Law and Religion Headlines

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Friday, 14 March 2025

Indonesian Catholic minister proposes religious freedom law
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

In Adygea, court of appeal upholds verdict against Inver Siyukhov from Maykop — 6 years in penal colony
(Jehovah's Witnesses)

Wednesday, 12 March 2025

Activists in Trinidad and Tobago push to include women’s occupations on Hindu marriage act
(Associated Press)

Philippines: Bill sets up legal framework for certifying religious groups
(Business World)

Indonesia: Trans woman’s prison sentence for ‘insulting’ Jesus must be quashed
(Amnesty International)

A new definition of antisemitism from Universities Australia is attracting criticism – two historians explain why
(Jan Lanicek and Ruth Balint, The Conversation)

What defines religious persecution?
(YouTube Video, CAAP Network)

Religion Watch, ‘Volume 40 No. 4’
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)

Torture and ill-treatment often intertwined with intolerance and discrimination on basis of religion or belief: UN expert
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)

Global Interfaith Monitor No. 33
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Chile: New publication explores paths to social transformation
(Bahá’í World News Service)

Religions for Peace advocates for a nuclear-free world
(Religions for Peace)

South Africa: Covenantal pluralism in South Africa: Resources for harmony amidst diversity
(Helena van Coller, Institute for Global Engagement)

Are ministers, pastors or priests in the Free State, South Africa, and Lesotho employees?: Melaletsa
(David Scrooby, Law & Religion UK)

G20 Interfaith Forum: Pre-Meetings in South Africa, February 2025
(Katherine Marshall, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)

Myanmar resistance group admits responsibility for killing of Buddhist monk it accused of army ties
(d, Associated Press)

Uzbekistan: Parents face punishment for their children's religious education
(Felix Corley and Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)

Kenya: President's church donation sparks Kenyan clashes
(Will Ross & Joseph Winter, BBC)

FIDELA (Foro Interreligioso de las Americas) Meetings 2025
(G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)

India: ‘Hope is resistance’: An interview with CSW’s India Researcher
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)

India: Arunachal govt to seek views of all religious groups before framing rules of APFRA: CM
(The Print)

Indian state could introduce the death penalty for religious conversions
(Jonah McKeown, Catholic News Agency)

Canada: Quebec committee to probe state of secularism in province’s institutions
(René Bruemmer, Montreal Gazette)

Brazil: Worker forced to participate in prayer before work will be compensated (Portuguese)
(TRT24, Bom Dia Advogado)

Brazil: Bill bans use of Christian symbols in LGBTQIA+ parades (Portuguese)
(Agência Câmara, Bom Dia Advogado)

Pioneer of Christian-Jewish and interreligious encounter awarded the Federal Cross of Merit (German)
(Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland)

Monday, 10 March 2025

Putin thanks Russian Buddhists for supporting the war
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))

DRC: Churches in Eastern DRC forced to shelter fighters as violence escalates
(Vicky Abraham, Religion Unplugged)

UN establishes mechanism to investigate atrocities in Congo
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Religion Unplugged)

Filipino religious leaders call for peace in troubled region
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem rebukes US secretary of state over backing of Israel’s war in Gaza
(Said Amori and Rania Abu Shamala, Anadolu Agency)

Israeli forces set fire to Nablus mosque, stop dawn prayers
(Middle East Monitor)

Faith groups underscore moral imperative to eliminate nuclear weapons
(World Council of Churches)

Iranian-Armenian pastor remains detained without charge or lawyer month after re-arrest
(Article 18)

China: CPPCC chief Wang Huning calls for ‘safe and orderly’ religious activities: report
(William Zheng, South China Morning Post)

India: Mass Christian protest in Arunachal over Anti-Conversion Law sparks debate on religious freedom
(Asia News Network)

New Silk Road? Malaysia-Kazakhstan’s next chapter in religious governance
(Shakila Yacob, Astana Times)

For human rights in Tibet to improve, solidarity and support from nations like Australia are critical
(Kyinzom Dhongdue and Daniela Gavshon, Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Islamists activists protest Ash Wednesday Mass taking place at multipurpose center in Indonesia
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Thousands in Nepal want monarchy back as public frustration with politics grows
(Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press)

Articles of interest - 10 March 2025
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Christian bioethics in a secular world: In search of ethical common ground
(Abigail Wilkinson Miller, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)

Pakistani Christian girl’s forced marriage annulled in win for religious freedom
(ADF International)

Friday, 7 March 2025

Russia: Religious issues and persecution: Bimonthly Digest February 16-28
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Occupied Ukraine: Religious freedom survey, March 2025
(Felix Corley and John Kinahan, Forum 18 News Service)

Sri Lankans ask court to save elephants from accidental death
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Malaysia: MCMC launches probe as Era FM announcers apologise over clip mocking Hindus, Thaipusam
(Yiswaree Palansamy, Malay Mail)

Ethiopia: Faith and ethical communities unite in Addis Ababa to champion reparative justice for Africans and people of African descent
(Catholic Information Service for Africa)

Syria: Francophone Catholic schools, the ignored soft power of Europe
(Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Nicaragua: Where are they? Carmen María Sáenz Martínez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda are prisoners of a regime solely interested in its own survival
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)

The Iranians stormed this church and forced its closure. But I’ll never forget the Christians I met there
(Tara Jamali, Premier Christianity)

Churches push for Cook Islands to be declared a Christian nation after mosque discovery
(Caleb Fotheringham, Radio New Zealand)

Beyond binaries: Gender-based persecution and LGBTQI+ rights in the OTP’s case against Taliban leaders
(Vinícius Alexandre Fortes de Barros, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Pakistan: Win for Christian fraudulently “converted” by employer in attempted enslavement
(Alliance Defending Freedom)

The Vatican brought together world experts to reflect on the end of the world (Spanish)
(Infobae)

Wednesday, 5 March 2025

EU bishops call for European unity and solidarity with Ukraine amid geopolitical uncertainty
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))

Islam and Statecraft: Religious Soft Power in the Arab Gulf States
(Jon Hoffman, Bloomsbury)

“Our starting point is the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” - Vatican Secretary for International Affairs
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))

Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs praises Muslim Council of Elders' efforts in promoting dialogue, tolerance, coexistence
(Emirates News Agency WAM)

Leading Myanmar opposition organization blames local resistance group for killing of Catholic priest
(Associated Press)

Conference attendees urged to celebrate and cultivate virtues of religious freedom
(Church Newsroom)

The Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia: For a more inclusive Canada
(Office of the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, Government of Canada)

Zimbabwe: Statement on the Church and the public space
(Zimbabwe Council of Churches)

Religious persecution is part of Russia’s battle plan
(Knox Thames, The Dispatch)

Uzbekistan issues new law on religious freedom
(Vladimir Rozanskij, Asia News)

Nigerian Bishops call attention to school closures in some northern states during Ramadan
(Paul Samasumo, Vatican News)

Pakistan, Three Ahmadi mosques attacked in Punjab within ten days
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)

Reason and values: The art of balance in religion, law and politics (Spanish)
(Fishel Szlajen, Infobae)

Monday, 3 March 2025

How Davos 2025 uncovered three big moments for religion, spirituality and values
(World Economic Forum)

How Christians are suffering extreme persecution around the world
(Jordan King, Newsweek)

NZ: Inspirational Muslim leader, mosque terror attack survivor announces move to Australia
(Anna Leask, New Zealand Herald)

Australia: NT's CLP government confirms plans to scrap Labor's hate speech changes
(Matt Garrick and Tilda Colling, Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Joint interfaith statement to the third meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
(Parliament of the World's Religions)

Canada: A new Ramadan sign went up at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square. Here’s the story behind it
(Asma Sahebzada, The Toronto Star)

For Syria’s religious minorities, new freedoms, yet lingering insecurity
(Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor)

A Special Partnership: The Aga Khan and James D. Wolfensohn
(Katherine Marshall, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Articles of interest - 3 March 2025
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Indonesia: Flogging of gay men a horrifying act of discrimination
(Amnesty International)

China: Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly digest February 16-28
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Liberia: Supreme Court intervenes in United Methodist Church dispute, summons Judge Konto for conference
(Gerald C. Koinyeneh, Front Page Africa)

Nicaragua: New report finds situation of freedom of religion or belief continues to deteriorate
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

South Africa: State regulation of religion not the way to go: Freedom of Religion SA
(Ernest Mabuza, Times Live)

IRFBA – The Article 18 Alliance Chair Statement: Three years of the devastating impact of the Russian war on Ukrainian individuals and faith communities
(The Article 18 Alliance)

Friday, 28 February 2025

On Theocratic Criminal Law: The Rule of Religion and Punishment in Iran
(Bahman Khodadadi, Oxford University Press)

2025 Religion and Foreign Policy Workshop
(Council on Foreign Relations)

Iraq stresses ban on publicly breaking fast in Ramadan
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))

Pakistan: Suicide bomber kills senior cleric at pro-Taliban seminary in northwest Pakistan on eve of Ramadan
(Riaz Khan, Associated Press)

Thailand: ‘Deportation’ of Uyghurs to China ‘unimaginably cruel’
(Amnesty International)

Moroccan king urges citizens to refrain from sacrificing animals during Eid
(France 24)

Mexican bishops call for national unity in the face of Trump’s policies toward the country
(Catholic News Agency)

Cambodia hosts its first Islam-Buddhism summit
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Tanzanian Vice President engages with central African Bishops to address eastern DRC conflict
(Catholic Information Service for Africa)

Kyrgyzstan: UN rights experts dismayed by new restrictions on freedom of religion or belief
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)

Nigeria: ‘Muslims in south-west Nigeria require Shariah law in family, commercial matters’
(Suliyat Tella, The Guardian)

Canada: Quebec education minister suggests expanding religious symbol ban to some school support staff
(Matthew Lapierre, CBC News)

Brazil: Feted at Carnival, Afro-Brazilian faiths face hate in daily life
(France 24)

Wednesday, 26 February 2025

How the Papacy of the first Jesuit Pope will be remembered in the distant future
(Thomas Massaro, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)

Religious freedom priorities: A summary of the International Religious Freedom Summit 2025
(Marianna Richardson, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)

Sudanese bishops urge tax exemptions amid conflict and economic turmoil
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Occupied Ukraine: Orthodox priest illegally transferred to Russian labour camp
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

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