Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 26 October 2020
In an Arab first, Bahraini institution joins with State Dept. to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism
(Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Holy See talks rule of law at United Nations
(Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)
A faith-based vision for the UN at 75 and beyond
(Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)
New COVID-19 legislation and guidance to 31 October
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
NSW COVID rules for churches- numbers increase
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)
OAS General Assembly calls its members to protect religious freedom
(Evangelical Focus Europe)
UK Govt pledges new special envoy for religious freedom
(The Christian Institute)
CCP’s religious persecution denounced
(Lu Yi-hsuan and Kayleigh Madjar, Taipei Times)
As organized religion shrinks, faith-based charities worry about the future
(Bob Smietana, The Washington Post)
Two weeks in review, 12 – 25 October 2020
(Gail Lythgoe, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Violence, discrimination against India's marginalized Dalits are rising, new data says
(Hanan Zaffar and Danish Pandit, Religion Unplugged)
Friday, 23 October 2020
Photos of the Week - 23 October 2020
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)
Pope reverts to maskless old ways amid growing criticism
(Nicole Winfield, Religion News Service)
Inside the church at the heart of the Louisville’s Breonna Taylor protests
(Claire Galofaro, Religion News Service)
Yom Kippur Zoom reunites Holocaust survivors 71 years later
(Luis Andres Henao and Jessie Wardarski, Religion News Service)
In a New York Minute: Cuomo caves to Jewish schoolgirls, loosens targeted lockdown order
(Becket: Press Release)
RFI urges Cuomo to stop “scapegoating” Orthodox Jews, files court brief supporting Jewish students
(Ismail Royer, Religious Freedom Institute)
Jewish schoolgirls take on Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio targeting of Jewish schools
(Becket: Press Release)
Hasidic Jews feel like the only minority New York officials are comfortable targeting
(Menachem Wecker, Religion News Service)
Brandeis University stands by caste-bias ban despite pushback from Hindu activists
(G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Religion News Service)
Sean Feucht’s worship protest gets green light in DC, despite fears of ‘superspreader’ event
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
USCIRF hearing on combatting online hate speech and disinformation targeting religious communities
(YouTube Video, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Albania joins global efforts to combat anti-Semitism
(Llazar Semini, Associated Press)
Poland’s top court rules out abortions due to fetal defects
(Monika Scislowska, Associated Press)
Report: Bombing kills Syrian cleric key to deals with rebels
(Associated Press)
Bishop demands justice after Catholic cemetery desecrated in India
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
India slams UN expert for bias towards ‘community’ unleashing horror on minorities in its neighbourhood
(Anirban Bhaumik, Deccan Herald)
Modi government to come under heavy international censure for CAA
(Swati Chaturvedi, Gulf News)
Growing calls for release of priest arrested in India on terrorism charges
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
The global proportion of Jews living in Europe is as low as it was 1,000 years ago. And the future there doesn’t look bright.
(Cnaan Liphshiz, Forward)
Russian Church concerned about possibility of illegal use of personal data
(Interfax-Religion)
Estonia to hold a referendum on marriage as a union of man and woman in spring
(Interfax-Religion)
Does an unlawful manifestation of belief merit protection? Higgs
(Russell Sandberg, Law & Religion UK)
New COVID-19 legislation and guidance to 24 October
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Singapore govt policies on religion need to be constantly reviewed, says ex-minister Yaacob
(Justin Ong, Straits Times)
Holy See addresses United Nations on need for disarmament
(Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)
Vietnam: Religious freedom campaigner awarded major prize
(Kiri Kankhwende, Independent Catholic News)
Pakistan has failed to protect religious minorities from forced conversions, admits lawmaker
(Zee News)
Burkina Faso: Fulani pastor brings hope to stigmatised communities
(World Watch Monitor)
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I receives honorary doctorate from Pontifical Antonianum University
(Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)
Student sues over ban on shirt with anti-gay message
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Student sues school for allegedly being told to take off 'homosexuality is a sin' shirt
(Adrian Mojica, WZTV)
Title VII religious exemption does not protect against suit over sexual orientation discrimination
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Federal court rejects archdiocese’s religious exemption claim in Roncalli case
(Marilyn Odendahl, The Indiana Lawyer)
Poland's top court invalidates law permitting abortion in cases of fetal defects
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
5th Circuit: Exception to notice requirement under Texas RFRA applies
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
White teen sentenced; planned to kill black churchgoers
(Associated Press)
Protest at Kansas school after student told to remove hijab
(Associated Press)
Trump, Biden, and religion in American politics
(Carl R. Trueman, First Things)
In battleground states, American Jews prefer Biden over Trump by a wide margin
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)
Coronavirus in Bangladesh: How can religion help?
(Zobaer Ahmed, Deutsche Welle)
U.S. Ambassador Sam Brownback on religious freedom
(U.S. Embassy in Georgia)
China slams Canada after report calls Uighur policy ‘genocide’
(Al Jazeera)
Taiwan voices religious freedom concerns after renewal of Vatican-China deal
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Taiwan urges Vatican to focus on religious freedom in China
(Focus Taiwan)
Vatican and China extend ‘experimental’ agreement on appointment of bishops
(Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)
Vatican, China extend bishop agreement over US opposition
(Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)
France (EN/FR): The proposed law on separatisms should not target religion – Le projet de loi sur les séparatismes ne devrait pas s’en prendre à la religion
(Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Can Macron stem the tide of Islamism in France?
(Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Spectator)
Monsignor Olivier de Germay is appointed Archbishop of Lyon, France
(Anne Kurian-Montabone, Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)
Beheading in France could bolster Macron’s claim that Islam is in ‘crisis’ – but so is French secularism
(Ahmet T. Kuru, International Policy Digest)
French government unveils national plan to combat hatred against LGBT people
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Two French women charged over racist stabbing of veiled Muslims
(Al Jazeera)
French chief rabbi praises government’s crackdown on radical Islam
(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Beheading of teacher exposes secular divide in French classrooms
(Caroline Pailliez, Reuters)
Instead of fighting systemic racism, France wants to ‘reform Islam’
(James McAuley, The Washington Post)
A camel’s nose under the tent: the Court’s failure to discuss evidence in B.G. and Others v France
(Anne-Katrin Speck, Strasbourg Observers)
Lithuania mints first euro coin with Hebrew letters
(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Jehovah's Witness of Kirov fined as agent of national organization
(Echo of Kirov, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Over 20 "caliphate builders" exposed in North Caucasus
(Interfax-Religion)
Coronavirus Firebreak lockdown – Church in Wales guidance
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Stowe & Maids Moreton parishes: Independent safeguarding report
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Social housing and religion: R (Z & Anor) in the Supreme Court
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Faith fires up as an influencing weapon in US presidential election
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
'Catholic voters' will split their votes in this election, but how will that affect swing states?
(Clemente Lisi, GetReligion)
Catholic faith in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Catholic voter’s guides and the 2020 election (Responding to: Catholic faith in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election)
(Amelia Uelmen, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Harvard professors discuss role of religion in the 2020 Election at Divinity School lecture
(Emmy M. Cho, The Harvard Crimson)
Joe Biden, shepherd of cultural Catholics? (Responding to: Catholic faith in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election)
(Laura R. Olson, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Explainer: What Pope Francis actually said about civil unions—and why it matters
(Colleen Dulle, America: The Jesuit Review)
Pope Francis and homosexuality in the Catholic Church: an analysis
(Astrid Prange, Deutsche Welle)
Mixed Philippine reaction on pope nod on gay civil unions
(Associated Press)
Pope Francis voices support of civil unions for LGBTQ couples in new documentary
(Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)
Divided reactions in US as pope backs same-sex civil unions
(David Crary and Elana Schor, Associated Press)
Pope Francis endorses LGBT civil union laws
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Pope Francis calls for civil union law for same-sex couples, in shift from Vatican stance
(Catholic News Agency)
Mexico broadcaster: Pope’s civil union quote not broadcast
(Nicole Winfield and Maria Verza, Associated Press)
HHS ensures hospital patients have access to spiritual care amid pandemic
(Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Some COVID-related worship restrictions upheld, others halted as disputes continue to move through court system
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Rehman Chishti MP to introduce Humanist marriage Bill in Commons
(Politics.co.uk)
CCME holds its written assembly, 16 October 2020 (PDF)
(Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, Conference of European Churches)
G20 Interfaith Forum 2020: Panel 12 – The rule of law, human rights and religious rights
(YouTube Video, The International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID))
European Anti-trafficking Day: The vulnerable man next to you is the priority here and now, says bishop Damaschin
(Aurelian Iftimiu, Basilica.ro)
Life for Egypt's Christian minority is improving
(Malo Tresca, La Croix International)
Iran: Christian convert among women prisoners of conscience to describe ‘white torture’
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Iranian Christian convert lashed 80 times for drinking Communion wine
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Algeria: Mass convictions for homosexuality
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
'Christians are not victims': NSW church leader slams religious freedom bill
(Angus Thompson, The Sydney Morning Herald)
Christians in Laos evicted from home, forced to live in woods
(Jon Brown, The Daily Wire)
Brazil supports OAS proposal that authorizes parents to impose religious or moral education on their children
(Al Khaleej Today)
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