Religious freedom

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday ordered the dissolution of the Unification Church, the influential cult linked to the 2022 assassination of former prime minister Abe Shinzo.

A U.S. Veterans Affairs chaplain’s lawyers are taking action after he was allegedly sanctioned for a sermon he delivered in June.

Chinese officials have evicted over a thousand Tibetan monks and nuns from a 45-year-old Buddhist academy, ostensibly because they lacked the necessary residency documentation. 

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II told the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC, last week that Christians remain apprehensive about the new jihadi regime in Damascus, but they hope to play a “vital and pivotal role” in rebuilding their homeland.

Gay rights activist Father James Martin has renewed his attacks on Catholic Vice President JD Vance, insisting Vance does not understand the purpose of religious freedom.

The jihadi insurgents who overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in December are using Islamic sharia law to train new police recruits – a troubling development for minorities who doubt the new regime’s promises to protect religious freedom.

Protests broke out in Syria’s coastal cities after a video showing an Alawite shrine attacked by unknown militants appeared on social media.

Syrian insurgent leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani when he was a high-ranking al-Qaeda member, on Sunday repeated his promise that the new Syria would be inclusive and respectful of minority groups.

The Satanic Temple display outside the New Hampshire State House has been vandalized for the second time since it was erected next to a Christian Nativity scene this month.

British soccer player Marc Guehi is speaking out after he was reprimanded for writing “I Love Jesus” on an armband he wore.

Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi has learned his fate for daring having written “I love Jesus” on the LGBTQ rainbow armband.

ROME — The number of anti-Christian hate crimes in Turkey more than doubled from 2021 to 2023, according to a report from International Christian Concern (ICC).

Hundreds of prominent buildings around the world were illuminated in red on November 20 to mark Red Wednesday, an annual event in support of persecuted Christians.

The Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs has issued a damning report revealing the U.S. State Department’s promotion of atheism abroad in the name of “religious freedom.”

Harrison Butker, kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, released a pro-Trump ad on Monday that called on people to protect their faith.

Hundreds of thousands of South Korean Christians demonstrated in Seoul on Sunday to protest a court ruling that would allow same-sex couples to receive insurance from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).

During an interview with NBC News on Tuesday, 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris said that religious exemptions on providing abortion would not be on the table for her because we shouldn’t “be making concessions when we’re talking

The president of International Christian Concern (ICC) urged Christians in America to vote for former President Donald Trump.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson announced that he was “honored to serve as the national faith chairman” for former President Donald Trump and his campaign.

An Irish teacher who rose to international attention for rejecting transgender ideology and so-called preferred pronouns has been jailed for a third time after allegedly violating a court order.

International Christian Concern (ICC), an organization dedicated to combatting religious persecution around the world, issued a statement on Monday declaring that President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 American presidential race sparks “hope for a renaissance in religious freedom.”

Nigeria has been experiencing a “surge” in anti-Christian violence, including numerous kidnappings and murders. These are often carried out execution style, according to recent reports.

The sole elementary school in a rural Florida county has disbanded its Christian club because an atheist group complained.

A Mexican Senator from the Morena Party drew widespread condemnation after he organized the ritualistic killing of a chicken as an “offering to a rain god.” The incident took place in one of the courtyards of Mexico’s federal senate building.

A California Christian club is fighting to put their cross back on display after city officials used eminent domain to remove it while citing complaints of it being “reminiscent of KKK cross-burnings” and offensive to “diverse communities.”

An atheist group is calling for action after South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said there’s “something wrong” with nonbelievers,

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said on Monday that it terminated a visit to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Saudi Arabia because USCIRF Chairman Abraham Cooper, an Orthodox rabbi, was asked to remove his kippah head covering.

The Indian government announced plans to implement a controversial 2019 law that fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim refugees.

China has the highest level of government restrictions on religion, and Nigeria has the highest level of social hostilities toward religion.

Chinese security forces are cracking down hard on Tibetans protesting against a massive hydroelectric dam project that will destroy several villages and Buddhist monasteries.

Former President Donald Trump delivered a call to action to Christian voters in a speech at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville on Thursday, calling them the “soul of our country” and vowing to defend them against political persecution.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) immediately criticized Secretary of State Antony Blinken for once again leaving Nigeria off the State Department’s annual list of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) for religious oppression. 

Nicaraguan police on Thursday detained two senior Catholic priests for the “crime” of praying in public for Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a critic of socialist dictator Daniel Ortega, who in February was sentenced to 26 years in prison for “treason.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) warned in its annual report that religious freedom deteriorated around the world in 2023, a net loss driven by increasingly vicious crackdowns from theocracies like Iran and authoritarian regimes like China and Cuba.

Turkish lawmaker George Aslan caused a controversy by delivering a Christian message to Assyrians in their Syriac language.

A Barbadian theatrical dance group is taking legal action after being “excluded in the name of inclusivity” due to their Christian beliefs on gender.