USCCB: Retain open internet ‘by strongest legal authority available’

by Mark Pattison - Catholic News Service July 18, 2017

The USCCB is “concerned that the FCC is contemplating eliminating current regulations limiting the manner by which the companies controlling the infrastructure connect people to the internet,” said USCCB assistant general counsel Katherine
Grincewich.

Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, head of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, seated right, with other CRL members (photo courtesy of CRL)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Church opposes new plans to regulate religious practice in South Africa

by Russell Pollitt, S.J. July 17, 2017

The director of Freedom of Religion South Africa, Michael Swain, said that government had no business “meddling with religion.”

Rosmaida Bibi, right, who suffers from severe malnutrition, sits with her 20-year old mother Hamida Begum outside their makeshift shelter at the Dar Paing camp, north of Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar, in March 2017. Rosmaida Bibi looks a lot like any of the underfed 1-year-olds in a squalid camp for Myanmar's displaced ethnic Rohingya minority—but she's 4. She cannot grow, and her mother can't find anyone to help her because authorities won't let Rohingya leave the camp. (AP Video)

News, Politics & Society

In Myanmar, one girl’s plight epitomizes Rohingya struggle

by Todd Pitman - Associated Press July 6, 2017

Frail and severely malnourished, she looks a lot like every other underfed child here—until you realize she’s not really like any of them at all. A tiny girl with big brown eyes, Rosmaida is 4—but barely the size of a 1-year-old.

People gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26 in Washington. (CNS photo/Jim Lo Scalzo, EPA)

News, Politics & Society

Religious freedom supporters are applauding Supreme Court decision on Lutheran school

by Josephine von Dohlen - Catholic News Service June 27, 2017

The high court, in a 7-2 ruling in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, sided with the religious school.

Activists rally outside U.S. Supreme Court in Washington June 26 after the court sided with Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Mo., which sued after being denied a state grant for creating a safer playground (CNS photo/Yuri Gripas, Reuters).

News, Politics & Society

Can religious schools receive state funds? Supreme Court gives a qualified yes.

by Ellen K. Boegel June 27, 2017

The Supreme Court court ruled on June 26 that the government may not exclude religious groups from grant programs simply because they are religious.

Activists rally outside U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on June 26 after the court sided with Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Mo., which sued after being denied a state grant for creating a safer playground. (CNS photo/Yuri Gripas, Reuters)

Faith, News

Supreme Court rules church school can’t be barred from state funds for playground

by Carol Zimmermann - Catholic News Service June 26, 2017

The Supreme Court said a Lutheran preschool should not be excluded from a state grant program to refurbish its playground surface just because it is a religious entity.

People display signs showing their support for religious freedom during a 2012 rally in downtown Minneapolis. It has been 20 years since the International Religious Freedom Act was passed by Congress and became law. (CNS photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

Faith, News

Bishops urge renewed dedication to efforts to protect religious liberty

by Josephine von Dohlen - Catholic News Service June 22, 2017

“Freedom for Mission” is the theme of the 2017 Fortnight for Freedom, taking place on June 21 to July 4.

Syriac Bishop Barnaba Yousif Habash of Newark, N.J., speaks June 14 during the opening sesson of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual spring assembly in Indianapolis. (CNS photo/Natalie Hoefer, The Criterion)

Faith, News

Bishops extend work of immigration group after vigorous floor debate

by Michael J. O’Loughlin June 15, 2017

On the same day the bishops decided to establish a permanent committee on religious liberty, they agreed to extend the work of an ad hoc committee on immigration.

Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, center, and other prelates applaud on Nov. 14 after an address by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, during the annual fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)

News, Politics & Society

What you need to know about this year’s Catholic bishops’ meeting

by Michael J. O’Loughlin June 13, 2017

Some of the issues on the bishops’ agenda—immigration and health care specifically—have already caused a great deal of tension between the White House and Catholic leaders.

Counterprotesters hold signs and shout slogans during an anti-Shariah rally in Seattle on June 10, 2017. Photo courtesy of Reuters/David Ryder

Faith, News

Known hate group hosts anti-Shariah rallies nationwide

by Bruce Tomaso - Religion News Service June 12, 2017

About two dozen “Marches against Shariah” organized Saturday in cities across the country by ACT for America, a self-styled grass-roots national security organization.

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Religious Freedom

Church opposes new plans to regulate religious practice in South Africa

In Myanmar, one girl’s plight epitomizes Rohingya struggle

Religious freedom supporters are applauding Supreme Court decision on Lutheran school

Can religious schools receive state funds? Supreme Court gives a qualified yes.

Supreme Court rules church school can’t be barred from state funds for playground

Bishops urge renewed dedication to efforts to protect religious liberty

Bishops extend work of immigration group after vigorous floor debate

What you need to know about this year’s Catholic bishops’ meeting

Known hate group hosts anti-Shariah rallies nationwide