For example, in Eritrea, the government recognizes and registers only four religious groups the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea and since 2002 no other groups have been registered or allowed to perform religious activities and services.20 And in Belarus, where there are extensive bureaucratic and legal requirements to be recognized, minority religious groups, such as Jehovahs Witnesses and some Baptist groups, remain unregistered and face difficulties in carrying out religious activities.21, The countries with the highest scores in the category of laws and policies restricting religious freedom are spread across Asia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Areportthat reviewed the policies of 75 major American corporations found rampant disregard for religious freedom and free speech. VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis, in his first full week back at the Vatican following abdominal surgery, met on Tuesday with Cubas president, part of the Holy See's attention to the communist-led Caribbean island nation. Its not necessarily that type of persecution here [in the West], ACN-USA Director of Outreach Edward Clancy told CNA. We provide news about the Church and the world, as seen through the teachings of the Catholic Church. Published January 15, 2015 It is no secret that religious life is at a crossroads. Religious groups reportedly used refugees fear of deportation to promote conversions and incentivized them by offering accelerated baptism, free lunch and transportation costs, according to a radio program cited by the U.S. State Departments annual report on religious freedom.59 In France, Jehovahs Witnesses faced violence when proselytizing door to door or engaging in other missionary activity.60 And in Russia, following a Supreme Court ban on Jehovahs Witnesses in 2017, several threats and attacks on the group were reported. As the conflict worsened and the government increasingly targeted Sunni Muslims, revenge attacks by Sunnis against Alawites who were seen as supporting the regime also escalated.80, Some of the countries with the highest levels of individual and social group harassment in 2017 experienced incidents of mob violence, including Bangladesh where in November 2017 a mob of approximately 20,000 in Rangpur set fire to and vandalized approximately 30 homes belonging to the local Hindu minority community after a Facebook post demeaned the Prophet Muhammad.81 In Pakistan, there were several incidents of mob attacks in response to accusations of blasphemy.82, The U.S. also ranked among the highest-scoring countries in this category in 2017, in part because of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists were protesting the removal of a Confederate statue from a park. What is the problem with religion? | Faith Forum - Reno Gazette Journal For example, Muslim herders carried out retaliatory attacks against Christian farmers after herders said they did not receive justice when the farmers killed members of the herding community and stole their cattle.70, In Iraq, there was Sunni-Shiite fighting following the liberation of certain areas from ISIS rule. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. , U.S. Department of State. The share of countries with high or very high levels of social hostilities involving religion that is, acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations or groups in society ticked up from 27% in 2016 to 28% in 2017. June 24, 2023. (Image credit: Getty Images) By Sumit Paul-Choudhury 2nd August 2019 Throughout history,. Still, in 2017, more than half of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and more than eight-in-ten countries in the Middle East-North Africa region, experienced some kind of communal tension between religious groups. Subscribe to NPR Religion RSS feeds. In a region with 45 countries, the median result is the 23rd on a list of country-level figures ranked in order. What to expect on the religious scene in 2021: Experts cast their In 2015, four countries Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of Congo and Niger banned Islamic veils for women in response to terror attacks within their borders.34, Among the countries with the highest levels of limits on religion, myriad policies restricting religious activities are enforced. U.S. Department of State. 1. (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.). Home Topics Religion and World Politics Around the world, religious actors and institutions have gained political influence, marshaling religious arguments to justify their activities. The German parliament has approved the construction of a memorial in Berlin to the Jehovahs Witnesses persecuted under the Nazis. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax 15 Jun 'Sense of shame' over Methodist Church abuse cases Northern Ireland 11 Jun Woman, 99, hopes to keep Welsh church alive in US Wales 3 Jun Jesus Army abuse 'worse than anybody realises'. In 2017, for example, the city of Lorette banned headscarves in a public pool.4 Laws regarding womens religious dress also have boosted Frances score in the category of limits on religious activities, but Qatar scores even higher in this category, in part due to laws that target non-Islamic faiths by restricting public worship, the display of religious symbols and proselytization.5. Religion: Religion News & Current Events | AP News Saudi Arabia has ambitous plans to welcome millions more pilgrims to Islams holiest sites. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (73%) say religion should be kept separate from government policies, according to a survey conducted in spring 2022.Just 25% say government policies should support religious values and beliefs. ISLAMABAD (AP) The Pakistani government dropped a controversial clause allowing for chemical castration of convicted rapists from a proposed bill, after a council of clerics said such a punishment was against Islam, a lawmaker from the ruling party . Germany to give $1.4 billion to Holocaust survivors globally in 2024. Germanys biggest Jewish educational and cultural complex since the Holocaust is set to open in Berlin, five years after the groundbreaking. Latest More Loading Deep Civilisation | Religion Tomorrow's Gods: What is the future of religion? Most countries with the highest scores in government favoritism as of 2017 (including Afghanistan, Bahrain and Bangladesh) have Islam as their official state religion.14 This dovetails with an earlier finding that, as of 2015, Islam is the most common state religion around the world; in 27 of the 43 countries that enshrine an official religion (63%), that religion is Islam. Religious tourism is nothing new, and it's a big industry. For a full list of how all 198 countries and territories included in the study score in each category, see Appendix C. The remainder of this overview looks in more detail at the eight categories of restrictions on religion four involving government restrictions and four involving social hostilities by private groups or individuals. Hajj pilgrims perform final rituals in . Today we have very dangerous trends . The Greek government recognizes the Orthodox Church as the prevailing religion and funds the training of clergy, priests salaries and religious instruction in schools.15Icelands government provides the official state Evangelical Lutheran Church with financial support and benefits not available to other religious groups.16And in the UK, the monarch is the supreme governor of the Church of England, and must be a member of that church.17, At the country level, one of the largest increases since 2007 in the favoritism category occurred in the Pacific island nation of Samoa. VATICAN CITY (AP) The document used the terminology LGBTQ+ persons rather than the Vaticans traditional persons with homosexual tendencies, suggesting a level of acceptance that Francis ushered in a decade ago with his famous Who am I to judge comment. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis said Saturday that abortion can never be condoned, even when the fetus is gravely sick or likely to die, and urged doctors and priests to support families to carry such pregnancies to term. Gerald Ridsdale has been in prison since 1994. July 30, 2012. Did the national government display hostility involving physical violence toward minority or non-approved religious groups? Indeed, 19 of the 20 countries in the Middle East (all except Lebanon) favor a religion 17 have an official state religion, and two have a preferred or favored religion.7 In all of these countries except Israel, the favored religion is Islam. News & Reporting | Important Developments in the Church and the World Several Western European countries rank among those with the highest scores in the category of social hostilities related to religious norms. Does any level of government formally ban any religious group? How Religion Affects Everyday Life | Pew Research Center Religion | Psychology Today (RNS) This past year upended U.S. religious life in ways no one could have predicted and in some ways many have. , For details on this government harassment, U.S. Department of State. Some of the largest increases occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. But unlike all other categories of both government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion, interreligious tension and violence has declined since 2007 globally and in most regions (except sub-Saharan Africa), and by 2017, the average countrys score was higher in the religious norms category than in this one. Communal violence has long been common in India, which continued to score high in this category in 2017. While majorities of both Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (84%) and Republicans and Republican leaners (61%) say religion should be kept separate from . Early forms of religions were. Brazilian President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva has given Pope Francis a warm hug as he arrived for a meeting. Government restrictions have risen in several different ways. The country recently surpassed China to become the most populous country on Earth . New York City will add the festival of Diwali to the list of public school holidays in recognition of the growth of the citys South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities. Levels of government limits on religious activities and government harassment of religious groups are somewhat lower. Were there instances when the national government did not intervene in cases of [social] discrimination or abuses against religious groups? Were there acts of sectarian or communal violence. Does the national government have an established organization to regulate or manage religious affairs? This decision was made more than a decade ago, at the beginning of the study, to prevent a few outliers (countries with extremely high or extremely low scores) from skewing the regional or global averages. Interreligious tension and violence was the most common type of social hostility in the early years of the study. , U.S. Department of State. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. At Catholic News Agency, our team is committed to reporting the truth with courage, integrity, and fidelity to our faith. In Thailand, a new constitution came into force in 2017 with a provision that elevates the status of Theravada Buddhism by mandating special promotion through education, propagation of its principles, and the establishment of measures and mechanisms to prevent the desecration of Buddhism in any form.11 There also has been an increase in Asian governments deferring to religious authorities, texts and doctrines since 2007. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Tomorrow's Gods: What is the future of religion? - BBC Future Religious News From Around the Web September 13, 2021 Sep 13, 2021 Although the most severe cases of religious persecution are currently taking place in certain African and Asian countries, the 2023 Religious Freedom in the World report highlighted dangerous trends within Europe and the Western world. resigns following allegations he mishandled sex abuse allegations, priests complaints. France scores low in the category of government favoritism, while Qatar scores much higher (Islam is the official state religion, according to the constitution). late engr. MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) The increased number of pilgrims, with the associated surge in international air travel and infrastructure expansion, also raises sustainability concerns, even as the oil giant pursues the goal of getting half its energy from renewable resources by 2030. For example, this report covers events that occurred in 2017. Is public preaching by religious groups limited by any level of government? Protesters expressed anti-Semitic and racist sentiments, displaying swastika flags and chanting Jews will not replace us!83, Central African Republic experienced a particularly large increase in its score in this category. In the Middle East and North Africa, this was the case in more than eight-in-ten countries. Does the constitution, or law that functions in the place of a constitution (basic law), specifically provide for freedom of religion or include language used in Article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Are foreign missionaries allowed to operate? Readers discuss ordaining women, separation of church and state, and Christian nationalism. ROME (AP) It follows Zuppi's visit to Kyiv earlier this month, which the Vatican described as an initiative to try to find paths of peace. The report also noted that Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus are now under observation for the next report based on concerns about religious freedom amid the Russo-Ukrainian War. These restrictions can range from a constitutions stated commitment to religious freedom (or lack thereof) to the regulation or registration of religious groups. U.S. Department of State. , It is possible for a particular limit to fall into multiple categories. The report was released on the first day of Religious Freedom Week, in which the U . The new study shows that the Middle East has high levels of restrictions across all four categories in 2017, but the gap in government favoritism is particularly large: The average country in the MENA region scores nearly twice as high on measures of government favoritism as the average country in any other region. Sept. 13, 2011. German authorities say police and prosecutors have searching Catholic Church properties in connection with a probe of the archbishop of Cologne over perjury allegations. Ali Velshi Senior Economic and Business Correspondent, NBC News The Big Picture Crowdsource Innovation Roles of Religion Religious violence is undergoing a revival. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Tuesday, June 27, 2023 A service of EWTN News The Social Hostilities Index measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations or groups in society. Unitarian Universalists elect first woman of color, openly queer president, Meet Natalie Drew: Christian, trans woman, veteran and pacifist, The first woman to head Unitarian Universalists ends term full of historic turns. This category measures types of harassment ranging from violence and intimidation to verbal denunciations of religious groups and formal bans on certain groups.