Paralleling concerns of many conservative groups, the Justice Department has argued successfully in a number of cases that government agencies, employers or private organizations have impr  read more »

There was concern Wednesday, March 28, about the plight of evangelical Christians in the Indian state of Kerala after reports that the local government for the first time shut down a church amid violent attacks against believers.

American Indian inmates at Maine State Prison have sued prison officials, alleging that their First Amendment religious rights were abridged because of lack of access to such requirements as a sweat lodge, powwows and ceremonial food and music.

Canada on Monday unexpectedly granted permanent resident status to an Iranian man who spent nearly three years in sanctuary in a Vancouver church before being arrested over the weekend.  read more »

Forced from their Baghdad home by sectarian violence, an Iraqi Christian couple in their 70s have spent the past two years bounced between detention centres in Greece and Belgium, terrifie  read more »

A Presbyterian minister from Iraq who is working for the next month in Michigan is seeking asylum in this country from religious persecution. Jonah Salim, 31, arrived in the United States  read more »

Iraq's prime minister pledged Saturday to protect and support the Christian minority that has been fleeing the chaos and sectarian violence in the country.

Samaritan's Purse, which has a slogan on its website saying: "Meeting critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease and natural disaster while sharing the good news of Jesus Christ", has banned people from putting any religious, political or racially-related items in the boxes, including Christmas cards with nativity images or books with traditional Christmas pictures in them.  read more »

A BOARD member of a Melbourne Islamic school that expelled students for desecrating the Bible was bashed in school grounds by a man who said he was Jesus and who police said may have been armed with a gun.

A Philadelphia police officer has no right to wear a head covering as required by her Muslim faith when she is in uniform, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

A Long Island teacher who said she was fired from her job because administrators mistakenly thought she was a witch was powerless to do anything Tuesday as a jury rejected her claim and her $2 million lawsuit.

Two LDS missionaries were shot at in Salt Lake City over the weekend, according to police.  read more »

The impact of religious fundamentalism on woman’s sexual and reproductive health and rights will be one of the issues to be debated at the Fourth Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive  read more »

Juan Mendez Mendez became a Christian in a village outside of this city in Chiapas state on April 7, and two days later local authorities put him in jail – for leaving their religious bl  read more »

A soldier whose superior prevented him from holding a meeting for atheists and other non-Christians is suing the Defense Department, claiming it violated his right to religious freedom.  read more »

The Christians of Mosul, once a substantial and predominantly middle-class community, have suffered the same fate as most Iraqis.

A rally to defend the right to freedom of religion and an end to Islamophobia is due to be held in London.

Two important Christian and Muslim groups signed a joint declaration Wednesday supporting the right to convert between religions without fear of harassment as a basic religious freedom.  read more »

REQUIRING Sydney’s Catholic school leaders to take an oath of fidelity to adhere to church teachings on homosexuality, birth control and women’s ordination is not discriminatory, the NSW-ACT Independent Education Union says.

Christians in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, May 13, worshiped amid heightened tensions after they received threatening letters warning them to shut their churches and convert to Islam within the next few days as anti-Christian violence spreads across Pakistan

A Pakistani Christian, Younis Masih, has been sentenced to death for blasphemy by the sessions court in Lahore.

The church — which has state registration — has been refused permission to rent premises for public worship, so has to meet in a private home. Local lawyer Sergei Lukanin told a wester  read more »

A 16-year-old Turkish boy convicted of the murder of an Italian Roman Catholic priest in February, said at his trial that he shot the priest by mistake while aiming at an icon of Jesus Christ on a wall of the church in the Black Sea city of Trabzon where the killing took place.

A Catholic school principal has organized sensitivity training for students who shouted "We love Jesus" during a basketball game against a school with Jewish students.

Police say a North Country church was targeted and burned, because the alleged arsonist did not agree with its teachings.Christ Church in Warren County burned in May, and from the moment the fire started, arson was suspected. Now, police have a man in custody who they say is behind this, and another church fire.  read more »

A fight over what constitutes government oppression and religious freedom is brewing in a cozy tearoom and cinnamon-scented quilt-and-craft shop operated in violation of local health codes.

Outraged Beijing Olympic organizers sought Thursday to refute allegations of religious intolerance, saying Bibles and other religious items for personal use are welcome at next year's  read more »

An elderly bishop in China's underground Catholic church has been detained again by police, nine months after his release from their custody, a U.S.-based monitoring group said Thursday. Bishop Jia Zhiguo, 73, was taken away Tuesday by security agents in Zhengding, a city in northern Hebei province, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement.

In a change of tactics, Church officials now say they will not close down adoption agencies as a result of new laws forcing them to deal with applications from gay couples. Instead, they will deliberately break the law in order to bring a case to court.  read more »

A man obsessed with the devil is to be detained indefinitely after pleading guilty to killing a vicar on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing Newark public schools for holding a high school graduation ceremony in a Baptist church.

Southern Illinois University will again recognize a religious group whose student organization status had been revoked because its members must pledge to adhere to Christian beliefs.

Tens of thousands of police officers will guard churches across the world's most populous Muslim country over the Christmas period, amid concerns that Al Qaeda-linked militants could carry out attacks, police said Monday.

Under the legislation, religious beliefs expressed in homework, artwork and other assignments would be judged by traditional academic standards. Students couldn't be penalized or rewar  read more »

Six African countries – Botswana, Mali, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, and Kenya – rank among the world’s most tolerant societies in terms of religious freedoms. That’s according to the latest study by the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.  read more »

With the killing of Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon's industry minister and the scion of one its most influential Christian families, Lebanese politics took another dangerous turn today, leavi  read more »

A pastor and two associates from Mt. Carmel Theological College in Kandy, Sri Lanka, were arrested on May 27 and charged with destroying Buddhist statues.

A new study finds the world is becoming increasingly religious. Yet, violations of religious freedom are widespread, and, in some parts of the world, intensifying. A Hudson Institute study finds there is a strong link between religious freedom and economic wellbeing.

Officials confirmed Friday that a group of South Koreans, apparently volunteers from a Christian church, appeared to have been abducted in Afghanistan, where news reports said the Taliban  read more »

In Britain and Australia, several Muslim medical doctors and engineers have been arrested following a series of failed car bombings. The arrest of these well-educated professionals, togeth  read more »

A senior official in China's state-sanctioned Catholic church on Saturday denied his association was cracking down on churches loyal to the Vatican following an unconfirmed media report that nine priests were arrested this week.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) said Wednesday, May 2, it has urged Turkish authorities to improve protection of Turkey's Christian minority amid reports of death threats against key church leaders following the "savage murders" of three Christians last month.

Egyptian authorities have detained two Coptic Christian activists suspected of posting anti-Islamic messages on a Christian website.

The United States on Monday dropped Vietnam from its list of nations that severely violate religious freedom ahead of a visit by President George W. Bush, citing improvement in its tolerance for religious expression.  read more »

A British girl has accused her school in London's High Court of "religious discrimination" after she was expelled for refusing to remove the so-called Christian "purity  read more »

The decision by university officials to allow the Pagan Society to schedule its annual meeting on school grounds prompted the Christian Union to complain, citing the college's ban of o  read more »

More Muslims in Minnesota and across the country are suing employers, alleging religious discrimination, while businesses respond that they’re only trying to get their job done.  read more »

A U.S.  read more »

Inmates at the federal prison camp in Otisville, New York, were stunned by what they saw at the chapel library at the end of May — hundreds of books had disappeared from the shelves.The removal of the books is occurring nationwide, part of a long-delayed, post-Sept.  read more »

A US government report has said that conditions for religious freedoms have worsened in the Middle East and Central Asia.

A Democratic Congressman has warned against a proposed rule change that would make it more difficult for Hindu, Buddhist and other non-Christian religious workers to get a US visa.Better k  read more »

An evangelical pastor remained detained in Uzbekistan Friday, April 27, after he was reportedly arrested in Muynak a city in Uzbekistan’s troubled region of Karakalpakstan, while an acti  read more »

Vietnam has released its first government white paper on religious policy. The paper underscores Vietnam's growing religious freedom, and the resurgence of spiritual belief in the country since the 1990s.  read more »

The commission alleged in its complaint filed in federal court in New Jersey that Vonage subjected Mikhail Rozenberg to discrimination on the basis of his faith -- Orthodox Judaism -- by r  read more »

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will step up cooperation with the Chinese government and the China Christian Council (CCC) in helping develop Christianity in China.

Shouting ‘Allah u Akbar’, a group of men storm a church Sunday in Bandung in West Java. The incident confirms a trend involving many attempts to suppress religious freedom in the predominantly Muslim country.  read more »