Pope Francis, in keeping with his predecessors, has sought every opportunity to improve relations with the Chinese government. With the news that a historic agreement is imminent, the Vatican faces a risk and an opportunity.
Religious Freedom
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The U.S. needs to remain engaged in Iraq to help religious minorities
U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry argues that as beleaguered religious minorities in Iraq hang on for their very survival, the survival of religious pluralism itself is also at stake.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Religious freedom around the world under siege; Christian persecution is especially acute
Several watchdog groups say that religious freedom around the world is taking a beating, and the Catholic pastoral group Aid to the Church in Need says the persecution of Christians is “today worse than at any time in history.”
Posted inEditorials, Politics & Society
The Editors: The free press is not the enemy
Today America joins more than 300 U.S. publications in support of the free press, which has been repeatedly insulted by President Donald J. Trump.
Posted inFaith, Features
The uncommon faith of a country decimated by Boko Haram
The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has decimated villages in northern Nigeria, but Catholic parishioners remain faithful and courageous.
Posted inEditorials, Politics & Society
The Editors: Religious liberty is not just for Christians
President Trump has repeatedly and egregiously disparaged Muslims in ways that contradict his own State Department’s purported promotion of religious protections.
Posted inFaith, News
Indian Catholic leaders protest call to ban sacrament of reconciliation
India’s Catholic Church has led a chorus of protest over a demand to ban the sacrament of reconciliation from the chairwoman of the National Commission for Women.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Sessions: Contributions of religious people make U.S. ‘stronger as nation’
Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke about ongoing threats to religious freedom and what can be done to halt them at a conference held July 30 at the Department of Justice.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Appeals court denies Adorers’ religious claims against pipeline
In a July 25 ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit agreed with the lower court that the Adorers of the Blood of Christ had not made their religious objections known during the federal administrative process that led to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
U.S. diplomats slow in learning how to assess faith in consular efforts
Farr cited repeated cases in which diplomats ignored or overlooked the importance of faith and religion in dealing with sensitive matters, leading to decades of stumbles in diplomacy.