Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 6 May 2024
Damaged in war, a vibrant church in Ukraine rises as a symbol of the country’s faith and culture
(Jill Lawless, Associated Press)
Democratic Republic of Congo: Clergy, laity protest ‘shameful’ judicial probe of Congo cardinal
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Taiwan: Noisy, gaudy and spiritual: Young pilgrims embrace an ancient goddess
(Chris Buckley and Amy Chang Chien, The New York Times)
Kazakhstan: One district, 4 police raids, 7 fines
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Fleeing from Jordan to Greece because of their change of religion
(Willy Fautré, The European Times)
Togo: Amended Constitution threatens to erode democracy in Togo, bishop warns
(Charles Ayetan, La Croix International)
Jordan King reaffirms commitment to protecting Jerusalem’s holy sites
(Middle East Monitor)
Panama: Bishops call for voter participation and provide 4,000 "election observers"
(Manuel Rueda, Agenzia Fides)
Saudi Food and Drug Authority engages Malaysian officials to strengthen halal industry collaboration
(Saudi Gazette)
Malaysia establishes dedicated hotline for reporting insults to Islam
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))
Malaysia: Largest international conference for religious leaders in Asia to be hosted in Kuala Lumpur
(Saudi Gazette)
Nigeria: Lekki Roundtable: Cleric speaks on role of church in solving societal problems
(Motunrayo Akinrun, Punch)
Volume 4, 2024: Theology and Jurisprudence
(Australian Journal of Law and Religion)
Australia: Faith leaders express concern over draft discrimination bill in Australia
(Tracey Bridcutt, Adventist Review)
Gambia and religious liberty: Proposals that a 'license' will be needed to preach are reminiscent of the dark era of dictator Jammeh
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A magazine on religious liberty and human rights)
Iran: USCIRF calls for additional sanctions amidst new harsh enforcement of Iran’s mandatory hijab law
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Articles of interest - 6 May 2024
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine-era church as a mosque
(Associated Press)
Friday, 3 May 2024
USCIRF releases 25th Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
(Jeremy P. Barker, Religious Freedom Institute)
Kyrgyzstan: US religious freedom watchdog recommends Kyrgyzstan for special watch list
(Catherine Putz, The Diplomat)
Indonesia disputes US call for crackdown over religious freedom violations
(Arie Firdaus, BenarNews)
India: MEA accuses US body of interference in India's elections over religious freedom report
(The Wire)
Here are the countries that rank worst in the world in religious freedom
(Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency)
Georgian lawmakers tussle in parliament after crackdown on foreign agent protesters
(Felix Light, Reuters)
Algerian appeals court upholds pastor’s conviction for “illegal worshipping”
(ADF International)
At time of rising antisemitism, Holocaust survivors take on denial and hate in new digital campaign
(Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press)
Center for Countering Disinformation anticipates increased religious information conflicts on Easter
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Metropolitan Ionafan of Tulchyn, UOC MP, requests to be released to Russia, - Media
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Latest issue of WCC interreligious journal focuses on gender justice
(World Council of Churches)
WCC, Christian Conference of Asia offer training in diakonia, sustainable development
(World Council of Churches)
Sudan: The forgotten war with no winners
(Nick Baines and Paul Swarbrick, The Church of England)
Mexico: 139 Protestant Christians are now living in an auditorium because the Mexican government has not done its job
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Wednesday, 1 May 2024
UK's Prevent strategy linked to rights abuses in Indonesia
(Areeb Ullah, Middle East Eye)
Ukraine: Two new conscientious objector jail terms
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
USCIRF releases 2024 Annual Report with new recommendations for U.S. policy
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
UN Special Rapporteur advises law graduates to keep the pursuit of justice at the center of their lives
(Eleanor Lambert, The Daily Universe - BYU)
Australia: Christian schools in Australia are under attack
(Stephen McAlpine, Premier Christianity)
Australia: March on religious freedom
(Kojo Akomeah, Adventist Record)
Australia: Church liability for clergy abuse
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)
Religion & Global Affairs Newsletter - 29 April 2024
(Knox Thames)
Afghanistan: A gunman kills 6 worshippers inside a Shiite mosque in western Afghanistan, the Taliban say
(Associated Press)
Democratic Republic of Congo: After his comments deemed "seditious": Cardinal Ambongo targeted by a prosecutor's investigation
(Dido Nsapu, Digital Congo)
Climate change and small island developing states
(Arthur Lyon Dahl, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
South Africa: Bishops decry state of targeted killings of clergy as another priest is gunned down in Pretoria
(Catholic Information Service for Africa)
China: Uyghur spy turns to religion and lands in Xinjiang prison
(Shohret Hoshur, Radio Free Asia)
Canada: Leave to appeal filed at the Supreme Court of Canada on Bill 21 case
(Canadian Civil Liberties Association)
Azerbaijan named among religious freedom violators by religious liberty watchdog
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)
Mexican Baptists in Hidalgo forced from homes
(Ken Camp, Baptist Standard)
Indian court ensures tribal Christian gets proper burial
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Kenya: Amid ongoing government probe, a Christian university fights for its identity
(Tom Osanjo, Religion Unplugged)
Brazil: Cleric highlights Islam's commitment to human rights protection
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))
Russia: Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly Digest April 16-30
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Russia: A court sentenced the candidate for membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir
(SOVA, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Conflict-related sexual violence globally: from bad to worse
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Religion Unplugged)
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
FAE joins English Montreal School Board's fight against Quebec's secularism law
(CBC News)
Monday, 29 April 2024
The European “cycle” of neutrality
(Matteo Corsalini, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Ukraine’s church-state relationship may be changed significantly: interview with Dmytro Vovk
(Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
SBU declared suspicion of the Metropolitan of Svyatohirsk Lavra for the disclosure of Ukrainian AF positions
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Speakers at religious liberty conference in Australia highlight the Savior’s 2 great commandments
(Trent Toone, Church News)
Canada: Renewed NDP push to end keffiyeh ban at Queen's Park fails
(CBC News)
Algerian Christians represent a source of peace for the country; let us preserve their freedom of worship!
(Thibault van den Bossche, European Centre for Law and Justice)
The end of Erdoğan’s Islamist-welfarist paradigm?
(Sultan Tepe, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
Fostering peaceful coexistence between religions: A perspective from international law
(Nazanin Baradaran, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
Egypt: Muslim extremists burn down Christian homes in southern Egypt ahead of Coptic Easter
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Thailand: Five-religion relationship workshop
(The World Fellowship of Buddhists)
Australia: Muslim groups claim double standards in police handling of two high-profile stabbings in Sydney
(Keiran Smith, Associated Press)
Articles of interest - 29 April 2024
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Colombian bishops call day of prayer as part of ‘silent service’ for peace
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Uzbekistan: regime continues repeated arbitrary blocking of registration
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
The roots of forced migration: contravening international law
(JoAnne Wadsworth, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
China: Religious issues and persecution – bimonthly digest April 15-29
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Chinese Christian jailed for distributing Bibles ‘illegally’
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Myanmar junta imposes curbs on religious activities
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Sudan: WCC meets president of Sudan for discussion of roadmap to peace
(World Council of Churches)
Iran: Religious issues and persecution – monthly digest April
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Iranian women violently dragged from streets by police amid hijab crackdown
(Deepa Parent, The Guardian)
Gambia: UDP leader urges Minister Hamat Bah to apologise to Gambians for preacher licencing
(Freedom Newspaper)
Iraqi Parliament weighs "Eid al-Ghadir" holiday proposal amid political and religious debate
(Shafaq News.)
Friday, 26 April 2024
2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
(Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State)
Iran: Christian prisoner of conscience denied medical care
(Article 18)
Philippine secular organizations convene for Philippine Secular Summit 2024
(Dugout Philippines)
Pakistan: Activist says, exploitation of religious minorities continues in Pakistan
(ANI)
China: How the Chinese state is hollowing out religion in Xinjiang
(The Economist)
Striving for peace every day in Ukraine means “shared responsibility for caring for human dignity”
(Conference of European Churches)
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh fear their religious heritage is in peril
(Arnaud Spilioti, La Croix International)
South Africa: Parliament Voting Scorecard
(Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA))
Death & Immortality (Volume 60 - Special Issue S1 - May 2024)
(Religious Studies, An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion, Cambridge University Press)
Bangladesh: Fear of sectarian violence after Bangladesh lynching
(Emran Hossain, Union of Catholic Asian News)
Nicaragua: Rights advocate: Dictatorship profanes Nicaraguan churches
(David Agren, OSV News)
Sudan: In solidarity visit to Sudan, WCC strengthens foundations for peace
(World Council of Churches)
Japan: Over 600% increase in hate speech and crimes against Jehovah’s Witnesses
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Morocco: Silenced voices… freedom of expression and religious minorities in Morocco
(Dahmani Youssef, Yabiladi)
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Australian police arrest 7 alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church
(Mark Baker and Rod McGuirk, Associated Press)
Australia: Is Australian multiculturalism at a crossroads? How terror attacks on faith communities tear the social fabric
(Josh Roose, ABC News Australia)
India: Modi is accused of using hate speech for calling Muslims ‘infiltrators’ at an Indian election rally
(Krutika Pathi, Associated Press)
A Russian Orthodox priest who took part in services for Navalny is suspended by the patriarch
(Associated Press)
Russia and FECRIS: When a picture is worth a thousand words
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)
Vietnam: CSW joins calls for clear and transparent investigation into the suspicious death of Evangelical Christian
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
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