Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 13 October 2025
Vatican's Deepavali message: With shared values, let's join hands
(Deborah Castellano Lubov, Vatican News)
Belgium: Jehovah’s Witnesses’ prisoners cannot be visited any more by their chaplains, denounced at the OSCE
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Sweden: State discrimination against Jehovah’s Witnesses denounced at the OSCE
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Spain's media are afraid of the Evangelical church, what is their agenda?
(Jorge Ruiz Ortiz, Christian Network Europe)
Attacks on places of worship in Manchester and Peacehaven did not arise in a vacuum. Political leadership is urgently needed.
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Suffering Persian Church the focus of BBC programme
(Article 18)
Backlash against CRL Commission's new oversight committee for religious groups
(Siphesihle Buthelezi, IOL)
Türkiye labels Christians as ‘national security threats’ to justify mass expulsions
(ADF International)
Religious holidays in Germany: Who gets the day off?
(Christoph Strack, Deutsche Welle)
Following Prime Minister’s rejection, Egyptian Christians petition government in case to recognize Easter Sunday as a public holiday
(ADF International)
Pashazada urges US to remove Azerbaijan from religious freedom watch list
(Report)
Afghan Hindus, Sikhs meet Muttaqi, urge restoration of religious places
(Vijaita Singh, The Hindu)
Sunday, 12 October 2025
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS, deadline 12 October 2025: Writing and Publishing in the Law of the ECHR and other International Human Rights Systems: A Workshop for Early Career Researchers
(University of Cologne)
Friday, 10 October 2025
Washington withdraws attack on seal of confession
(Becket)
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)
Religious institutions are among plaintiffs challenging new H-1B visa fees
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
California makes Diwali an official statewide holiday
(Deepa Bharath, Associated Press)
Sacramento city leaders weigh new policy to permit religious daggers in city hall
(James Taylor, CBS News)
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)
Hate crime in England and Wales rises for first time in three years
(Adina Campbell and Ruth Comerford, BBC)
Ethiopia’s National Dialogue Commission: Last chance for peace or another lost cause?
(Girma Bekele, Religion Unplugged)
Mallorca far-right party Vox calls for ban on hijabs and Islamic religion classes in Balearic schools
(Humphrey Carter, Majorca Daily Bulletin)
Tibetan voices at conference on PRC religious freedom
(International Campaign for Tibet)
Sweden: Hybrid warfare in a Russian Orthodox church (video)
(Teri Schultz, Deutsche Welle)
Pope: Labor unions should advocate respect for human dignity
(Devin Watkins, Vatican News)
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)
Dutch far-right politician Wilders fears he may have been a target of Belgian attack plotters
(Associated Press)
Fear and vigilance rise as attacks on houses of worship intensify worldwide
(David Crary, Peter Smith, and Tiffany Stanley, 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)
In brief to Supreme Court, BJC argues that monetary damages are available under federal religious liberty law for prisoner forcibly shaved
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
American Jews and Muslims celebrate ceasefire deal, but cautiously
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)
Judge bars ICE from taking some violent actions against religious activists, journalists
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
Religion may be rising among young people in Northern Ireland, says new poll
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Confiscated property, legal certainty and diverging case-law: Suverénní Řád Maltézských Rytířů
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
CAIR calls on DHS to lift ‘un-American and unconstitutional’ security grant funding freeze for American Muslim nonprofits
(Council on American-Islamic Relations)
Court confirms reopening of Muslim school in Nice after closure order overturned
(Sara Zouiten, Morocco World News)
ACLU urges schools to reject any prayer, Bible study policy after state law takes effect
(Michael Adkison, Houston Public Media)
Thursday, 9 October 2025
EVENT: 9 October 2025: Resurrecting Justice: How Christianity Gives Justice More Than Its Due (Washington, DC, USA)
(Daniel Philpott, Catholic University of America)
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Supreme Court skeptical of state bans on conversion therapy aimed at LGBTQ kids
(Lawrence Hurley, NBC News)
Pope Leo plans symbolic debut foreign trips to Turkiye and Lebanon
(Stephen Quillen and News Agencies, Al Jazeera)
Sanders announces the launch of the 10:33 Initiative pilot program
(Arkansas Governor)
Media bias & religious liberty – when headlines hurt
(Forum for Religious Freedom Europe)
Religion Watch Volume 40 No. 11
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Faith, science and the First Amendment: What to know about religious beliefs in the classroom
(Richard Foltin, Freedom Forum)
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)
The Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine discussed current issues of military chaplaincy and international activities
(Institute for Religious Freedom, Ukraine)
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)
How unity and justice can shape national narratives
(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)
We need better protection for religious liberty in education
(John Bursch, Real Clear Education)
From the pulpit to the picket line: For many miners, religion and labor rights have long been connected in coal country
(Richard J. Callahan, Jr., The Conversation)
Qatar affirms commitment to respecting and protecting human rights as cornerstone of its policy
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Ethnic policy service head Yelensky: Ukraine working on transition to state-church partnership
(Interfax)
Estonian bishop calls on authorities for dialogue, condemns anti-church law
(Union of Orthodox Journalists)
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)
The spiritual is political: Georgia’s Peace Cathedral as a hub for pro-democracy religious resistance
(Ken Chitwood, Center for Religion & Media, NYU)
Balkan needs and challenges for covenantal pluralism in Serbia
(Marko Vekovic, Institute for Global Engagement)
In Chicago, clergy and faith-based protesters say ICE is threatening their religious freedom
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
What rising violence reveals about freedom and faith
(Sutherland Institute)
Tuesday, 7 October 2025
32nd Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 5-7 October 2025: Regional, National, and International Protection of Religious Freedom (Provo, Utah, USA)
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)
Monday, 6 October 2025
Faith leaders unite in condemnation after arson attack on Peacehaven mosque
(Annabel Sinclair, Jewish News)
Religious freedom, realism, and constitution-making
(Andrea Pin, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Christian therapist seeks right to counsel gay teens to change attraction
(Justin Jouvenal, The Washington Post)
Around the web - 6 October 2025
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
Holy Land’s top Catholic leader calls on Christians to help build bridges in the Gaza conflict
(Giovanna Dell'Orto, Associated Press)
UK prime minister condemns suspected arson attack on mosque in English coastal town
(Lydia Doye, Associated Press)
IDEA requires New York to pay for kindergartener's Judaic Studies class
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Court holds Louisville responsible for trying to silence wedding photographer
(Alliance Defending Freedom)
Articles of interest - 6 Octubre 2025
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Violent acts in houses of worship are rare but deadly – here’s what the data shows
(James Densley and Jillian Peterson, The Conversation)
Pope Leo XIV and Lithuanian President discuss situation in Ukraine and peace efforts
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Bangladesh: NSU expels student over Quran desecration
(Dhaka Tribune)
Religious arbitration, family law, and constitutional limits
(Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy)
European bishops urge appointment of EU Special Envoy for Religious Freedom
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
Americans increasingly see legal sports betting as a bad thing for society and sports
(John Gramlich, Pew Research Center)
Cuba: New report highlights systematic violation of freedom of religion or belief in prisons
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
President of Estonia challenges anti-church law in court
(Union of Orthodox Journalists)
Fear and unequal treatment grip Muslim schoolgirls as Austrian government seeks to reintroduce hijab ban
(Elias Feroz, New Arab)
Supreme Court declines to hear Native American fight to save sacred site threatened by copper mine
(John Fritze, CNN)
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)
Everything you want to know about who’s watching online church
(Ryan Burge, Religion Unplugged)
Political, religious beliefs limit education’s impact on death penalty support
(Deann Gayman, University of Nebraska–Lincoln)
Parties in WV vaccine case differ on how religious freedom should apply to philosophical beliefs
(Lori Kersey, West Virginia Watch)
State Secretary Tristan Azbej: Hungary and Trump Administration deepen cooperation to protect persecuted Christians
(About Hungary)
U.S. Senators Katie Britt, Lindsey Graham, Republican colleagues introduce Religious Education Week resolution
(Katie Britt, U.S. Senate)
Swedish appeals court partially acquits far-right activist who burned copies of Koran
(Reuters)
100 years of the Hindu nationalist RSS movement
(Deutsche Welle)
Portrait of antisemitic experiences in the U.S., 2024-2025
(Anti-Defamation League)
In Marseille, decision to temporarily close the Bleuets mosque (French)
(La Croix International)
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