EVENT, 10 April 2025: 11th Annual Iowa Religious Freedom Day Celebration, "The Role of Religion in Peacemaking" (Des Moines, IA, USA) (Iowareligiousfreedomday.org)

EVENT, 10 April 2025 (6PM ET): Justice For All: Faith Leaders and the Non-Violent Fight Against Poverty (Grand Rapids, MI, USA) (Grand Valley State University)

EVENT, 6 February 2025: Religious Freedom in America (Washington, DC, USA) (National Council for Religious Freedom)

EVENT, 6 February 2025: National Prayer Breakfast (Washington, DC, USA)

EVENT, 6 February 2025 (1:30PM ET): Standing with the Silenced – Leveraging the Frank Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List (Washington, DC, USA) (U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

EVENT, 4-5 February 2025: IRF Summit 2025 (Washington, DC, USA)

EVENT, 3 February 2025: Global Faith Forum: Together for Peace in a Time of Outrage (Washington, DC, USA) (Multi-Faith Neighbors Network)

EVENT, 3 February 2025: IRF Summit University Partnership Program 2025 (Washington, DC, USA) (IRF Summit)

CALL FOR PAPERS, deadline 31 January 2025: Religious Freedom in Africa (International Journal for Religious Freedom)

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS, deadline for submission 31 January 2025: Young Scholars Fellowship at Oxford (International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)

EVENT, 15 January 2025 (9AM - 5PM EST): South Carolina Religious Liberty Conference (Columbia, SC, USA) (South Carolina Religious Liberty Conference)

VIRTUAL EVENT, 8 January 2025 (2PM ET): The Role of Religion and Spirituality in U.S. Security Assistance (Center for Strategic & International Studies)

Iraq: Armenian community in Zakho celebrates Christmas amid Kurdistan's religious harmony (Kurdistan 24)

Israel: First 50 ultra-Orthodox soldiers drafted to IDF’s new Haredi brigade (Emanuel Fabian, Times of Israel)

Vatican decides not to put keffiyeh back in Nativity (Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)

Religious freedom research: The impediment of two words (James C. Wallace, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

Christians face continued persecution as Africa remains jihadi hotbed (Diana Chandler, Religion Unplugged)

Salvadoran cardinal urges 'resistance' to metal mining as matter of life and death (Rhina Guidos, National Catholic Reporter)

Indonesia: Government lowers hajj pilgrimage costs to Rp 89 million per person (Yustinus Paat, Jakarta Globe)

Indonesian court upholds law stressing citizens' religion (Union of Catholic Asian News)

Ethiopia: Tigray Muslims protest ban of hijab in schools (Garowe Online)

Sudan: General Al-Burhan joins Catholic community in Sudan for Christmas celebration (Catholic Information Service for Africa)

Malaysia: Unilaterally-converted Selangor woman fails final court bid to be declared not Muslim (Malay Mail)

Canada Evangelicals concerned about tax status (Decision Magazine)

China: Hubei, CCP salutes January 1 with a party denouncing “cults and illegal religion” (Wu Guoxuan, Bitter Winter)

Egypt: Turning the page on intolerance: Egypt’s textbook reforms (Mariam Wahba, Foundation for Defense of Democracies)

Politics and State: sacrificial communities (Spanish) (Fishel Szlajen, Infobae)

Colombia: Evangelical Confederation of Colombia demands religious freedom from the government after the Aguachica massacre (Spanish) (Francy Agudelo, Infobae)

Brazil: The modern inquisitor: The collectivists' new crusade against freedom of belief (Portuguese) (Revista Oeste)

Brazil: The expansion of drug traffickers who see themselves as 'soldiers of Jesus' across Brazil (Portuguese) (Lebo Diseko and Júlia Dias Carneiro, BBC News Brasil)

European ministers press new Syrian rulers for inclusion of minorities, women in process (Arab Weekly)

The government allowed the reservation of clergy considering the specific characteristics of religious organizations (Institute for Religious Freedom, Ukraine)

Private Catholic schools in Britain against new tax imposed on Jan. 1 (Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Law and religion roundup – 5 January (Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

Archbishop of York – Ad Clerum (David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Everyone has a plan to fight antisemitism. Few have studied what actually works. (Asaf Elia-Shalev, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Church of Satanology's suit to display banner in schools moves ahead (Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

H.B. 71 guidance for Louisiana schools (Attorney General Liz Murrill)

Buddhist group says Army Corps’ Everglades project violates religious freedom (Kathryn Post, Religion News Service)

Pope appoints Trump critic to be archbishop of Washington, DC (Christopher Lamb, CNN)

Afterschool programs, supplies, and more: Faith groups partner with public schools to serve students (Hannah Vinueza McClellan, EducationNC)

New proposal for the protection of religious freedom in Puerto Rico (Spanish) (Microjuris al dia)