Religious freedom Archives

Vatican envoy: Vietnam’s government must respect religious freedom
- Catholic News Service, Global Church
- August 16, 2017
Earlier this year, the Vietnamese bishops criticized the new Law on Belief and Religion, which will take effect January 1. They said abstract phrases in the law “are easily abused to shift responsibility onto and condemn religious organizations when the government is dissatisfied.”
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U.S. State Department decries Islamic State ‘genocide’ of Christians, others
- Associated Press, Church in the US
- August 15, 2017
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the United States promotes religious freedom as a moral imperative. “As importantly, we promote religious freedom because countries that effectively safeguard this human right are more stable, economically vibrant, and peaceful,” — Tillerson continued — “The failure of governments to protect this right breeds instability, terrorism, and violence.”
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NJ judge says he won’t overrule Catholic school’s enrollment decision
- Associated Press, Church in the US
- August 15, 2017
A New Jersey family has lost their lawsuit to try and force their children to be enrolled at a Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Newark. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Archbishop of Newark, testified that he decided not to allow the two girls to re-enroll because their parents’ behavior was not in the best interest of the school.
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Trump to nominate Kansas’s Brownback as religious freedom envoy

Although Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s legacy in his home state may be mixed due to the failure of his trickle-down economic policies, he’s now set to take on a job of enormous interest to religious communities in America and around the world — Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, after President Donald Trump announced his intention to name Brownback on Wednesday.

After protests over Satanic memorial, city nixes all religious symbols

A controversy over religious symbolism in a public space recently erupted in a small Minnesota city. The city council was so overwhelmed by calls and protests, they finally decided that no religious symbols could be put in the space hoping that would take the air out of the controversy.

Catholics lead resistance to Minnesota Satanic Temple veterans monument

For Catholics, Satan isn’t simply a symbol of evil. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that Satan is a spiritual creature who was created as an angel, but who rejected God and “fell” from heaven. Father Brian Lynch, a local priest, is fighting hard to keep a monument from the Satanic Temple being placed in his town.