Religious freedom Archives

Crackdowns on Islamic radicalism can boomerang on the Church
- Analysis
- June 18, 2017
Motivated by a desire to prevent radicals from taking control of the country’s mosques, Denmark is pondering a requirement that all recognized religious denominations must be governed by a democratically elected board. That provision could lead to the Catholic Church being de-recognized and losing important tax and immigration privileges.
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Bishop says secular Danes like Francis enough to ‘forgive him’ for being Catholic
- Global Church, Interviews
- June 17, 2017
Denmark, like other Nordic countries, is considered to be one of the most thoroughly secular cultures on earth, which means that traditional Catholic teaching on issues such as abortion, women priests and gay marriage often generates reactions ranging from incomprehension to hostility. Such is Pope Francis’s popularity, however, that Bishop Czeslaw Kozon says most Danes “forgive him” for upholding those positions.
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U.S. bishops vote to make religious freedom committee permanent
- Catholic News Agency, Church in the US
- June 16, 2017
During their annual spring general assembly in Indianapolis, U.S. bishops voted to make their Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty permanent. The committee was created in 2011 as concerns over limitations to religious liberty increased on the local and national level.
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Church destroyed, Christians detained in China’s Henan province

About 300 police officers and inspectors reportedly destroyed a Christian church building in May, beating parishioners who tried to stop the demolition and detaining 40, according to an international non-profit dedicated to promoting religious freedom and human rights for Christians in China.

Anti-Shariah rallies nationwide ‘intended to manufacture fear’

On Saturday, June 10, there were several small anti-Shariah demonstrations which many religious groups called simply anti-Muslim. However improbable the establishment of Shariah law in America may be, ACT for America and allied groups have attracted broad populist support by vowing to stamp out the threat.

Catholic farmer ousted from Michigan market over same-sex marriage views

After posting a Facebook post saying that according to his Catholic belief “marriage is a sacramental union between one man and one woman,” a farmer in Michigan was barred from a municipal farmers’ market. The farmer is suing the city of East Lansing, Michigan, seeking his reinstatement.