Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 17 October 2022
Nigeria election: Dangers of being religious in a religious nation
(Chiagozie Nwonwu, BBC News)
Nigeria: Gunmen attack Nigerian church during service, killing 2
(Chinedu Asadu, Associated Press)
Nigerian bishop raps ‘conspiracy of silence’ on Christian persecution
(Aid to the Church in Need)
Racism in Europe has reached peak: Senior Turkish lawmaker
(Betül Usta, Daily Sabah)
Japan PM orders probe of Unification Church problems
(Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press)
Japan leader sends offerings to controversial Tokyo shrine
(Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press)
Articles of interest - 17 October 2022
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Pakistan agency creates unit to handle blasphemy complaints
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Tajikistan: Ismaili religious leader jailed, prayer houses closed
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
Lebanon: The unmelting Lebanese national pot
(Imad Salamey, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)
Religions for Peace’s multi-religious humanitarian fund supports the Interreligious Council of Uganda’s efforts against the Ebola virus outbreak
(Religions for Peace)
Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri extends greetings to Globethics international conference
(World Council of Churches)
WCC expresses solidarity with those urging end to “collective punishment” via closure of Shuafat Refugee Camp
(World Council of Churches)
Malawi: Catholic bishops express concern on high cost of living and corruption cases in country
(Catholic Information Service for Africa)
China: Freedom of religion or belief news: China: Special Bimonthly FORB Newsletter (01-15.10.2022)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Confucius envy: American reactionaries look to China for inspiration.
(Mason L. Wong, Commonweal)
Russia: Special bimonthly FORB digest (01.10-15.10.2022)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Russia’s use of “Spiritual Security”: An interview with Kristina Stoeckl
(Religion & Diplomacy: A Resource of the Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion and Diplomacy)
Patriarch Kirill calls Western civilization unviable
(Interfax-Religion)
Russian fake news corner: Jehovah’s Witnesses prepare an anti-Putin coup!
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
COMECE Plenary Assembly | EU Bishops appeal for peace in Ukraine and in the whole of Europe
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
Why gender and youth matter in FoRB and conflict
(JoAnne Wadsworth, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
Canada: First Winnipeg shelter for Muslim women and children opens, hopes to offer a sense of belonging
(Ozten Shebahkeget, CBC News)
Hijab rules have nothing to do with Islamic tenets and everything to do with repressing women
(Deina Abdelkader, The Conversation)
Turkish government is a close friend, says Taliban leader at a controversial pro-Hizbullah meeting
(Levent Kenez, Nordic Monitor)
Kyrgyzstan: Religious history course hampered by lackluster materials and teachers
(Nurbek Bekmurzaev, Eurasianet)
Southeast Asian MPs call for combating the politicisation of religion and protecting minorities
(The Online Citizen)
America/Bolivia - Bishops call for judicial reform: human dignity and human rights must be the focus
(Agenzia Fides)
Brazil: CNBB regrets “exploitation of faith to win votes” in the second round of elections (Portuguese)
(Gazeta do Povo)
Brazil: Lula will release a letter to evangelicals in which he will affirm respect for religious freedom (Portuguese)
(Beatriz Bulla, Terra)
Friday, 14 October 2022
India’s Supreme Court panel split on allowing hijab in classrooms
(Al Jazeera)
Karnataka hijab ban case: ‘Freedom of religion is subject to restrictions… (including) equality before law under Article 14’
(Ananthakrishnan G, The Indian Express)
India’s top court split on school ban on Muslim headscarves
(Ashok Sharma, Associated Press)
Nigeria: Is religious freedom under attack in Nigeria? (video)
(BBC News)
Brazilian president makes controversial visit to Marian shrine during campaign
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Nuncio urges more accountability by nations for ‘crimes against humanity’
(Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Israel: They united to oppose an extremist party entering Israel’s government in 2019. This time, leading US Jewish groups are staying quiet.
(Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Iran: Headcovers have always been political in Iran – for women on all sides
(Eliz Sanasarian, The Conversation)
USCIRF calls for UN commission of inquiry on Iran after crackdowns on protests against mandatory
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Moscow hosts the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, where Kirill again brings up the issue of "canonical territories"
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
DRC: The "considerable support" religions offer in the fight against deforestation
(Prisca Materanya, La Croix International)
How Indonesia coaxes jailed hardliners away from extreme views
(Aisyah Llewellyn, Al Jazeera)
Korean Church’s pro-life campaign tackles population decline
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Turkish imam loses his job over lyrics criticizing government
(Pinar Tremblay, Al-Monitor)
“The demise of democracy”: Victims of Turkish religious oppression speak out
(ADF International)
“EU should pressure Turkey to respect freedom of religion”
(Christian Network Europe)
United Nations Human Rights Committee declares Tajikistan’s ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses unlawful
(JW.org)
Russian Orthodox Church gets warm welcome in Orban's Hungary
(Peter Murphy and Balazs Wizner, France 24)
Bahrain activist group urges pope to speak out on human rights abuses
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Eritrea: Religious freedom watchdog seeks Eritrea’s release of 80-year-old Jehovah’s Witness
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)
Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Religion and human rights: A conversation with Elisa Massimino
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
'They ripped away a part of my identity': In Sudan, the military junta is cutting protesters' hair
(Eliott Brachet, Le Monde)
Recent survey provides insight on scope and scale of Christian healthcare in Africa
(Religion News Service)
Christians in Burkina Faso face 'existential threat'
(Alex Collett, Premier Christian News)
Russians search for Jewish roots to flee Putin’s army draft for Israel
(Marina Lapenkova, The Times of Israel)
Russia: Two priests on trial for opposing Russia's war in Ukraine
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)
The destruction of churches and religious communities in Ukraine matters
(Mónika Palotai and Kristóf György Veres, Hudson Institute)
UN experts call on India to repeal legislation discriminating against religious minorities
(Religion News Service)
Commonwealth countries are the most likely to have blasphemy laws
(Humanists UK)
Charter re-released on world day against death penalty calls on the final 11 countries who continue to sanction the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy to repeal such laws
(Jubilee Campaign USA)
Declaration on the situation in Nicaragua
(Twitter, Consorcio Latinoamericano de Libertad Religiosa)
Weekly Highlight #225: COVID-19: Exploring faith dimensions: Our updates
(Berkley Center, Joint Learning Initiative, WFDD)
Protests galvanize Iranians abroad in hope, worry and unity
(Sylvia Hui, Associated Press)
Iran protests are proving a durable challenge to the Islamic republic
(Sune Engel Rasmussen, The Wall Street Journal)
Fiji archbishop warns against ‘new colonial forces’ in Pacific nation
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Church leaders: Moving British Embassy to Jerusalem ‘counterproductive’
(Judith Sudilovsky, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Ethics education the focus of KAICIID workshop in Indonesia
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)
Vietnam: Commemoration Day of FORB Victims of Violence: 29 NGOs protest
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Catholic church in Brazil desecrated and 28 statues of saints destroyed
(Catholic News Agency)
Brazil: Freedom of worship relativized in the STF (Brazil's Supreme Court) (Portuguese)
(Gazeta do Povo)
Brazil: Manaus – “religious intolerance” – during procession of São Francisco das Chagas, man attacks image of saint and faithful were hit (Portuguese)
(Redação Portal Manaós)
Monday, 10 October 2022
How to make progress on gender equality without decreasing religious freedom: The OSCE context
(Montserrat Gas-Aixendri, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
An interfaith journey to forge ties between Israel and Pakistan
(BeLynn Hollers, Religion News Service)
China: 'There is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China' - report
(Mark King, Christian Today)
Turkey's 'disinformation' bill could harm freedom of expression: Europe watchdog
(The New Arab)
Canada: Private members’ bill on conscience rights in MPs’ hands
(Quinton Amundson, The Catholic Register)
New book: Current Issues in Australian Constitutional Law
(A. Keith Thompson (Editor), Connor Court Publishing)
African leaders at forefront of global symposium on peacebuilding
(Newsroom: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Religion Watch, Volume 37 No. 11 (Including: Religious liberty intensifying culture wars?)
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Faith & Media Initiative: A mission to unite, creating change together
Articles of interest - 10 October 2022
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
As Kenya’s government lifts ban on GMOs, some bishops express reservations
(Fredrick Nzwili, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Archbishop of Canterbury ‘concerned’ by impact of possible embassy move to Jerusalem
(Justin Cohen, Jewish News)
Kenyan President William Ruto criticized for favoring Pentecostal Christians
(Tom Osanjo, Religion Unplugged)
Haiti: Religions for Peace’s statement on Haiti – October 10, 2022
(Religions for Peace)
India: Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response to plea challenging instant divorce among Muslims
(Scroll)
India’s Hindu nationalism is exporting its Islamophobia
(Omar Suleiman, RNS Column: Islam Beyond Phobia)
India: Christians back Anglo-Indian quota in parliament
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
WCC acting general secretary visits Korean Peninsula
(World Council of Churches)
Iran’s hijab protests are of Raisi’s own making
(Kourosh Ziabari, Foreign Policy)
Indonesia: Religious leaders in Indonesia use social media to combat radicalism
(International Christian Concern)
In Nicaragua, crackdown on religious actors further imperils return democracy
(Maria Antonia Montes and Savarni Sanka, The United States Institute of Peace)
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem holds annual Sukkot event
(The Jerusalem Post)
Brazil: Did you suffer religious intolerance? Know what are your rights (Portuguese)
(Itatiaia Juiz de Fora, Redação)
Brazil: Father Kelmon says he is a victim of religious intolerance in Globo [TV] debate (Portuguese)
(UOL São Paulo)
Video: Ukrainian religious actors and organizations after Russia’s invasion
(Religion & Diplomacy: A Resource of the Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion and Diplomacy)
The world must know: IRF presented a report on targeted Russian attacks on religious communities in Ukraine
(Maksym Vasin, Institute for Religious Freedom, Ukraine)
UN concerned by state harassment of Ukrainian Orthodox Church
(Interfax-Religion)
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