Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 24 June 2024
India's 12th state plans law to criminalize conversions
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Australia: Proposed extraordinary immigration powers and religious protections face uncertain future
(Brett Worthington, ABC News Australia)
Israel: Heads of churches say Israeli government is demanding they pay property tax, upsetting status quo
(Julia Frankel, Associated Press)
Israel: Some good news from Israel: a new program in interreligious dialogue
(Ron Kronish, The Times of Israel)
'Not in the name of Islam': Muslims speak out against Hamas
(The Jerusalem Post)
Pakistani Christian praised for documenting blasphemy victims. Most are Muslims.
(Jayson Casper, Christianity Today)
Pakistan Defence Minister admits minorities being targeted in name of religion
(Mid-Day)
Defendant in Vatican trial takes case to UN, accuses pope of violating his rights with surveillance
(Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)
Arrest warrant issued for Turkish Youtuber over Sharia comments
(Medyascope)
Afghanistan: Minister announces media law update emphasizing Sharia and privacy
(Mohammad Yousuf Hanif, TOLOnews)
Articles of interest - 24 June 2024
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Saudi Arabia: What's behind deaths at this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia?
(Zahra Fatima and BBC World Service,, BBC News)
Papal charity flags Islamic extremism in Africa’s Sahel as major threat
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
European bishops say Pope Francis concerned with abortion, EU unity
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Asia/South Korea: Tensions between North and South Korea: Catholics pray for reconciliation and national unity
(Agenzia Fides)
Canada: In Quebec, the delicate end of the religious culture course
(Alexis Gacon, La Croix International)
Africa’s challenges to peace and security: Interreligious approaches and promise
(JoAnne Wadsworth, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
Ukraine: The war, religious beliefs and conscientious objection
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Syria: Army commander promises protection to Christian community in Ras Al-Ein
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
Putin and Kim Jong Un’s alliance: A new Cold War threat to religious freedom
(Adriana Azarian, National Catholic Register)
Legal Journal Number 8 (19): June (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)
Friday, 21 June 2024
Iran: USCIRF condemns severe medical mistreatment of imprisoned Gonabadi Sufi in Iran
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Information regarding the situation of Iranian Christian refugees (with focus on Türkiye)
(Article 18)
China: Beijing’s crackdown on Islam is coming for kids
(Ruslan Yusupov, Foreign Policy)
Vatican doubles down on courtship of China
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
New book: Culture, Secularization, and Democracy: Lessons from Alexis de Tocqueville
(Edited by Sophie van Bijsterveld, Hans-Martien ten Napel, Routledge)
New book: The Crisis of Civil Law: What the Bible Teaches about Law and What It Means Today
(Benjamin B. Saunders, Lexham Press)
New book: The New Governance of Religious Diversity
(Tariq Modood and Thomas Sealy, Wiley)
World Jewish Congress launches Institute for Technology and Human Rights
(World Jewish Congress)
Pakistan police register a case against a mob that killed a man suspected of desecrating the Quran
(Associated Press)
Pakistan: Authorities must end escalating attacks on minority Ahmadiyya community
(Amnesty International)
Pakistan: Ten long years: Reflections on the Supreme Court ruling that promised much for Pakistan’s religious minorities
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Major Archbishop Shevchuk says Ukraine’s freedom is essential for religious freedom
(Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
South Africa: Parental rights discussion (video)
(YouTube Video, Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA))
Mexico: Peace must be a priority, say Catholic leaders on anniversary of priests’ violent deaths in Mexico
(María Teresa Hernández, Associated Press)
Brazilian Supreme Court justice accuses bishops of ‘disinformation’ on marijuana debate
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Russia: Heavy prison terms for 9 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the occupied territory of Crimea
(Willy Fautré, The European Times)
Russia: Who ordered torture of Jehovah's Witness prisoner of conscience?
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)
New report, side event highlight faith actors and their role in civic space
(World Council of Churches)
Nigeria: MURIC urges Kwara government to protect rights of female Muslims
(The Guardian)
In Nigeria, churches stride forward together in response to HIV and AIDS
(World Council of Churches)
Tajikistan: Hijab ban: Know all details and reasons behind government’s decision here
(Organiser)
Israelis are getting religion, in spite of a coercive Chief Rabbinate
(Kenneth Brander, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Nicaragua: Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes attends masses under surveillance of the Sandinista Police (Spanish)
(Nicaragua Actual)
Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Protecting fundamental rights: The EU’s demands for China to respect freedom of religion
(CAP Liberté de Conscience)
Indigenous and African-descent Religious Leaders meet in Belém, Brazil to discuss issues with IF20, part of G20 Social
(G20 Interfaith Forum)
China: Hundreds of Uyghur village names change
(Human Rights Watch)
United Nations takes a step to combat Srebrenica genocide denial
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Religion Unplugged)
With world’s highest rates of religiously unaffiliated, East Asia remains spiritually vibrant
(Chloë-Arizona Fodor, Religion News Service)
Building inclusive cities: Addressing urbanization, migration, and gender inequality at the KAICIID Global Dialogue Forum
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)
Russian pressure weighs heavily on Bulgarian church election
(Andreja Bogdanovski, Balkan Insight)
Iran: Eight Christians sentenced to combined 45 years in prison
(Article 18)
Ten long years: Reflections on the Supreme Court ruling that promised much for Pakistan’s religious minorities
(Cecil Chaudhry, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Monday, 17 June 2024
Australia's Albanese, China's Li hold talks on trade, rights
(Kirsty Needham, Reuters)
Australia: Queensland government accused of cowing to Christian Lobby on anti-discrimination bill
(Ben Smee, The Guardian)
India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Pope Francis and invites him to visit India
(Agenzia Fides)
India slowly expands protections for ostracized interfaith, mixed-caste couples
(Priyadarshini Sen, Religion News Service)
Nicaragua: Religious freedom and Latin America: Murillo’s rhetoric — backed by Ortega’s mano dura — confronts identity and dignity in Nicaragua
(Emily A. Cole, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
Religion Watch, Volume 39 No. 7
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Global Interfaith Monitor No. 24
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Articles of interest - 17 June 2024
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Nigeria: Popular cleric Fr Mbaka urges government action on minimum wage deadlock to prevent crisis
(Linet Maina, Catholic Information Service for Africa)
China: Henan's new approach: The Sinicization of weddings and funerals
(China Aid)
China: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest June 01-15
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Mexico: No solution for Protestant families after fifty days of displacement
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
Kenya president joins Pope Francis in calling for end of conflicts in Africa
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Pope Francis urges G7 leaders to prioritize human dignity in AI development
(Inno Flores, Tech Times)
Canada’s last remaining faith reporter reflects the past, and future, of religion (podcast)
(Not That Kind of Rabbi, The Canadian Jewish News)
Pakistani Taliban announce a 3-day cease-fire with security forces on Eid al-Adha holiday
(Associated Press)
DRC: ISIS kills dozens of Christians in DRC; churches close after latest attacks
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)
The questionable “extraterritoriality” of Switzerland’s jurisdiction in the Semenya case (ECtHR)
(Sarah Thin, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Religion and spirituality in East Asian societies
(Jonathan Evans, Alan Cooperman, Kelsey Jo Starr, Manolo Corichi, William Miner, Kirsten Lesage, Pew Research Center)
Israel: Uproar over bill intended to increase religious party's control over rabbinical establishment
(Eliav Breuer, The Jerusalem Post)
2,500 Gazans unable to perform Hajj due to Israeli occupation of Rafah crossing: Official
(Middle East Monitor)
Over 40k Muslims pray at Al-Aqsa to mark 1st day of Eid al-Adha
(Muslim Mirror)
The Head of State discussed humanitarian support for Ukraine with the Ecumenical Patriarch
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
The President met with Pope Francis
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Russia tries to erase evangelical churches from occupied Ukraine
(Matthew Luxmoore, The Wall Street Journal)
Russia: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest June 01-15
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Geography impacts religion formation – Rizvan Huseynov
(Azərbaycan24)
New wave of violence erupts against Christians in the Indian state of Manipur
(Ganesh Rajaraman, Religion Unplugged)
Friday, 14 June 2024
New book: Ending Persecution: Charting the Path to Global Religious Freedom
(H. Knox Thames, University of Notre Dame Press)
Cuba: In the eyes of the Cuban government, leading a church can make you a threat to national security
(Anna Lee Stangl, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Nine Hindu pilgrims killed in bus attack in India's Jammu
(Cherylann Mollan, BBC)
Kyrgyzstan: Greater financial controls on religious organisations?
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
Pakistan: 3 minority Ahmadiyya community members detained to prevent them from performing religious rites
(The Times of India)
Pakistan bishop calls on international community to stop abuse of blasphemy law
(John Pontifex, Aid to the Church in Need)
Iraqi court tells Christian woman to convert to Islam
(Rudaw)
Mexico: Christians forced from their homes in central Mexico state
(Carlos Páez, World)
Kenya bishops say proposed tax increases would punish the poor
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Saudi Arabia: Hajj proves religion can inspire peace
(Shaykh M A Kholwadia, Al Jazeera)
Religious freedom is in danger around the world
(Frank R. Wolf, National Review)
India: Fresh wave of violence erupts against Christians in the Indian state of Manipur
(Ganesh Rajaraman, Religion Unplugged)
Defending Palestine a sacred jihad, Muslim scholars reiterate
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))
Australia: Proposed religious discrimination laws proving unpopular in Australia
(David Goodwin, Christian Today)
117th Congress IRF Congressional Scorecard
(IRF Secretariat)
Thursday, 13 June 2024
Harvest Ministries seeks ruling its Charter rights infringed when rally cancelled
(Anna Farrow, The Catholic Register)
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Israel’s Knesset advances contentious ultra-Orthodox conscription law
(Al Jazeera)
Israel: How a Palestinian/Jewish village in Israel changed after October 7th (on interfaith dialogue)
(Masha Gessen, The New Yorker)
Israel: Despite Israel’s isolation, large Christian delegation sees nations embrace the Jewish state
(Felice Friedson and Giorgia Valente, The Jerusalem Post)
Email Subscription
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies maintains a Law and Religion Headlines service covering news about freedom of religion or belief internationally. All interested may subscribe to this service, free of charge, using the link below.
Subscribe