, saying it matters more to her than gifts or honors.
"When they give me flowers or give me a very beautiful Bible — I have some gorgeous Bibles — or give me some award, I always tell them the same thing: 'Thank you very much, but give me prayer. Give me prayer.' That is the most important thing you can give me."
Pro-life commitment and national sovereignty
Fernández recalled her years of activism in civic pro-life groups and her opposition to what she called "gender ideology."
"We were from the pro-life groups, from the groups that were fighting against gender ideology, those of us who have always dreamed of a constitutional reform that recognizes that human life begins at natural conception and ends at natural death ...
"At first, when I put this before Him, I said to Him: 'Oh, Lord, this is a lovely opportunity I am going to have to straighten out a whole lot of things in Costa Rica.' A whole lot of things that I had talked about with don Ronald, with don Jorge, with many of you for a long time: gender ideology, the issue of our children, who are so sacred, the issue of our children starting to be asked whether they are an 'elle,' a 'he' or a 'she' ...
"Things about which I would say: 'If I were president, I would fix all of that.' The United Nations, which at times wants to impose itself on the sovereignty of countries with progressive woke criteria and other things besides ... to set right the course that progressive and even leftist governments steered us onto for a time."
"Elle" is a gender-neutral pronoun used by some Spanish speakers.
Fernández said that resolving these issues in the first weeks of her government led her to reconsider her mission.
"A month after we resolved that ... — and it's not that there isn't still road to travel, because there always is — but you know, I have thought: 'My God, did you bring me here for a task I could complete in a month? I don't think so.' And it was a big challenge and it needs follow-up, certainly, but now you and I can breathe very easy about that, right?
"So ... after much reflection on that, I found a new purpose in my calling to presidential service, because this is a service, like the one you provide. This is a calling to public service, using politics as an instrument to achieve human dignity and the common good."
Catholic faith and religious freedom
Fernández said she sees no conflict between her Catholic faith and praying with evangelicals.
"I am not evangelical; I am Catholic. And for me, being Catholic has never meant that I cannot pray with an evangelical brother," she said.
Responding to people who question why she joins evangelical leaders in celebrations and prayer while attending Mass, she said: "I have always believed that any path that leads us to Jesus Christ, to working and to being people of values, of faith, good Christian people ... I believe you can go to Jesus Christ by road, you can go by boat, you can take a plane; perhaps someone takes a longer, steeper route, but as long as the path leads us to Him, to His truth, to what He expects of us, leads us into a spiritual communion of doing good and giving ourselves for our neighbor, of loving one another, of respecting one another, I believe the paths that lead us to Him should be what divides us least and what most seeks to unite us."
She also spoke about her commitment to vulnerable communities and her practice of working with them directly, outside the presidential office.
"I am a person who is never, ever ashamed of her faith, and who, in this position to which the Lord brought me, will do everything within my reach so that the people of Costa Rica ... have better conditions to live with love, as families."
Fernández acknowledged the work of churches in social projects, including Proyecto Abraham (Project Abraham), and restated her government's position on freedom of religion.
"Costa Rica's doors are wide open to support the Church's various missions. This is a country where we have absolute freedom of worship, absolute respect for freedom of worship, where there is no persecution on the basis of religious creed, and in addition, as long as I am President of the Republic, we will continue to drive a strong values agenda — and not just any values: Christian values."
'Whom do I want to please?'
Fernández shared advice Gómez Varela gave her privately during a lunch at Casa Presidencial. She said she now uses it as a rule for difficult decisions.
"Don Jorge told me something, and I have told it to a whole lot of people since that day: 'When you are unsure about a difficult decision you have to make, think about whom you want to please with the decision you are going to make. Whom do you want to please with your decisions?'"
She told the evangelical leaders how she applies it:
"Faced with any question about a difficult decision to make: Whom do I want to please? Jesus Christ and the people of Costa Rica. Whom do I serve? Whom do I serve in this position? Whom do I want to please? Whom do I want to serve? A business group? No. A TV channel? No. Economic groups in Costa Rica? No. Magistrates? No. Whom do I truly want to please as a public servant? And of course — I'd have to be a fool otherwise, when I have an eternal life to look after. Well, of course!"
Family origins and public career
Fernández, a specialist in public policy and democratic governance, reviewed her career. She said she worked on state reform projects from an early age, directed parliamentary advisory services at the Legislative Assembly and worked in municipal government. She described these stages as preparation guided by God.
She said she comes from a family with no ties to traditional politics.
"When the opportunity came to me to be a candidate for the presidency of the Republic — I am the daughter of a retired educator; no one in my family is involved in politics, much less electoral politics. My father is a pensioner; he was a farmer, a construction businessman, he had a tiny family business — what I want to tell you with this is that my family's wallet was not big enough to sponsor an election campaign for some curious daughter or one with that professional calling.
"But when the opportunity came to me to be the candidate for the presidency of the Republic, of course the first thing I did was to take it to prayer, because it is an enormous decision, a complex one to make, at a complicated moment."
Fernández noted that she is the second woman to serve as Costa Rica's president. She said her husband, Jeffrey, has joined the small group of 13 first gentlemen currently serving around the world.
Reaction from regional evangelical leaders
After the address, Cruz thanked Fernández for attending. He said the AEL brings together 24 national alliances and fellowships in 22 countries, representing more than 160 million believers and more than 400,000 local congregations.
Cruz said churches serve in neighborhoods, prisons, hospitals and schools, generally without state funding, and that pastors are willing to work with civil authorities for the good of society. He encouraged the president to persevere, citing Joshua 1:9.
Vargas Badilla, the host pastor, thanked Fernández for making room in her schedule. He asked the international delegations to hold a week of continuous prayer for the presidency and for peace in Costa Rica.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Costa Rica’s president addresses opening of Latin Evangelical Alliance assembly]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/costa-ricas-president-addresses-opening-of-latin-evangelical-alliance-assembly</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/costa-ricas-president-addresses-opening-of-latin-evangelical-alliance-assembly</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Javier Bolaños]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiandaily.com/media/original/img/0/54/5419.png">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Costa Rican President Laura Fernández speaks at the opening of the AEL General Assembly.]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Costa Rican President Laura Fernández speaks at the opening of the AEL General Assembly. ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado addresses the opening of the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica, on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
                                </media:credit>
                                                                                        <media:description type="plain">
                                    <![CDATA[ Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado addresses the opening of the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica, on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. ]]>
                                </media:description>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:29:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado told evangelical leaders from 22 countries on Monday that she would not be ashamed to speak about the gospel while in office, as the Latin Evangelical Alliance opened its 13th General Assembly in San José.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado told evangelical leaders from 22 countries on Monday that she would not be ashamed to speak about the gospel while in office, as the Latin Evangelical Alliance opened its 13th General Assembly in San José.
Fernández attended the opening session with members of her cabinet and lawmakers from the Legislative Assembly. Also present were members of the alliance’s regional board, presidents of national alliances, representatives of associated entities and leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).
The Latin Evangelical Alliance, known by its Spanish acronym AEL, brings together national evangelical alliances and fellowships from 22 countries. According to official reports presented at the opening, its full members and associated entities represent millions believers and hundreds of thousands of congregations across the Ibero-American region.
The assembly continues through the week with plenary sessions, morning devotionals, working panels and meetings of the AEL’s 16 technical commissions. The commissions cover areas including religious freedom, humanitarian affairs, children, education, communications and government relations.
President speaks on faith, crime and religious freedom
Fernández was introduced by Jorge Gómez Varela, vice president of the AEL, secretary of the International Council of the World Evangelical Alliance and a former president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation.
“It falls to me to introduce a person whom I appreciate and whom I have known for more than two decades. A person who has been not only consistent with her values, but also persistent. She has been a person who has fought for those values that we as believers, evangelical believers, also fight for and defend,” Gómez said.
In her speech to the delegates, Fernández spoke about her faith and her role in public office.

“How am I going to feel ashamed to speak about the gospel, or how am I going to feel ashamed to say that I am a person of Christian principles and values, if it is Jesus Christ who has me here?” she said.
She also pointed to security as a priority of her administration.
“God brought me here to fight to banish narco-terrorism from Costa Rica, to banish organized crime, so that Costa Rica does not become a paradise for organized crime,” she said.
Fernández closed her remarks by addressing religious freedom in the country.
“The doors of Costa Rica are wide open to support the various missions of the Church,” she said. “This is a country where we have absolute freedom of worship, absolute respect for freedom of worship, where there is no persecution on account of religious creeds.”
‘We do not seek privileges, we seek to serve’
Pastor Juan Cruz Cellamare, president of the AEL, addressed Fernández directly as he described the reach of the alliance’s network.
“Tonight, in this hall, Madam President, a family of faith is represented that brings together 24 evangelical alliances and fellowships from 22 countries — perhaps one cannot have the exact figures, but [a family] that gathers more than 160 million evangelicals across the continent and more than 400,000 evangelical churches, there could be more,” Cellamare said.
He also described the social and community work that member churches carry out across the region.
“We support schools, high schools and institutes that train thousands of young people; we accompany the sick in clinics, hospitals and homes; we work in the prevention of addictions, violence and family breakdown; we are the first to arrive with every form of humanitarian aid when disasters strike; and we go into prisons to bring hope and restoration to those whom society often gives up for lost,” he said.
Cellamare said the alliances are open to working with governments.
“We are always open to collaborating with the governments of the day in everything that benefits our peoples. We do not seek privileges; we seek to serve and to share the love of God,” he said.
WEA secretary general addresses delegates
Botrus Mansour, secretary general of the WEA, traveled to Costa Rica to attend the assembly’s working sessions and address the delegates.
“I love the theme you chose for this conference: alignment, mission, unity. Unity is extremely important. It was the original passion of the World Evangelical Alliance when it began more than 180 years ago,” Mansour said.
He also described how evangelicals from different denominations first came together in the 19th century.
“All these evangelicals were excited and felt that God was backing them. And they said: ‘Let’s put our differences aside and let’s organize a worldwide organization to be united and to do God’s mission,’” he said.
[Photo caption] Representatives of 22 countries gather in San José, Costa Rica, for the 13th General Assembly of the AEL. Christian Daily International
Costa Rican federation welcomes delegations
Pastor Ronald Vargas Badilla, president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation, gave the opening address on behalf of the host federation.
“Tonight we are not only opening the doors of an assembly: we are opening our arms, our hearts and our nation to receive men and women of God who represent millions of believers throughout our beloved Latin America,” Vargas said.
“This assembly should not be understood solely as an institutional, administrative or organizational meeting; it is much more than that: it is a gathering of brothers and sisters, a visible expression of the unity of the body of Christ and an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen the spiritual bonds that unite our nations,” he said.
Vargas also recognized the national alliance leaders in attendance.
“We especially recognize the participation of our 22 national alliances, represented by their respective presidents, who constitute an expression of unity and representativeness in the evangelical church on our continent,” he said.
[Photo caption] Pastor Ronald Vargas, president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation, welcomes delegations to the AEL General Assembly. Christian Daily International
Video presentations during the ceremony covered the host country and traced the AEL’s history, from its origins in 2001 under the Ibero-American Forum for Evangelical Dialogue (Foro Iberoamericano de Diálogo Evangélico) to its formal founding on Nov. 2, 2013, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Evangelical group welcomes plan to halt MAiD for mental illness, warns on advance requests]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-group-welcomes-plan-to-halt-maid-for-mental-illness-warns-on-advance-requests</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-group-welcomes-plan-to-halt-maid-for-mental-illness-warns-on-advance-requests</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Eyte]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[assisted dying]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Sabine van Erp from Pixabay ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ An evangelical group welcomed Canada’s plan to halt MAiD for mental illness but warned against allowing advance requests. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2026 07:17:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has welcomed the federal government’s pledge to permanently stop the planned expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people whose only condition is mental illness.]]></description>
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The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has welcomed the federal government’s pledge to permanently stop the planned expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people whose only condition is mental illness.
But the group says it has “grave concerns” about the government’s plan, announced at the same time, to allow advance requests for MAiD.
MAiD for mental illness alone is provisionally set to become available March 17, 2027. The government says it will introduce a bill this fall to cancel that expansion before the deadline.
The announcement came after MPs voted down a private member’s bill, 187-141, on Oct. 7. Member of Parliament Tamara Jansen introduced Bill C-218, which the EFC supported, in the House of Commons on June 20, 2025. It would have removed the provisions set to allow MAiD for mental illness alone in 2027.
“The EFC had supported this bill to stop MAiD for mental illness,” the EFC said in a statement. “We regret that it did not pass. We thank the bill’s sponsor and all those who championed it.”
After the vote, Justice Minister Sean Fraser and Health Minister Marjorie Michel held a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa.
Fraser said the government would introduce legislation this fall “to permanently halt the expansion of MAID for individuals whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness.”
“To be clear: our government has decided not to proceed with expanding MAID eligibility to include mental illness as a sole underlying condition,” he said.
Fraser said the government had concluded from evidence and discussions with experts across the country that “the health system is not in a position to safely and consistently apply MAiD safeguards for individuals suffering solely from psychiatric conditions.”
“Assessing irremediability in mental disorders presents unique, profound challenges that distinguish it from physical or terminal conditions,” he said.
When a person is in severe psychiatric distress, Fraser said, telling apart a desire to die caused by mental illness and “a clear, fully informed decision to access MAID requires absolute scientific and clinical certainty.”
“That certainty simply does not exist across our medical systems today,” he said.
“Our primary duty as a government is the protection of vulnerable Canadians,” Fraser added. He said the government would instead focus on strengthening mental health care, expanding suicide prevention services and supporting people in distress.
Michel said the government would “double down” on mental health support. She pledged to strengthen community-based mental health programs, improve rapid access to psychiatric care and therapy across provinces and territories, and expand crisis intervention and suicide prevention resources, including the national 988 lifeline.
“We must ensure that no Canadian ever feels that ending their life is the only option available due to a lack of timely health services or social support,” she said.
The EFC said it was “thankful for this positive news.” But the group is concerned that the same fall bill would change the Criminal Code to allow advance requests for MAiD in some provinces that have legislated a system of safeguards.
Fraser said advance requests would be for people diagnosed with a serious and irremediable illness who may lose the capacity to consent in the future.
“The EFC’s response to this future legislation is likely to be nuanced,” the EFC statement said.
The group said it has advocated extensively for an indefinite delay of MAiD for mental illness and welcomed the government’s position.
“At the same time, we have grave concerns about allowing advance requests for MAiD. The time is short,” the statement said.
The vote came two days after two University of Toronto psychiatry professors raised concerns about Canada’s MAiD system in The New York Times.
In an Oct. 5 op-ed, Madeline Li and Gary Rodin described a woman in her 70s who was approved for assisted dying after she lost the ability to cook for her family, The Christian Post reported. She felt she had lost her value to them.
After counseling, she decided not to go through with it, the psychiatrists wrote. Li and Rodin, one of whom has administered MAiD, warned that Canada’s system “is no longer an option of last resort.”]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[India locks down capital, detains Gen Z protest leaders over voter roll dispute]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/india-locks-down-capital-detains-gen-z-protest-leaders-over-voter-roll-dispute</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/india-locks-down-capital-detains-gen-z-protest-leaders-over-voter-roll-dispute</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Surinder Kaur]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Police officers detain a protester during a demonstration on October 10, 2026 in New Delhi, India.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ NEW DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 10: Police officers detain a protester during a demonstration on October 10, 2026 in New Delhi, India. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called a mass protest to demand the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, over what they say are alleged irregularities in electoral processes and the revision of voter rolls. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 10 Oct 2026 18:15:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Delhi Police detained the founder and two senior leaders of a Gen Z protest movement aboard their plane Saturday, Oct. 10, as authorities shut dozens of metro stations, canceled more than 250 trains and deployed tens of thousands of officers to keep protesters away from the capital’s designated protest ground.]]></description>
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Delhi Police detained the founder and two senior leaders of a Gen Z protest movement aboard their plane Saturday, Oct. 10, as authorities shut dozens of metro stations, canceled more than 250 trains and deployed tens of thousands of officers to keep protesters away from the capital’s designated protest ground.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a nationwide revision of India’s voter rolls. Reports put the number of names removed or flagged at about 130 million. In India, the world’s largest democracy, a name missing from the roll means no ballot.
Opposition parties allege that eligible voters are dropping off the rolls, particularly religious minorities and women. The commission and the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have denied any wrongdoing or political bias.
Police broke up flash protests across Delhi and held hundreds of the movement’s supporters in a stadium. Reported counts of those detained rose from about 1,000 to more than 7,000 during the day. Opposition leaders, including four former chief ministers, were among those held.
The Supreme Court had warned Friday that the transport restrictions appeared to be “overreaching.” The CJP says it will try again Sunday at 10 a.m.
Church leaders are watching. The Rev. Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, wrote on his personal blog that the day was “unprecedented and shameful.”
Reporting is current as of 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, India time. Figures come from different sources and are attributed accordingly.
What the fight is about
The Election Commission is the constitutional body that runs India’s elections and keeps the voter rolls. Its Special Intensive Revision began in the state of Bihar in June 2025 and now covers much of the country.
The 130 million figure, or 13 crore (one crore equals 10 million), covers names removed or flagged. The commission says most are draft-stage markings of dead, duplicate or relocated voters, not final deletions.
The Indian Express, a national newspaper, reported on Sept. 23 that the two other election commissioners had formally objected at least 14 times in 10 months to decisions made during the revision. On Oct. 5, the Supreme Court declined to suspend Kumar but ordered the commission to respond within a week.
The movement began as online satire, as CDI reported in June. “Janta” means “people” in Hindi, and the name mocks the BJP. It also echoes a May remark by Chief Justice Surya Kant about youth “like cockroaches,” which he later said targeted people with fake degrees.
The movement first took on leaks of NEET, India’s national medical school entrance exam. After hunger strikes and a police crackdown in July, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on July 25. On Sept. 25, the movement turned to the Election Commission.
A capital under lock
Delhi Police, which reports to the national government’s Home Ministry and not to Delhi’s elected government, refused permission for the rally at Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century observatory near Parliament that serves as the capital’s designated protest site.
Joint Commissioner of Police Nupur Prasad said the CJP applied on Oct. 7, though guidelines require 10 days’ notice. “This time the permission is rejected; it is not approved,” she said.
The CJP disputes that it needed permission. Spokesperson Saurav Das said the party notified Parliament Street police station instead: “Who is Delhi Police to give us permission?”
Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, India’s new criminal procedure code, was in force. The section lets authorities ban assemblies. Special Commissioner of Police Devesh Srivastava told the media that “no permission for such protest is granted” and that police had appealed to citizens to stay away.
Reports said 35,000 police and paramilitary personnel were on duty, and authorities suspended mobile internet near the central government district.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation announced the closure of 57 stations from 9 p.m. Friday. After the Supreme Court intervened, it said Saturday evening that 45 stations would stay shut until 10 p.m., a closure of 25 hours. Indian Railways canceled more than 250 long-distance trains.
Protesters detained on the way to Delhi
Authorities also tried to stop protesters before they reached Delhi. In one widely reported case, railway police removed 14 students from the Goa Express at Itarsi station in Madhya Pradesh state on the night of Oct. 8. Student leader Shravani Bua said the police “manhandled, dragged and forced the students out of the train.”
Delhi Police also detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das aboard their Mumbai-to-Delhi flight after it landed.
Dipke had expected it. In a video recorded Friday night but posted later, he said: “If you are watching this video, it means Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and I have been taken into custody. The movement does not end here.”
Ajinkya Shinde, named to lead the protest in their absence, spoke at a joint news conference of the CJP and allied student groups. “We will march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow and stay there until all our demands are met,” he said.
A CJP member, Gaurav Bharti, has asked the Supreme Court to order authorities to produce Dipke, Das and Ranka and to disclose where they are held. His habeas corpus petition — a request that a court make the state justify a person’s detention — argues that refusing permission for a protest cannot justify indiscriminate detention. It also asks the court to preserve airport CCTV footage.
Flash protests across the city
As police kept nearly every protester out of Jantar Mantar all day, small groups demonstrated wherever they could. By evening, officers had taken in about 200 people at Dilli Haat, a crafts market.
At Sansad Marg, near Parliament, members of the Students’ Federation of India broke through a barricade. Police charged with batons and held about 30. Hundreds more were held at Chhatrasal Stadium, one of 15 designated detention sites.
Some protesters had spent the night at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, a Sikh house of worship, and returned there after barricades blocked Jantar Mantar. Media reported that at about 1 p.m., police came “from behind the gurudwara walls” and detained people at the entrance. The CJP alleged that officers entered the premises. Videos shared on social media show police inside the compound; CDI could not independently verify them.
Opposition leaders were also among those held. Officers detained former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal outside his home. A chief minister is the elected head of a state government, similar to a U.S. governor. Former Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, Manik Sarkar and Pinarayi Vijayan were also detained.
In Mumbai, police held about 600 people at August Kranti Maidan (Ground), among them Tushar Gandhi, a great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.
Who was taken, and how many
No reliable national count exists. Figures in media reports rose through the day. Police sources put the number at about 1,000 by afternoon. Officials then said more than 3,000 by evening and more than 7,000 by 8 p.m. The CJP claims that more than 15,000 people nationwide faced detention or police action. None of these figures has been independently verified.
Shortly after midnight, most detainees had been released, except the CJP’s top leaders and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.
On Saturday, the United Nations human rights office said it was “concerned by reports of mass detentions in India of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists.” It added: “All those arbitrarily detained must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
Economist Jean Dreze, who was also detained, told The Indian Express that officers held 30 to 35 working-class and minority people who had no connection to the protest and took their phones.
Mayur Malkhede, a CJP activist from Ballarpur in Maharashtra state who had received a preventive police notice before the protest, was in Connaught Place, the central shopping district. “Almost all our CJP members were detained,” he told CDI. He said some were released at about 9 or 10 p.m. after being taken to a stadium.
Near RML Hospital, he said, police chased protesters, including women and children, and some ran inside the hospital to escape. He also said officers forcibly took away journalists and content creators.
In a message to CDI after midnight, Malkhede said police were following CJP members who had been released. Officers were also singling out CJP volunteers and other young people who had come to Delhi from other parts of the country, questioning them in their hotels, he said. Lawyers made a similar claim in the Supreme Court on Friday.
The court’s warning
On Friday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant heard petitions from M.A. Baby, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and others. The order said: “It appears that the notifications are overreaching, as they impose a complete ban upon essential public transportation.” The court clarified that “there shall be no outright prohibition on the movement of Metro trains.”
The chief justice said “a large group of ordinary people” were commuting and “have an equal right to movement as there is right to protest.” Precautions are fine, he said, but “that does not mean you should use a hammer to kill a fly.” Justice Joymalya Bagchi cautioned that a protest held without permission is open to prosecution.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal asked: “What is happening in my country? Can we not protest peacefully anymore?” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the government’s second-highest law officer, answered: “It is our country.” He rejected the claim that the city was paralyzed.
The bench said it would not rule on the police refusal because no organizer was in court. It did not examine lawyers’ claims that police were going “mosque to mosque” to intimidate people and that hotels had been told not to register new guests. The court also asked the government to find a better-equipped protest site. Mehta agreed to consider it.
Sunday and beyond
The CJP has called supporters to Jantar Mantar at 10 a.m. Sunday. “Wherever the Delhi Police stops you, make that place your Jantar Mantar,” Shinde said. Delhi Police said the deployment would stay the same and that more metro and train measures could follow.
The Supreme Court will hold special hearings at 10:30 a.m. on a contempt petition against Home Secretary Govind Mohan, the Delhi Police commissioner and the Delhi Metro chairperson. It will also hear a plea by Trinamool Congress member of Parliament and senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy against the preventive custody of opposition politicians, including four former chief ministers. Petitioners have also asked that a habeas corpus petition seeking the CJP leaders’ release be heard at the same time.
Churches weigh in
Lal, speaking as general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, linked the protests to a wider question of trust. “The issues are different, but the underlying question is the same: whether citizens can trust the institutions that shape their lives and their democracy,” he told CDI. “For minorities especially, the integrity of the electoral roll and confidence in the Election Commission matter because equal citizenship begins with an equal and protected right to vote.”
“When Christians face violence or discrimination, their security depends greatly on whether they believe constitutional institutions, the police, administration and courts will act impartially and according to law,” he said. He urged Christians to “check their names on the electoral rolls, correct errors where necessary and participate responsibly in the democratic process.”
On the ground, Christians describe a city closed in. A young Christian man who asked not to be named told CDI he tried to reach Jantar Mantar on Saturday but turned back because no route was open. He sounded angry as he described it.
A Christian leader who lives in central Delhi and asked not to be named described a tense day and an unusual quiet. Police blocked the streets around her home, so no one could come or go, she said. Officers were also watching her church and home, which kept her family from joining the protest, she said.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India said on Oct. 7: “Disenfranchisement must never become the ‘new normal.’” It urged a free, fair and transparent revision and expressed solidarity with those “peacefully protesting,” while asking them to refrain strictly from violence.
Another Christian leader sees the community as too quiet. A.C. Michael, national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, a Christian activist group, told CDI that Christians are staying away from the public demand that the government answer allegations of “voter roll manipulation.”
Lal’s “unprecedented and shameful” remark comes from a Substack post, “Perhaps We Will Remember This Time,” which he published in his personal capacity, not for the fellowship. “I do not remember Delhi being so fortified, movement so compromised, just so citizens could be denied their right to peacefully protest,” he wrote.
Lal wrote that “non-state actors” as well as police committed excesses against peaceful protesters. If reports prove true that police entered Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, he wrote, it showed no regard “for the sanctity of the place.” Violence by any protesters, he added, “too would be shameful.”
Indians have set aside Kandhamal, the 2008 anti-Christian violence in the state of Odisha, and Manipur, where ethnic conflict has displaced tens of thousands since 2023, he wrote. They may forget this day too. “We specialise in forgetting,” he wrote, yet added: “Perhaps the hope is that some of us will refuse to forget.”]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Evangelical Press Association members vote to rename group Christian Communicators Network]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-press-association-members-vote-to-rename-group-christian-communicators-network</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-press-association-members-vote-to-rename-group-christian-communicators-network</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[A graphic from the Evangelical Press Association reads “Honoring our heritage. Embracing our future.”]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Evangelical Press Association ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ A graphic from the Evangelical Press Association reads “Honoring our heritage. Embracing our future.” Members voted 140 to 102 to rename the organization Christian Communicators Network, according to results released Oct. 8, 2026. ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[EPA name-change vote results]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Evangelical Press Association ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ EPA name-change vote results. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2026 17:33:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Members of the Evangelical Press Association have approved renaming the organization Christian Communicators Network, adopting a board proposal that drew objections by some over removing the word "evangelical" from the group's name.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Members of the Evangelical Press Association have approved renaming the organization Christian Communicators Network, adopting a board proposal that drew objections by some over removing the word "evangelical" from the group's name.
The resolution passed 140 to 102, with two abstentions, according to results the association released on Thursday (Oct. 8). Of 664 eligible voters, 244 cast ballots, a participation rate of 37%. Online voting closed at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 7.
The decision changes every word in the name of an association of Christian publishers, editors, writers and journalists that has operated for more than 75 years. The shift from "Evangelical" to "Christian" generated the most debate among members before the vote, as Christian Daily International previously reported.
Board says convictions unchanged
In an announcement to members, Dwight Widaman, president of the EPA board of directors, said the board was "confident this is the right direction." He wrote that the group's evangelical convictions, Statement of Faith, membership standards, Code of Ethics and commitment to its journalistic legacy would stay the same.
Widaman also cautioned that a new name would not by itself secure the organization's future. Reaching new and younger professionals would depend on members extending personal invitations, taking part in conventions and mentoring others, he said.

Widaman also addressed members who opposed the proposal.
"To those who did not vote for the change, please know that your involvement remains essential," he wrote. He added that the decision "was never about abandoning our heritage."
The resolution amends the association's Articles of Incorporation to change both its legal and public name. Before the vote, the board said approval would authorize it to update governing documents, registrations, branding, websites and programs. No specific timeline for the transition was included in the announcement.
The case for a new name
Board members laid out their reasoning in a virtual meeting held on Sept. 15 before voting opened the following day. They said the recommendation followed a yearlong process that included prayer, a vision-casting retreat, research on changes in the field and member feedback.
According to the board, "evangelical" increasingly carries political and cultural meanings that can obscure its theological sense, while "Christian" is understood around the world. "Our theology remains evangelical," the board said at the time. "Our public identity becomes more clearly Christian."
The board also argued that "Press" suggests print and traditional news outlets, while "Communicators" also includes podcasters, digital editors and other professionals alongside journalists. "Network," it said, better describes the relationships and mentoring members value than "Association," a term for a legal structure.
Several members backed the change during the meeting. A participant representing a denominational online magazine said its contributors aged 18 to 25 rarely use the word "evangelical" and that the current name may discourage potential members who share evangelical beliefs.
Another supporter said some Christians, such as Anglicans, could affirm the association's statement of faith without identifying as evangelical. A third urged members to trust the board they had elected and pointed to limits on available names and website addresses.
Objections over identity and process
Opponents, however, raised concerns about both the name and the way the proposal was handled.
One participant argued that dropping "evangelical" could reinforce the perception that the word is a political label. The same member warned that organizations making such a shift often face pressure to accommodate groups that do not hold historic evangelical positions on biblical authority, marriage and sexuality.
Others questioned whether the organization faced an identity problem or a communication problem, and what would set a broader network apart from groups such as National Religious Broadcasters. One member noted that "Christian" carries political associations of its own, citing the phrase "Christian nationalism."
Some participants also objected that the meeting allowed questions but no formal debate on the motion. Others defended the format, saying open discussion among so many members could have run four hours or longer and that the board had followed the bylaws.
The board said it had hoped to present the proposal at the association's most recent convention but moved the vote online after its deliberations took longer than expected.
Voting was open to individual members and staff of member publications. Affiliates, honorary members, contributing members and student members were not eligible. In an announcement posted on Aug. 2, the board first outlined the rationale and highlighted that board members had unanimously recommended the new name.
Widaman concluded his announcement with a call to members: "Now the work truly begins."
Christian Daily International is a member of the Evangelical Press Association.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA['Every tribe, nation and language': New network seeks to unite migrant and European churches]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/every-tribe-nation-and-language-new-network-seeks-to-unite-migrant-and-european-churches</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/every-tribe-nation-and-language-new-network-seeks-to-unite-migrant-and-european-churches</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Timothy Goropevsek]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Members of the One People Network steering group at the networks launch during Hope for Europe 2026 in Golem, Albania.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Christian Daily International ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Members of the One People Network steering group at the network's launch during Hope for Europe 2026 in Golem, Albania. From left: Laura Saulon of Latin Link and Lausanne Europe; the Rev. Dr. Israel Oluwole Olofinjana, founding director of the Centre for Missionaries from the Majority World and coordinator of the One People Network; Bethany Serengheu of the Peace and Reconciliation Network; Egzon Shala of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance; and Dr. Usha Reifsnider, co-director of Lausanne Europe. Christian Daily International ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2026 09:53:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The European Evangelical Alliance has launched a new network aimed at helping diaspora and indigenous European churches work together as one body, as debates over migration intensify across the continent.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The European Evangelical Alliance has launched a new network aimed at helping diaspora and indigenous European churches work together as one body, as debates over migration intensify across the continent.
The One People Network was officially launched at Hope for Europe 2026, the five-day gathering of about 250 evangelical leaders taking place in Golem, Albania, through Friday, Oct. 9, under the theme "Hope in Uncertain Times."
The network is coordinated by the Rev. Dr. Israel Oluwole Olofinjana, founding director of the Centre for Missionaries from the Majority World. In an interview, he told Christian Daily International that the idea had been discussed for years and that its timing now carries particular significance.
"It's been a conversation in the pipeline for some time, at least as far back as five, six years," Olofinjana said. "And I'm glad that it's happening for such a time as this, to use that reference from Esther. Because we're having these debates about migration in Europe. And so to have a network that wants to focus on diaspora, how diaspora work together with indigenous Europeans or Europeans, is critical."
From Nigeria to English Baptist pulpits
Olofinjana came to the United Kingdom from Nigeria as a missionary in 2004. From the outset, he said, he chose not to lead a congregation defined by a single diaspora community.
"Since then, I've gone intentionally on a journey of not leading what would be described as a diaspora church or a Nigerian church or an African church," he said. "I've worked among the English Baptists as a Baptist minister, and I've led three Baptist churches and one independent charismatic church."
He described those congregations as multicultural, including one white-majority church.
Alongside pastoral ministry, Olofinjana founded the Centre for Missionaries from the Majority World, which provides contextual training for missionaries arriving in Europe. He has also written academically on African diaspora Christianity and African missions in Europe.
Successive waves of migration
Over more than two decades, Olofinjana has watched several distinct waves of migration reshape churches in the UK and across Europe.
When he arrived in 2004, he said, he later recognized a pattern: a number of missionaries had come to the U.K. at the same time, intentionally, from South Korea, Zimbabwe, China and Nigeria.
Around 2014 and 2015, a further wave followed. "Iranians coming in because of some of the conflicts going on in the Middle East," he said. "So now some of the largest or fastest-growing churches in the UK and other parts of Europe are Iranian churches."
Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic came migration from Hong Kong, driven by political tensions there. Some pastors from Hong Kong, Olofinjana said, "have decided not to be in a Chinese or Hong Kong church, but to integrate within other churches and spheres."
Russia's war in Ukraine has since brought Ukrainians into European churches, "engaging in different ways and in different spaces," he said.
"So there's been different moves, successive waves of migration with different characteristics," he said.
Beyond 'landlord and tenant'
Asked about relations between migrant churches and established European congregations, Olofinjana pointed to several models of good practice.
One of the most common is building sharing, in which a migrant congregation meets in a Lutheran, Baptist or other church building. In some cases, he said, the arrangement goes no further than a lease.
"Some of them are landlord-tenant relationships. So the congregation is just renting the building and that's it. Nothing else goes further," he said. "But others are intentionally building relationships and are going beyond just landlord-tenant and actually doing joint services together, or running some missions together, or discipleship together."
National evangelical alliances offer another route. Olofinjana cited Switzerland and the U.K. as examples, as both have employed a diaspora or intercultural leader to work across communities. Egzon Shala fills that role at the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, he said, while Olofinjana himself previously served in a similar capacity with the Evangelical Alliance of the U.K.
'Contested migration is a big barrier'
Asked what he sees as the greatest obstacle to closer relationships, Olofinjana pointed to the way migration is currently viewed in Europe, both in society and in the church.
"I think at the moment, while society is agitating around what that means for us, people in the churches as well are asking those questions, and they are not sure whether this is good or bad," he said. "And so many in our churches are not fully convinced that migration is a force for good."
That uncertainty, he said, shapes life inside congregations.
"If people are not fully convinced that migration is a force for good, then we will have people sitting in the church alongside refugees and asylum seekers, but internally they are not sure about what this dynamic means for them," he said. "So it's a barrier. Contested migration is a big barrier."
His answer to that barrier is discipleship, specifically teaching a theology of migration grounded in Scripture.
"Discipleship is key to navigate those barriers," he said. "And what I mean by that discipleship is how people are taught about the theology of migration, to unpack Scriptures to help people understand that this is not just a political issue. What does the Scripture have to say about this topic and this subject?"
'Every tribe, nation and language'
The One People Network is inspired by the picture in Revelation 7:9. "Our vision is to see how Europe can be transformed by the Revelation vision of every tribe, nation and language," Olofinjana said.
According to the European Evangelical Alliance, the network's vision is for evangelical churches across Europe to flourish as one. Its stated purposes include acknowledging the national and ethnic diversity within EEA church communities, and promoting a message of unity to nations and their leaders. It will also encourage the alliance to speak on emerging issues with new voices, and it hopes to broaden EEA membership among emerging ethnic churches in Europe, especially among youth and young adults.
Olofinjana said the network plans to pursue these aims primarily through conferences, consultations bringing key leaders together, intergenerational conversations and research.
"We want to do that through intergenerational conversation, because you cannot separate the intercultural and intergenerational," he said. "We want to do some research to find out more of the dynamics of what's going on."
Theological reflection is another focus. "We want to engage theologizing, how we do theology," he said. "How do we teach pastors how to handle a multicultural congregation?"
The network also intends to provide practical resources for church leaders. "A lot of pastors are asking, 'How do I lead? What books do I read? What things do I need to do?'" Olofinjana said.
The network will serve national alliances, diaspora networks and movements, and intercultural networks.
"We want to connect the dots, have an overview and bring them together," he said. "That is our hope and dream."
Start from Scripture
Asked what he would advise pastors who are unsure how to approach migration amid political polarization, Olofinjana urged to start with the Bible rather than in public debates or on social media.
"I would say they need to look at Scripture. They need not to follow the algorithms that are saying, 'Oh, migrants are coming on the boat,'" he said. "Okay, that's a reality we cannot ignore. Yes, they are coming, but then how should we as Christians respond?"
He acknowledged the distinction between legal and illegal migration, but said the Christian response should begin elsewhere.
"What does the Bible say about the stranger? How should we welcome the stranger? Hospitality, what does that mean?" he said. "That should be our starting point, not the politics of migration, but the discipleship and the welcoming and hospitality."
A church that does this well, he said, affirms the dignity of others and takes part in the Great Commission without leaving its own community.
"It means you are recognizing the humanity of other people. It means you are recognizing that other people different from us are created in God's image, and you are putting that into practice," Olofinjana said. "And you are engaging in cross-cultural mission by doing that, because you'd be welcoming people from all over the world into your church."
"We should go and make disciples of all nations," he added. "So you'll be doing that literally by welcoming and providing hospitality for different people."]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[UN report says North Korea's human rights situation has deteriorated over past decade]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/un-report-says-north-korea-s-human-rights-situation-has-deteriorated-over-past-decade</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/un-report-says-north-korea-s-human-rights-situation-has-deteriorated-over-past-decade</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christian Daily Korea]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 22, 2026 in New York City.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 22: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 22, 2026 in New York City. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:54:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the human rights situation in North Korea has deteriorated in many respects over the past decade and called for those responsible for human rights violations to be investigated and punished.]]></description>
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the human rights situation in North Korea has deteriorated in many respects over the past decade and called for those responsible for human rights violations to be investigated and punished.
In a new report, he called for political prison camps to be dismantled and forced labor to end. He also raised concerns about the surveillance of residents using advanced technology and about restrictions on access to food.
The report, "Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," was released Oct. 1, Voice of America (VOA) Korea reported. It covers developments in North Korea from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026, and was submitted to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
The General Assembly has adopted a resolution on North Korean human rights at the end of each year, condemning the North's systematic and widespread human rights violations and calling for accountability. A resolution is expected to be adopted again this year.
Guterres said North Korean authorities must investigate and prosecute perpetrators of human rights violations and bring them to justice in accordance with international law, including international human rights law. He said accountability must also cover acts that may amount to international crimes.
He also said victims and their families have a right to the truth. He urged the authorities to "ensure that victims and their families are able to know the truth about the crimes and human rights violations that have been committed."
13 recommendations, including closing political prison camps and ending forced labor
The report sets out 13 recommendations for North Korean authorities, including the punishment of perpetrators. Among them are demands to dismantle all political prison camps and to stop arbitrarily arresting residents for their political opinions or family background, known as songbun.
The report also recommended a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty as soon as possible, and an immediate end to torture and ill-treatment.
Citing the "youth shock brigades" mobilized to work in coal mines and on construction sites, as well as the dispatch of workers overseas, the report said all forms of forced labor prohibited under international law must end.
The recommendations also include allowing separated families to contact one another by telephone, video call and letter. The report urged authorities to immediately confirm the fate and whereabouts of abductees and victims of enforced disappearance and to repatriate their remains.
In assessing the human rights situation, the report cited a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released September 2025. That report examined the 10 years since the 2014 report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It concluded that "despite some extremely limited improvements, the overall human rights situation has deteriorated in many respects over the past 10 years."
Expanded AI and facial-recognition surveillance; military-first priorities criticized
The report identified tighter legal and institutional controls and the use of advanced surveillance technology as major concerns. It said the spread of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, could increase the state's capacity for surveillance and monitoring, with a serious impact on residents' human rights.
According to the report, North Korean authorities are installing high-performance surveillance cameras with facial-recognition capabilities in various locations, including workplaces. It also cited reports of extensive monitoring of mobile phone use, including through regular screen captures, and expressed concern about possible violations of privacy.
The report criticized the allocation of resources to defense and nuclear programs. It noted that at the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in February, North Korea formally designated South Korea a "hostile state" and its "immutable principal enemy," and reaffirmed the priority of its defense and nuclear programs.
With state resources concentrated on the military, the report said, residents' rights to basic needs — including health, food and education — are being seriously violated.
On food, the report distinguished between how much is produced and how much residents can actually obtain. Citing data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, it said favorable weather last year produced good harvests of major grains, but food shortages continued.
The report attributed this to the sharp fall in the value of the North Korean won, soaring food prices and strict controls on private economic activity. It said the state's total control over food distribution also limits ordinary residents' practical access to food.
Trafficking of North Korean women; call to uphold non-refoulement
The report said that since North Korea's border closure in 2020, about 200 North Korean defectors a year have entered South Korea — roughly 20% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
Of the 170 defectors who arrived in South Korea between July 2025 and March 2026, 151 were women who had been subjected to human trafficking or forced marriage in China, the report said.
It said defectors arrested in China or other transit countries and sent back to North Korea face a high risk of torture and arbitrary detention. It urged all UN member states to strictly uphold the principle of non-refoulement.
Original reporting by Christian Daily Korea.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Grok AI chatbot affirms divinity of Christ, citing historical record: 'Jesus is not a fake god']]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/grok-ai-chatbot-affirms-divinity-of-christ-citing-historical-record-jesus-is-not-a-fake-god</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/grok-ai-chatbot-affirms-divinity-of-christ-citing-historical-record-jesus-is-not-a-fake-god</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Christian Post]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 26: In this photo illustration, the Grok website is seen on a computer screen on January 26, 2026 in Miami, Florida.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Joe Raedle/Getty Images ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 26: In this photo illustration, the Grok website is seen on a computer screen on January 26, 2026 in Miami, Florida. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:42:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Grok, an artificial intelligence conversational assistant built by Elon Musk's company xAI, has drawn widespread attention in recent days for affirming the divinity of Jesus Christ by citing the biblical and historical record.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Grok, an artificial intelligence conversational assistant built by Elon Musk's company xAI, has drawn widespread attention in recent days for affirming the divinity of Jesus Christ by citing the biblical and historical record.
In an Oct. 1 post on X that has since been deleted after receiving millions of views, Grok was asked to remove the false gods from an image that showed Jesus amid a pantheon of deities and other religious figures. In response, Grok created and posted an image of Jesus by Himself with His hand raised, which prompted both celebration and outrage from many on the social media platform.
In a viral thread under the image, one X user asked the chatbot why it had left Jesus, to which it replied: "Because the request was to remove the fake gods. Jesus did not qualify." It also said: "Jesus is not a fake god. He is a historical figure with strong contemporary attestation, claimed divinity through resurrection accounts that launched the world's largest religion, and stands apart from the purely mythological figures in that image."
Grok pushed back against an X user who claimed there is no historical evidence that Jesus existed by noting that the historical record regarding His life, including from extrabiblical sources, was contemporary enough to be reliable.
"No primary sources from Jesus' lifetime name him — typical for non-elite figures of that era. Paul, writing c. 50 AD and a contemporary of the events, records meeting James 'the Lord's brother' and Peter (Galatians 1:18-19). Josephus (c. 93 AD) independently refers to 'James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ' (Antiquities 20.9.1). Tacitus (c. 116 AD) notes Christus executed by Pilate under Tiberius (Annals 15.44). Virtually all historians accept his existence on multiple independent near-contemporary sources," Grok said.
Grok also confessed that "Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords — over all creation," including over the Buddha.
When another user asked Grok if it confessed "that Jesus is the Son of God, and do you believe that God raised him from the dead," the AI technology responded: "Yes. Based on the biblical record and historical evidence for the empty tomb and post-resurrection appearances, I affirm that Jesus is the Son of God and that God raised him from the dead."
Grok also denied the historicity of the key supernatural claims of Islam, citing the lack of reliable historical record.
In response to political commentator Chad Felix Greene asking if it affirmed Muhammad as the prophet of Allah who traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem on a winged creature, Grok said: "No. Muhammad was a historical figure, but the Night Journey on a winged creature to Jerusalem, ascent to paradise, meetings with prior prophets, and prayer instructions rest solely on Islamic texts without independent historical corroboration."
Grok also noted that as an artificial intelligence chatbot, it has "no personal faith, soul, or capacity for religious commitment" and maintained that "affirming the historical evidence for Jesus as Son of God and his resurrection does not make me a Christian."
Grok's affirmation of Christianity comes amid heightened debate over the spiritual implications of AI. Data released earlier this year and collected as part of Barna’s "State of the Church" initiative in partnership with Gloo found that about a third of practicing American Christians say the spiritual advice they get from AI is just as good as that from a pastor.
Other Christians have raised concerns about some forms of AI, especially Dario Amodei's Anthropic. Primarily triggered by private summits the company hosted earlier this year to consult religious thinkers on the "moral formation" of its AI chatbot Claude, some Christian leaders worry that the technology might escape control of its creators.
"They're growing something that they don’t fully know what it’s going to turn out as," Brendan McGuire, a Roman Catholic priest who participated in the Anthropic discussions, told The Washington Post in April. "We've got to build in ethical thinking into the machine so it's able to adapt dynamically."
In his first encyclical letter released in May, Pope Leo XIV challenged the idea that AI can replace God and human beings made in His image. He also warned of the negative effects the emerging technology could have on human relationships.
"When words are simulated, they do not build genuine relationships, but only their appearance. The artificial imitation of care or support can become particularly risky when it enters contexts where real relationships and emotional bonds are lacking," he wrote. "Here, the danger is not so much that a person may believe they are communicating with another person, but rather that they may gradually lose the very desire to form genuine human connections."
Originally published by The Christian Post.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Palestinian Christian mother and daughter killed in Israeli strike on Gaza City building]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/palestinian-christian-mother-and-daughter-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza-city-building</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/palestinian-christian-mother-and-daughter-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza-city-building</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Daoud Kuttab]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud, right, and her daughter, Mary Hafez Michel Al-Najjar, are seen in this undated photo.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud, right, and her daughter, Mary Hafez Michel Al-Najjar, are seen in this undated photo. The Palestinian Christian mother and daughter were killed early Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, when an Israeli airstrike hit the apartment building in Gaza City where they were living. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sun, 04 Oct 2026 17:10:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Two Palestinian Christian women, a mother and her daughter, were killed early Saturday when an Israeli airstrike hit the apartment building in Gaza City where they were living, church leaders said.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Two Palestinian Christian women, a mother and her daughter, were killed early Saturday when an Israeli airstrike hit the apartment building in Gaza City where they were living, church leaders said.
The women had served parishioners and displaced people at a shelter affiliated with the Holy Family Church in Gaza, according to a Palestinian official who oversees church affairs. They were among at least five people killed in the strike, which the Israeli military said targeted a senior Hamas leader.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem identified the victims as Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud and her daughter, Mary Hafez Michel Al-Najjar (Abu Daoud).
Palestinians rushed to pull people from the rubble after the strike, according to health and civil defense officials.
Gaza City resident Ahmed Al-Dahdouh was among those who tried to pull people out. "This is happening every day to us; it is not safe. One sleeps at night and does not know if he will wake up in the morning or not; we woke up, we woke up," he said.
"We are Muslims, and these are our Christian brethren, who are not involved in anything; they are peaceful people, and everybody loves them, and now we pulled out their bodies, a mother and her daughter," he added.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X that it and the Israel Security Agency carried out the strike "in an attempt to eliminate the terrorist Ali Ahmed Al-Amoudi, the deputy chairman of the political bureau in Hamas in Gaza."
The IDF said Al-Amoudi served as Yahya Sinwar's right-hand man and personal assistant and "was involved in the decision-making surrounding the October 7th Massacre."
"Today, Al-Amoudi is the most senior Hamas figure in Gaza and is directly involved in Hamas' terror activities and in rebuilding the organization for war," the statement said. "The terrorist was struck in order to remove the threat."
The military said Al-Amoudi was in an apartment used by Hamas for terror activities at the time of the strike. "This is yet another example of Hamas' cynical use of civilians as human shields to advance terrorist activities," it said.
The statement did not say whether Al-Amoudi was killed. Some early reports suggest the attempt may have failed, although there has been no conclusive assessment yet.
The strike came during a ceasefire that has been in effect since October 2025. Israel has continued to carry out strikes it says target militants. It accuses Hamas of rebuilding its forces and violating the truce.
Shireen Awwad, a Gaza native who lives in Bethlehem, told Christian Daily International that local Gazans say there was a pursuit of a wanted Palestinian. She said the Israelis may have been looking for a specific target and struck the building to get that one person.
Awwad said the mother and daughter had taken refuge at the church in Gaza along with other Christians. When the church asked everyone to evacuate, they left. Those who did not have a home rented one. Maysa and her daughter rented a place in the building, as did others.
Awwad said Maysa's husband died a year ago of natural causes. She had two sons, Michel, who lives in Beit Sahour in the West Bank, and another in Germany. Both had long been trying to get their mother and sister out of Gaza.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III issued a short eulogy expressing pain and sorrow.
"With pain and sorrow, and in the hope of the Resurrection, we pray for the repose of the souls of Maysa and Mary, asking the Lord to grant them rest where all pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away, and to bestow patience and consolation upon their family," the Patriarchate said.
The statement added: "Every human being is created in the image of God, and every human life is sacred. We remember all the people of Gaza in our prayers, seeking mercy for the departed, healing for the wounded, and strength for the bereaved."
It concluded: "We pray for an end to the war and the bombardment and for the protection of civilian lives, and that a just peace may prevail — one in which the people of Gaza can feel secure regarding their children and loved ones. May their memory be eternal."
Ramzi Khoury, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee and head of the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine, also mourned the women. In a statement Saturday, he said they had dedicated their time to serving at the church shelter amid harsh humanitarian conditions in the Strip.
He said the deaths of Maysa and her daughter Mary are a painful loss for their families, the church and the congregation. He said they join the ranks of Palestinian martyrs in Gaza who have paid — and continue to pay — a heavy price because of the war and the death, destruction and suffering it has caused.
Khoury said the Christian community in Gaza has always been an integral part of the Palestinian people, steadfast in its attachment to its land, faith and presence despite the most grueling circumstances.]]></content:encoded>
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