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French MIVILUDES overwhelmed by court convictions
How can France continue to support a government agency that has been convicted six times by the French courts in the past year? MIVILUDES (Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and Combating...
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Europe
Religious Test for Public Contracts: Germany’s Use of “Faith-Breaker” Declarations Draws Scrutiny
Brussels – In the decades leading up to and during World War II, several European regimes implemented policies requiring individuals to declare their ideological or religious affiliations as a precondition...
America
USCIRF A Beacon of Bipartisanship in the Global Fight for Religious Freedom
In today’s deeply polarized political climate, where partisan divides often seem insurmountable, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) stands out as a rare and vital example of sustained...
Europe
No Intesa, No Recognition? Challenges of the State’s Role in Defining Religion in Italy
ROME — In the historic Sala Matteotti of Italy’s Camera dei Deputati, where law and legacy often converge, a quiet but urgent conversation unfolded this week about who gets to...
Editor's choice
Without Intesa: A Quest for Recognition in Italy’s Religious Pluralism”
In a chamber of the Italian Parliament, beneath frescoed ceilings and marble columns, something quietly extraordinary was unfolding. It wasn’t a protest. It wasn’t a sermon. It was a conversation...
FORB
The Cult of Secrecy: France’s Anti‑Sect MIVILUDES Under Scrutiny
According to the French religions news site Religactu, which conducted an in‑depth review of hundreds of internal documents and email exchanges, France’s anti‑cult watchdog—the Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte...
FORB
Macron’s Firm Stand: Defending Religious Freedom After Mosque Attack
The early‑morning stabbing of 22‑year‑old Aboubakar Cissé on April 25 inside the Khadija mosque of La Grand‑Combe has forced France to confront a surge in anti‑Muslim violence that many fear is eroding...
Asia
From Refuge to Genocide: New Light on the Cham People’s Fragmented Identity and Forgotten Tragedy
In a world still grappling with the legacies of forced migration and religious persecution, new academic research is revisiting one of Southeast Asia’s lesser-known tragedies — the complex fate of...
FORB
Azza Karam: Among the Pilgrims of Peace
“Portraits in Faith” is a section dedicated to highlighting the lives and legacies of individuals who champion interfaith dialogue, religious freedom, and global peace. In the quiet, persistent work of...
Editor's choice
Faith Under Fire: How Russia’s War in Ukraine Became a Crusade Against Religious Freedom
In the shattered remains of a once-thriving Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) parish in Crimea, a single icon hangs askew on a cracked wall. Its gold leaf tarnished, the image...