Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 11 May 2020
Pandemic to reshape how congregations worship as dioceses prepare to resume in-person gatherings
(David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service)
Chinese debt could cause emerging markets to implode
(Benn Steil and Benjamin Della Rocca, Foreign Affairs)
Sunday, 10 May 2020
Pandemic leads churches to celebrate motherhood creatively this Sunday
(Alejanra Molina, Religion News Service)
Celebrating Mass safely — but pastorally — during a pandemic
(Thomas Reese, RNS column: Signs of the Times)
Law and religion round-up – 10th May
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
TRO issued against Kentucky in-person worship service restriction
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Judge grants restraining order against Kentucky governor in dispute over in-person religious gatherings
(First Liberty)
Saturday, 9 May 2020
Celebrating midwives, unsung heroes on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis
(United Nations Population Fund)
Free transport helps pregnant women in Madagascar safely deliver amid COVID-19 lockdown
(United Nations Population Fund)
COVID-19: The question of China and its accountability
(Deepak Sinha, Observer Research Foundation)
Father Benedict Kiely and religious liberty expert Tom Farr on the coronavirus crisis
(Podcast, The Catholic Association (TCA))
Another heartbreak for American Jews? The cancellation of summer camps.
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)
From Vietnam to the coronavirus pandemic, lies still kill
(Jim Wallis, Religion News Service Opinion)
An Old World Torah scroll unites a North Carolina synagogue in a time of pandemic
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)
Food insecurity set to become the bigger pandemic
(Ryan Heath, Politico)
Daily Highlight #52: How Might COVID-19 Affect Muslim Charitable Giving, Especially Zakat, During Ramadan?
(Katherine Marshall, Berkley Center, Joint Learning Initiative, WFDD)
Black churches, via phones and Facebook, bridging digital divide amid COVID-19
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)
“A disaster within a disaster”—In Burkina Faso, terrorism and COVID-19 pose a double threat
(Maria Lozano, Aleteia)
Awkwardly timed issue: Should hard-pressed churches still want to be tax exempt?
(Richard Ostling, GetReligion)
Juries and Covid-19: protecting the right to a fair trial
(Sapan Maini-Thompson, The Justice Gap)
Friday, 8 May 2020
Newlsetter of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
(Churches Together in Britain and Ireland)
COVID-19: A Gender Lens - Protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights, and promoting gender equality
(United Nations Population Fund)
Protecting seasonal workers in Turkey’s tent settlements from COVID-19
(United Nations Population Fund)
Argentine president vows to legalize abortion, despite pandemic shutdown
(Ines San Martin, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
President Russell M. Nelson encourages caution as the Church looks lorward amid COVID-19 pandemic
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
White House views CDC reopening guidelines as infringements on religious liberty
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
White House rejects C.D.C.’s coronavirus reopening plan
(Abby Goodnough and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times)
Virginia defends coronavirus restrictions in church lawsuit
(Denise Lavoie, Associated Press)
Merkel discusses pandemic with Pope Francis
(Associated Press)
Church/state deal means Mass will be back in Italy on May 18
(John L. Allen Jr., Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Churches in Europe reopening with restrictions to avoid contagion
(Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service)
U.S. Attorney’s Office urges Norman mayor to open places of worship
(Oklahoma's News 4)
Religion can no longer claim moral superiority, and six other lessons from the coronavirus crisis
(Haaretz)
“Corona jihad”: India blame Muslims for the spread of Covid-19
(Irfan Mahar, Modern Diplomacy)
Spain-China relations and COVID-19: The bright and dark sides of a necessary partnership for Spain – Analysis
(Mario Esteban and Ugo Armanini, Elcano Royal Institute via Eurasia Review (English translation))
When governments switched their story from ‘flatten the curve’ to ‘lockdown until vaccine’ – OpEd
(Ryan McMaken, Mises Institute)
America’s stark ‘liberty or death’ conundrum – OpEd
(Theodore Karasik, Eurasia Review)
COVID-19: Urgent need for African governments to upgrade health systems – OpEd
(Kester Kenn Klomegah, Eurasia Review)
White House tells CDC to butt out of religion
(Mark Silk, RNS Column: Spiritual Politics)
Thursday, 7 May 2020
WEBINAR, 7 May 2020 (3 pm Brussels - GMT+2)—COVID-19, RELIGION, and BELIEF Series: Episode 5, COVID-19 and FoRB: Multilateral Organisations' Perspective
(Judd Birdsall, Meret Bilde, H.E. Mrs. Ismat Jahan, Kishan Manocha, Ibrahim Salama)
WEBINAR, 7 May 2020 (9 am EDT)—COVID-19, RELIGION, and BELIEF Series: Episode 5, COVID-19 and FoRB: Multilateral Organisations' Perspective
(Judd Birdsall, Meret Bilde, H.E. Mrs. Ismat Jahan, Kishan Manocha, Ibrahim Salama)
WEBINAR, 7 May 2020 (3 pm Brussels)—COVID-19, RELIGION, and BELIEF Series: Episode 5, COVID-19 and FoRB: Multilateral Organisations' Perspective
(Judd Birdsall, Meret Bilde, H.E. Mrs. Ismat Jahan, Kishan Manocha, Ibrahim Salama)
Pandemic piety
(William B. Lawrence, Sightings: The Martin Marty Center, University of Chicago Divinity School)
You might have the right to gather, but you can choose otherwise
(Benjamin Marcus, Freedom Forum Institute)
Church's challenge to California stay-at-home orders is rejected
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Churches sue Michigan governor over COVID-19 orders despite their exemption from penalties
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Churches sue Whitmer, claim coronavirus orders hinder religious gatherings despite exceptions
(Gus Burns, M Live)
Kentucky governor sued by church and state AG over covid-19 restrictions on services
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Nicholasville church files lawsuit against Beshear over in-person services
(WKYT News)
Church sues Maine governor over COVID-19 restrictions
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Orrington church sues Janet Mills over order barring in-person worship services
(Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News)
Italy to soon celebrate first public masses since coronavirus outbreak
(Melissa Butz, New Evangelization Television TV)
10 arrested in Argentina for clandestine Mass violating corona-lockdown rules
(Ines San Martin, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Bishop warns police against ‘heavy-handedness’ in enforcing lockdown measures in UK
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Catholic leaders in England decry racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Beyond the public gatherings debate: religious freedom during covid-19
(Chelsea Langston Bombino, Religion Unplugged)
Muslim doctors fight COVID-19 — and Islamophobia — on the front lines
(Rowaida Abdelaziz, Huffington Post)
Public Masses in Italy to resume May 18, ending bitter Church-state rift
(Philip Pullella, Reuters)
Under this doctor’s care, most COVID-19 patients are recovering. Here’s his unusual approach.
(Kevin Pham, The Daily Signal)
Wednesday, 6 May 2020
COVID-19 restrictions & (re)definition of gender roles in Nigeria
(Azizat Omotoyosi Amoloye-Adebayo, Institute for African Women in Law)
Learning lessons the hard way – Article 2 duties to investigate the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic
(Paul Bowen QC, UK Human Rights Blog)
Grateful Irish honour their Famine debt to Choctaw tribe
(Independent.ie)
Indiscriminate Covid-19 location tracking (Part II): Can pandemic-related derogations be an opportunity to circumvent Strasbourg’s scrutiny?
(Ilia Siatitsa and Ioannis Kouvakas, Strasbourg Observers)
Indiscriminate Covid-19 location tracking (Part I): Necessary in a democratic society?
(Ilia Siatitsa and Ioannis Kouvakas, Strasbourg Observers)
When will worship places open again? The cases of Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
(Joel Foster, Evangelical Focus Europe)
DOJ sides with Virginia church in lawsuit over governor’s coronavirus orders
(Carol Kuruvilla, Huffington Post)
Opinion: Share your stimulus check with refugees in Houston
(Rt. Rev C Andrew Doyle, Rabbi Oren J. Hayon, Sheikh Joe Bradford, and Venerable Hung-I, Houston Chronicle)
Few Americans say their house of worship is open, but a quarter say their faith has grown amid pandemic
(Claire Gecewicz, Pew Research Center Fact Tank)
U.S. district judge rules Pritzker’s stay-at-home order constitutional
(Ben Pope, Chicago Sun Times)
BJC, others press Congress to prohibit discrimination in future COVID-19 response legislation
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Catholic groups urge Congress to concentrate on poor, marginalized during pandemic
(Christopher White, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
To balance public health and religious freedom, we need something better than Bill de Blasio’s dumb tweets
(Michael A. Helfand, Tablet)
A theologian government minister in Frace
(Society of St. Pius X)
Model of humanitarian aid for persecuted Christians must change, experts say
(Christopher White, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Bringing my whole self to work: A Catholic perspective
(Laura DeMaria, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)
Nuns vs. the Coronavirus
(Emma Green, The Atlantic)
Scientific research on the coronavirus is being released in a torrent. Will that change how science is published?
(The Economist)
For microfinance lenders, covid-19 is an existential threat. Yet, in the post-pandemic world, the world’s poor will need them more than ever
(The Economist)
Tuesday, 5 May 2020
Colorado: Religious nonprofits in 'evangelical mecca' face unprecedented challenges
(Steve Rabey, Religion Unplugged)
What is the 'pro-life' choice in deciding whether to reopen America?
(Richard Ostling, Religion Unplugged)
How an evil virus points to the crushing weight of the Fall ... and also to the glorious hope of the Resurrection
(David French, Dispatch: The French Press)
Covid-19 denial diarist
(Rod Dreher, The American Conservative)
Coronavirus: New York, March 25
(R.R. Reno, First Things)
South African court upholds covid-19 ban over objections of mosque and its imams
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Why the court ruled that the ban on religious gatherings is not unconstitutional
(Tanveer Jeewa, Ground Up)
Trump on COVID-19 restrictions on worship services
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Remarks by President Trump in a Fox News virtual town hall (regarding covid-19 restrictions)
(The White House)
Rome's parks buzz as Italy eases COVID-19 restrictions, with Masses coming soon
(Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)
Bishops back phased approach to church access
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Sacraments in age of social distancing: How will bishops walk that church-state tightrope?
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
Australian Catholic leaders join appeal to protect migrants during COVID-19 crisis
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
A ‘breakdown of trust’: pandemic corrodes church-state ties in Russia
(Andrew Higgins, The New York Times)
Religious liberty means COVID-19 restrictions cannot target churchgoers
(Tony Perkins, Religion News Service Opinion)
Why religious freedom stokes coronavirus protests in the U.S., but not Canada
(Pamela E. Klassen, The Conversation, phys.org)
Monday, 4 May 2020
A quarter of Americans, and a majority of black Protestants, say their religious faith has deepened because of the coronavirus
(Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post)
6th Circuit allows drive-in church services while appeal is pending
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Court rules for church against KY governor
(Liberty Counsel)
Pastors challenge Maryland's COVID-19 limits on worship services
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Priest sues challenging New Jersey COVID-19 order
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
NJ priest suing Gov over pandemic order as ‘unconstitutional’
(New Jersey 101.5)
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