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Church seeks rights for indigenous Bangladeshis

A Catholic official and activists have called for equal rights and justice for indigenous people in Bangladesh as millions of ethnic minorities marked UN-designated International Day for World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9. They urged the government to ensure the basic constitutional rights of ethnic communities including recognition as Adivasi (indigenous peoples) and equal rights […]

Hagia Sophia Imam Defends Sword Sermon

Turkey’s top religious official has defended brandishing a “sword of con-quest” while delivering his first sermon from Hagia Sophia’s marble pulpit after its conversion into a mosque. “Preaching in this way [with a sword] sends a message about the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mos-que on the one hand and of conquest on the […]

Refugee Converts Aren’t ‘Fraudsters,’ German Pastors Say

Elias is waiting for a German official to evaluate his Christianity. He converted from Islam in Iran secretly. He was afraid because he knew that other converts had been arrested and beaten, some even killed. He had also heard of converts finding asylum in Germany. He dreamed of going there and being baptized in public. […]

Terror in Milan Cathedral: Egyptian knifeman takes cop hostage

Police overpowered an Egy-ptian migrant after the 30-year-old broke through security and, rushing up to the high altar at Milan Cathedral, held a guard hostage at knifepoint. Brandishing a 20-centimeter switchblade, the assailant who possesses a long-term residence permit for family reunification reasons, forced his uniformed captor to kneel for over eight minutes. Italy’s General […]

‘Genocide’ unfolding in Nigeria, says Bishop

Following the execution of five aid workers by Islamic extremists, a leading Catholic Bishop in Nigeria has argued that systemic violence against Nigerian Christians constitutes genocide. The Bishop, Mathew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto, told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that, in his view, the recent violence was genocidal in character. He […]

America Must Focus on Religious Persecution against Iranian Christian Converts

The Trump administration commendably made Christian persecution in the Middle East a priority. Vice President Mike Pence is a chief advocate in the administration, and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour Robert Destro has spent a large bulk of his career defending international religious freedom. Now the administration and Congress should […]

Argentine bishop says Vatican ordered seminary closed

An Argentine bishop said the seminary in his diocese was ordered closed on July by a decision of the Vatican’s Congre-gation for Clergy, after a contro-versy surrounding the reception of the Eucharist during the coronavirus pandemic. Bishop Eduardo Maria Taussig of San Rafael said on Aug. 7 that the Santa Maria Ma-dre de Dios Seminary […]

When Muslims Leave the Faith

Conversions involving Islam sometimes look like a one-way street in the West. Famed new believers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Keith Ellison seem to get all the attention—along with flamboyant flirts like Lindsay Lohan. But those who leave Islam may ultimately influence the faith more than converts do. There are about 3.5 million Muslims in the […]