Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County, a Supreme Court decision extending employment protections to gay and transgender people, kicks off a new religious liberty battle.
A region of northeastern Syria that U.S. forces ceded to Turkey has seen a spike in Islamic State-backed attacks, researchers said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion on religious liberty.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed concern Wednesday about ongoing beheadings and other abuses of Christians and other faith groups in several nations.
The United States accused China’s leadership on Wednesday of increasing repression of Christians and other minorities while forcing religious groups to adopt its communist ideology. In remarks obtained by Worthy News, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that “In China, state-sponsored repression against all religions continues to intensify.”
American Christians prepare to worship amid concerns about damaged churches after U.S. President Donald Trump urged more prayers for America.
Three Christian families were hiding in India’s Chhattisgarh state on Sunday after they were attacked by Hindu nationalists while sleeping in their homes, rights investigators confirmed.
A divided Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal by a California church that challenged state limits on attendance at worship services that have been imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
A pastor in Mississippi has reported that his church building was burned down because his congregation had gathered together in person while COVID-19 restrictions were in place, USA Today (USAT) reported Wednesday.
The Chicago Health Department Commissioner has told the Elim Pentecostal Church and other Romanian churches that if they do not stop holding services of more than 10 people in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions, the city “will take all necessary measures to abate the nuisance to ensure the safety of the City’s residents,” CNS News reported on May 27.”
Sudan’s transitional government agreed last week to establish an independent national commission for religious freedom, The Christian Post reported. Together with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) group which fought against ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir, the Transitional Sovereign Council is forming the commission in order to “address all issues relating to religious freedom in order to affirm the principle of peaceful coexistence in the country.”
The state of California issued guidelines Monday under which houses of worship may reopen. The Department of Health guidelines were published even though the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 ban on public gatherings could stand. The decision to allow churches to reopen also follows interventions last week by the US State Department, which specified that California’s ban on church gatherings was unfair, and by President Trump, who called on all states to lift bans on religious assemblies.
Egypt’s government has recognized an additional 70 churches, but minority Christians fear more violence and threats in this mainly Muslim nation.
An administrative court in France has overturned a government ban on meetings in churches and other places of worship. The case underscored broader tensions in coronavirus-hit Europe over religious freedom amid an ongoing pandemic.
Montenegro has released a Serbian Orthodox Church bishop and at least seven priests whose detention sparked protests and riots with police.
Evangelical leaders have asked Congress to grant religious organizations immunity from potential negligence suits arising from decisions to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Christian Post reports. Evangelicals joined some 300 interfaith leaders in signing a letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary last week, in which they suggested immunity granted could be similar to that given health-care workers.
Iranian officials have admitted that fire broke out at an ancient shrine viewed by Iran’s Jewish community as the resting place of the Biblical Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai. The announcement published by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) came after activists reported an overnight arson attack at the site.
After weeks of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, churches across America were encouraged to hold in-person services again on May 3, Fox News reports. This date was the first Sunday since the US government launched its reopening plan and allowed congregants to attend church in person.
A U.S. government advisory panel wants India on a religious freedom blacklist over a “drastic” downturn under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggering an angry reaction from New Delhi. In addition to India, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommends the inclusion of four more – Nigeria, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.
Facebook has removed four videos of military chaplains encouraging prayer and referring to God during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox News reported on Thursday. The posts were taken down after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRRF) complained the videos constituted ‘illicit proselytizing’ of Christianity.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments by telephone for the first time since it first convened in 1790.