The cause of Christians striving to practise their faith without fear or pressure often advances and retreats in countries outside those where Christians directly live under the most oppression. In London, New York, Strasbourg, Washington, and other centres of deliberation, important developments happen concerning Christians and religious freedom more broadly. This is the page where we consolidate news with an international scope.
‘UN failing religious minorities and Christian converts’
The suffering of persecuted Christians around the world is exacerbated by the failure of UN bodies to fulfil their obligations to uphold religious freedom, a damning report has claimed. The 27-page report, starkly entitled The UN’s Failure to Promote and Protect Religious Freedom, argues that concerns about the protection of […]
‘Religious freedom key to Trump war on terrorism’
An American Muslim says propagating freedom of religion is the key to US President Donald Trump’s aim to “eradicate” radicalism and terrorism “from the face of the earth”. Amer Aziz, writing for The Hill, praised the establishment in 1998 of an office of Religious Freedom in the US State Department, […]
Film shows desperate plight of drowning refugees
An Oscar-nominated documentary film shows the heroic efforts of the Greek Coastguard to rescue some of the 600,000 refugees attempting to cross the 4.1-mile stretch of water between Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos from 2015 to 2016. The 21-minute film, 4.1 Miles (embedded below), is an uncomfortable and […]
‘90,000 Christian martyrs annually’ claim disputed
Global charity Open Doors has disputed the way in which statistics on Christian “martyrs” are collected, arguing that an annual figure of 90,000, recently reported widely, is significantly higher than the accurately verifiable number. The figure, reported by some media and cited by an Italian academic on Vatican Radio, was […]
Nationalism in Asia, Islamic extremism in Africa – the 2017 World Watch List
One of the greatest increases in animosity towards Christians last year took place in India as a result of religiously motivated nationalism, according to the latest annual survey of the 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian. Since the rise to power of Narendra […]
‘We must distinguish between Islam and terrorism’
Keeping the distinction between Islam and terrorism clear could prevent an ultimate ‘Clash of Civilisations’, an EU diplomat says. “All this hatred and bloodshed is a misuse of religion,” said Ján Figeľ, the European Commission’s first Special Envoy for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU. […]
Anglicans raise ‘religious freedom’ with Muslims
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has led a delegation of Anglican leaders to the “Muslim Council of Elders” at a meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to discuss integration and religious freedom. According to Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS), a letter by Anglican Communion Secretary General Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon stressed […]
UK Foreign Office hosts global summit on freedom of religion or belief
“Religious freedom can counter violent extremism” was the key message at a two-day global conference held at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) last week. The conference explored ways to build resilience against extremism and identified opportunities for collaboration. More than 50 expert speakers and over 170 participants from […]
Freedom of religion or belief ‘the defining issue of our time’
Over 100 parliamentarians from 60 countries met this week in Berlin for a series of workshops and seminars under the title, “An Embattled Right: Protecting and Promoting Freedom of Religion of Belief”. The second conference of this size after last year’s meeting in New York, it was organised by the […]
Existence of Eastern Churches ‘at risk’
Christians are now an “endangered species” in lands where their faith was first rooted, a prominent ancient church leader warned on 3 August. “The very existence of Eastern Churches, those Churches that come from the apostles’ time, is at stake,” said Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of the Syriac Catholic […]