Law and Religion Headlines
Friday, 3 July 2026
Ukraine: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in the crosshairs of the State
(Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Intestacy, the Forfeiture Act and the right to determine funeral arrangements: Bains
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Kenya’s marriage paradox: Polygamy accepted, divorce rejected
(Joseph Maina, Religion Unplugged)
Indian state scraps madrasa board, to oversee all minority institutions
(Bijay Kumar Minj, Union of Catholic Asian News)
NCCM condemns "Great Canadian BBQ"
(X, National Council of Canadian Muslims)
China: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest June 16-30
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Christians’ sentences of over 70 years upheld by appeals court
(Article 18)
Self-immolation of Tibetan man outside UN highlights long-standing Chinese repression
(Amnesty International)
Australian MPs condemn China’s Ethnic Unity Law, urge government to put Tibetan survival before China relations
(Central Tibetan Administration)
Church of England welcomes Government consultation on Religious Education in the National Curriculum
(The Church of England)
COMECE publishes contribution to the future European Security Strategy
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
Patriarch Kirill to Lukashenko: We hope that cooperation between Church and state will continue
(Orthodox Times)
Wednesday, 1 July 2026
FIFA’s respectful evolution: honoring faith on the global stage
(Lelo Mzaca, Mail & Guardian)
AI and translation
(JoAnne Wadsworth, G20 Interfaith Forum)
Al-Azhar Grand Imam: AI without ethical safeguards threatens values
(Egypt Today)
Nigeria Killings and Abductions (2020-2025)
(Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa)
Four key takeaways from Trump's Religious Liberty Commission Report
(David Katibah, Religion News Service)
Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)
Should America have a Christian culture?
(Ryan Burge, The Association of Religion Data Archives)
U.S. Supreme Court will hear case on home worship
(Sutherland Institute)
Two years in prison for ‘conversion therapy’: Christians warn that religious freedom could be undermined
(Evangelical Focus)
Muslim Turkish minority's will on trial in Greece
(Zeynep Gizem Ozpinar, Türkiye Today)
Erdogan ties 'genociding, expansionist, occupying' Zionism to threats to Turkey, 2016 coup attempt
(James Genn, The Jerusalem Post)
Israel moves to formally recognize Armenian WWI deaths as a genocide
(National Public Radio)
2nd Circuit reaffirms permissibility of NY repeal of religious exemptions from school vaccination requirements
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
The Bible verses dividing Washington: How Matthew 25 became a political litmus test
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
I served America in the fight against antisemitism. Here’s why that fight is at risk.
(Hannah Rosenthal, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Christianity still 'core element' of new Religious Education syllabus
(Robbie Meredith, BBC)
A Diocese tries to protect its 29-foot Jesus from Trump’s border wall
(Reis Thebault, The New York Times)
Sri Lankan Christians join anti-dengue drive on Buddhist feast day
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Webinar presents Nordic reflections on nuclear disarmament
(World Council of Churches)
Conference explores “Building Fraternity through Dialogue and Collaboration”
(World Council of Churches)
2026 Religious Freedom Annual Review recordings
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Japan: Press conference in Brussels about the dissolution of the Unification Church
(Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Supreme Court delivers landmark victory for women’s sports and religious liberty
(Becket)
Tehran church to be seized after residents ordered to leave
(Article 18)
Shaheen, Risch, colleagues statement on China’s ethnic unity law
(Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Senate)
Shincheonji and the Unification Church: South Korea’s Minister of Justice promises “strict punishment” of “false prophets”
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)
Kenyan canonist urges Catholic Church to seek marriage law amendments after high court ruling favors divorce
(Silas Isenjia, ACI Africa)
Kazakhstan to amend law on religious activities under new Constitution
(Kazinform)
How Morocco’s religious rehabilitation model could help Gaza
(Salma Annasse, The Washington Institute)
NEH sponsors exhibition and panel on art and religious freedom
(National Endowment for the Humanities)
All Africa Conference of Churches calls for protecting human dignity in wake of xenophobic threats
(World Council of Churches)
'Deeply distressing': India strongly condemns demolition of historic Gurdwara in Pakistan
(First Post)
Monday, 29 June 2026
Maryland man sentenced to federal prison for making online threats
(U.S. Department of Justice)
President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission delivers historic report draft
(U.S. Department of Justice)
New study of 2 million online posts shows persistent anti‑Jew and anti‑Muslim hate in Australia
(Matteo Vergani, Andrea Giovannetti, and Kewen Liao, The Conversation)
Giggle v Tickle comment on ABC website
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)
ICE releases a Texas nun intercepted walking to church dressed in her habit
(Valerie Gonzalez, Associated Press)
In an interview, Catholic Relief Services speaks about the issues facing the Lake Chad Basin in Africa
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Zelensky: Russia damaged 740 religious buildings in Ukraine
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
When policies are not enough: faith leaders and the future of migration in the Western Balkans
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)
Man arrested after suspected arson attack at Dublin Islamic prayer centre
(Conor Lally, The Irish Times)
Indian Catholics pray, fast to protest new rules on foreign donations
(Bijay Kumar Minj, Union of Catholic Asian News)
Radio program discusses history of Muslims’ presence in Poland
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))
Thousands join anti-racism demo after terrorism-linked murder bids
(BBC)
Should the clergy-penitent privilege be abolished in child sexual abuse cases?
(Paul Cassell, The Volokh Conspiracy)
Employees actually do not have the right to believe that LGBTQ rights are 'immoral'
(Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy)
The Islamic Republic takes advantage of minorities
(Article 18)
Texas Native American tribe asks U.S. Supreme Court to protect sacred religious land
(First Liberty)
When law loses its conscience: Common manifestations of religious conflict within modern rule of law
(Wang Yu-Ran, Bitter Winter)
Religious leaders in Italy sign pact to promote dialogue and coexistence
(Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, EWTN News)
ACLU-D.C. demands DMV allow full hijab in driver’s license photo
(ACLU)
Freedom to believe – and not believe: humanists challenge Lithuania’s religious status quo
(Domantė Platūkytė, Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija)
Canadian Museum for Human Rights opens ‘Nakba’ exhibit amid pushback from Jewish leaders
(Grace Gilson, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
‘Weaponizing ignorance’: Muslims bear brunt as Texas Republicans make hate mainstream
(Tyler Hicks, The Guardian)
Articles of interest - 29 June 2026
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Secular-Christian social justice: climate, race, and gender in the twenty-first century
(Noa Ben-Asher, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)
Legal Spirits 079: A short take on coffee shops and political combat
(Mark Movsesian, Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
Friday, 26 June 2026
Nigerian authorities arrest controversial polygamous pastor
(K.C. Nwajei, Roy's Report)
Morocco’s religious model, bulwark against extremism, IEGA report
(The North Africa Post)
Gaddafi-built mosque sparks controversy under Nyerere’s leadership
(Tanzania Insight)
Abubaker Ahmed Mohamed and 28 Others v. Ethiopia: State repression of Muslim identity, political justice, and landmark ACHPR decision
(Addis Standard)
Murder of priest ‘symbolises the moral failure’ in Sudan
(CathNews)
How digital platforms fuel ethno-religious hate speech in Nigeria
(Fact Check Hub)
When city rules chill home worship, courts should step in
(William C. Duncan, Sutherland Institute)
Why a Supreme Court case over a haircut could be a setback for religious liberty
(Charles J. Russo, The Conversation)
Supreme Court rules Rastafari man can’t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks
(Mark Sherman, Associated Press)
Turkey’s religious authority urges families to have children as birthrate falls
(Turkish Minute)
Massive Shiite crowds mark the holy day of Ashoura against backdrop of Iran-Israel-U.S. war fallout
(Fadi Tawil and Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times)
Bahrain restricts Shiite holy day amid Iran war crackdown
(Ismaeel Naar, New York Times)
A Trump commission urges ‘bridges’ between church and state in sweeping draft report
(Peter Smith, Associated Press)
Bible stories are approved as required reading in Texas public schools
(Jamie Stengle and John Hanna, Associated Press)
Alaska Airlines must face religious bias claims by workers who opposed LGBTQ bill
(Daniel Wiessner, Reuters)
Supreme Court rejects suit against Cisco for aiding persecution of Falun Gong.
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Massachusetts Supreme Court invalidates initiative petition that excludes religious housing from rent controls.
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
700+ US rabbis sign letter urging Mamdani to apologize for calling AIPAC ‘monsters’
(Grace Gilson, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
An Evangelical update to just war theory
(Jay Thomas, First Things)
Ukraine: Conscientious objector's violent death at military base "being covered up"?
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
American apostasy at 250
(Thomas F. Farr, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)
Indonesian clerics seek criminalization of LGBT advocacy
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Iran condemns Zionists desecration of mosques and attacks on Palestinians in West Bank
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran)
Even Denmark’s left wants the Islamic call to prayer banned
(Zolta Győri, The European Conservative)
Regina mosque's weekly call to prayer on hold after backlash
(Randi LaRocque, CBC News)
“Artificial Intelligence must serve the human person”, COMECE stresses at Article 17 TFEU Seminar
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
Germany: Five-meter high Memorial in Berlin for Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted by the Nazis
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Catholic family and preschools urge Supreme Court to end Colorado’s religious discrimination
(Becket)
Moves to decriminalize abortion in Germany decried by evangelical alliance leader
(Chris Eyte, Christian Daily)
Rep. Huffman responds to Trump Administration Commission’s report to tear down wall between church and state.
(Jared Huffman, U.S. House of Representatives)
Faith, law and peacebuilding
(John Andrew Quizana, BYU–Hawaii News)
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