Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 13 October 2025
Iran: Religious persecution and issues – Monthly Digest September 2025
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
'Cameroon is a powder keg': Catholic bishops challenge nonagenarian president
(Victor Gaetan, Religion News Service)
Kyrgyzstan: Secret police raid, police fine Baptists for "illegal" worship meeting
(Mushfig Bayram and Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
WCC facilities exchange at Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development forum
(World Council of Churches)
Muttaqi's Deoband visit and the soft power lesson it holds for India
(Faisal C K, The New Indian Express)
A Muslim sanitation caste and the constitution of India
(Shireen Azam, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
India is forcibly deporting Muslims, including its own citizens, after Kashmir violence
(Omkar Khandekar, NPR)
Articles of interest - 13 October 2025
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
China detains dozens of underground church pastors in crackdown
(Laurie Chen, Reuters)
CSW70: NGOs decry gender-based violence and religious persecution of minority women
(Juan Sanchez Gil, The European Times)
As Bolivia’s elections near, why socialism is out and the Catholic Church might be in
(Graciela Ibáñez, Religion Unplugged)
Vatican's Deepavali message: With shared values, let's join hands
(Deborah Castellano Lubov, Vatican News)
Suffering Persian Church the focus of BBC programme
(Article 18)
Backlash against CRL Commission's new oversight committee for religious groups
(Siphesihle Buthelezi, IOL)
Following Prime Minister’s rejection, Egyptian Christians petition government in case to recognize Easter Sunday as a public holiday
(ADF International)
Afghan Hindus, Sikhs meet Muttaqi, urge restoration of religious places
(Vijaita Singh, The Hindu)
Friday, 10 October 2025
Address of Pope Leo XIV to a delegation of "Aid to the Church in Need"
(The Holy See)
Trillion Peso March movement sets bigger rallies for November 30
(Paterno R. Esmaquel II, Rappler)
Sacred law and secular courts: India and Israel’s balancing act
(Anish Sinha, Times of Israel)
Yahaya Sharif-Aminu’s Supreme Court outcome will shape religious freedom in Africa
(Sean Nelson, ADF International)
Ethiopia’s National Dialogue Commission: Last chance for peace or another lost cause?
(Girma Bekele, Religion Unplugged)
Tibetan voices at conference on PRC religious freedom
(International Campaign for Tibet)
Religious orders in Ghana challenged to make human rights “more tangible”, defend ecological justice
(Sabrine Amboka, ACI Africa)
Zion Church pastor has been detained in China, his daughter and a religion monitoring group say
(Dake Kang, Associated Press)
Violence erupts in eastern Pakistan as Islamists try to march on capital for pro-Palestinian rally
(Babir Munir Ahmed, Associated Press)
The West Bank’s dwindling Palestinian Christian communities, in photos
(Leo Correa, Associated Press)
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Pope Leo plans symbolic debut foreign trips to Turkiye and Lebanon
(Stephen Quillen and News Agencies, Al Jazeera)
Media bias & religious liberty – when headlines hurt
(Forum for Religious Freedom Europe)
Religion Watch Volume 40 No. 11
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Ukraine: UN experts warn of persecution against Ukrainian Orthodox Church
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)
Silent histories, loud exclusions: Hindu inheritance and transgender personhood from Dharmaśāstras to India’s Trans Rights Act
(Jaideep Singh Lalli, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion)
Islamic Normative Legal Theory: Framework and Applications
(Habib Ahmed, Cambridge University Press)
Charlie Kirk memorial in Seoul shows power of Christian nationalism for young Korean activists
(Chanhee Heo, Religion Dispatches)
New book spans 30 years of contributions to discourse on equality
(Bahá’í World News Service)
President of PRAISE visited The WFB
(World Fellowship of Buddhists)
Authorities find body of missing priest in violence-torn region of Mexico
(Associated Press)
NSO’s decision to send the government a pre-action protocol letter over ‘Islamophobia’
(Network of Sikh Organisations)
Qatar affirms commitment to respecting and protecting human rights as cornerstone of its policy
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Legal Journal Number 11 (20): September (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)
Where guns divide, music unites: when artists become peacemakers (French)
(Zion News TV)
Monday, 6 October 2025
Religious freedom, realism, and constitution-making
(Andrea Pin, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Holy Land’s top Catholic leader calls on Christians to help build bridges in the Gaza conflict
(Giovanna Dell'Orto, Associated Press)
Articles of interest - 6 Octubre 2025
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Bangladesh: NSU expels student over Quran desecration
(Dhaka Tribune)
Cuba: New report highlights systematic violation of freedom of religion or belief in prisons
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
Malaysian minister called to resign after boozy dinner reignites culture wars
(Joseph Sipalan, South China Morning Post)
Shoe thrown at India's top judge in religious row
(Umang Poddar and Jaroslav Lukiv, BBC)
100 years of the Hindu nationalist RSS movement
(Deutsche Welle)
Friday, 3 October 2025
Japan: UN experts concerned by continued stigmatisation of religious minorities
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)
Is South Korea’s ‘Buddhistcore’ aesthetic a fad or a spiritual awakening?
(Yan Zhuang and Seung-ku Lee, The New York Times)
Squatters remain a problem in Uganda: How the Anglican Church is fighting back
(John Semakula, Religion Unplugged)
Character education supports younger generations living in diversity
(Ester Lince Napitupulu, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
WCC participates in Summit for Interfaith Unity and Peace
(World Council of Churches)
Russia: Religious issues and persecution: Bimonthly Digest September 16-30
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
WEA and Salvation Army support urgent call by the Special Rapporteur on modern slavery to end the worst forms of child labour
(World Evangelical Alliance)
Panel explores Catholic social teaching and human rights in Africa
(University of Notre Dame Law School)
Cardinal Koovakad: Religions have a unique role in fostering peace
(Vatican News)
Nigeria: Tinubu preaches religious tolerance as APC National Chairman buries mother
(Agabus Pwanagba, Daily Post)
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
Nepal chooses a 2-year-old girl as new living goddess worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists
(Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press)
Internet blackout hits Afghanistan as Taliban enforce morality crackdown
(AP, Politico)
Sustainable development goals and faith-based leadership
(Council on Foreign Relations)
Pope's October prayer intention: 'Collaboration among religions'
(Deborah Castellano Lubov, Vatican News)
Christians in Chad complain of Islamicization of public institutions
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Uzbekistan: Prisoners of conscience pressured to implicate others, banned from reading Koran
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
This Yom Kippur, Chabad Shanghai emissaries reflect on absence of inherent antisemitism in China
(Giorgia Valente, The Jerusalem Post)
The responsibility of host countries to protect refugees fleeing religious persecution — Examples from South and Southeast Asia
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Schwarzenegger at Vatican in mission to 'terminate' fossil fuels
(Joshua McElwee, Reuters)
Religious freedom: A cornerstone of peace and prosperity
(Brian Grim, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)
Monitoring group says appeals court in Qatar overturns conviction of the Baha’i community’s leader
(David Crary, Associated Press)
Buddhist monks oppose Sri Lanka's child protection law
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Monday, 29 September 2025
Freedom of religion: Global, South African, and local issues
(Mark Hill, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
Pronouns, employment and religious schools
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)
What 3 words end a marriage?
(Faraz Firouzi Mandomi, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
Hindus escape Pakistan’s persecution, only to hit India’s bureaucratic walls
(Anuj Behal, The Revealer)
South Korea’s religious purge
(Forum for Religious Freedom Europe)
Religion Watch, ‘Volume 40 No. 10’
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
On prohibiting pupil prayers: Conceptions of religion and secularism in Webber Academy (Canada) and Michaela School (UK)
(Ashleigh Keall and Howard Kislowicz, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion)
Global Interfaith Monitor No. 39
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Religious groups join UN's 'Stand Up for Children in War' campaign
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
UN Secretary-General’s report highlights persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran
(Bahá’í World News Service)
Faith and diplomacy: Kazakhstan reconciles religious leaders
(The Times of Central Asia)
A new school year for internally displaced students and teachers in Myanmar
(Seng Mai Aung, Hyeyeon Park, and Tala Alnasser, Institute for Global Engagement)
Faith-inspired development approaches that empower women and girls
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
The forgotten crisis: Children in the Sahel bear the brunt of conflict
(Katherine Marshall and Jean Marc Tiendrebeogo, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
A half century of legal recognition—Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Caledonia
(Jehovah's Witnesses)
Articles of interest - 29 September 2025
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Council of Churches calls on democratic countries to provide Ukraine with effective air defense systems
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
China: Draft ‘Ethnic Unity’ law tightens ideological control
(Human Rights Watch)
Urgent appeal for a Children’s Commissioner | The Commission on Justice and Peace
(Canadian Council of Churches)
Gallagher: Reform the UN to promote peace, development, and human rights
(Vatican News)
The International Buddhist Forum in Russia
(Asia News)
Jewish Federations welcome deal to release hostages
(Jewish Federations)
Friday, 26 September 2025
Border disputes: Religious adjudication along the private-public nexus
(Ori Aronson, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Sydney Anglicans defend ‘freedom to pray’
(The Melbourne Anglican)
Critics say Hong Kong Cardinal is whitewashing China’s religious persecution
(Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register)
China's persecution of religious leaders
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Halal concerns drive vaccine hesitancy as Indonesia fights measles outbreak
(Edna Tarigan and Dita Alangkara, Associated Press)
Improving criminal justice outcomes against corporations using forced labor
(JoAnne Wadsworth, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
Seeking growth, Buddhist Bhutan experiments with ‘mindful capitalism’
(Sushmita Pathak, Christian Science Monitor)
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