Conversion, Persecution, and the Reforming Voices of Muslims in Post–Revolution Iran
14.00 (UK Time)
Christian faith has a long and continuous history in Iran. The period since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 has been particularly stressful, with outbreaks of severe persecution, imprisonment and both judicial and extrajudicial killings. Despite this, record numbers of people have been coming to faith in Christ and meeting mostly in homes. Although the Iranian people remain largely tolerant of difference, the regime has cracked down hard on these new Christians, closing churches, arresting leaders, imprisoning believers and confiscating assets. Some reforming voices have, however, been raised against the suffocating Theocracy of contemporary Iran and the suffering it causes in all sections of the population. It remains to be seen whether these voices will influence the future course of Iranian society and whether they will have any effect on the suffering of Christians and other minorities in Iran.
Speaker
Monsignor Dr Michael Nazir-Ali
a member of the Ordinariate in the Catholic Church and Prelate to the Holy See, President of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue (OXTRAD)
Dr Nazir-Ali a member of the Ordinariate in the Catholic Church and Prelate to the Holy See. He was the 106th Anglican Bishop of Rochester, for 15 years, until 1 September 2009. He is originally from Asia and was the first Diocesan Bishop in the Church of England born abroad. He was appointed in 1994. Before that he was the General Secretary of CMS from 1989-1994 and before that Bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan. He holds both British and Pakistani citizenship and from 1999 was a member of the House of Lords where he was active in a number of areas of national and international concern. He has both a Christian and a Muslim family background. He is now President of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue (OXTRAD).
