Lawmaker, bishop urge action as 120,000 Armenians face ‘ethnic cleansing’ September 7, 2023By Gina Christian OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News A U.S. lawmaker and a Catholic bishop are calling for action to end a months-long blockade that has left some 120,000 ethnic Armenians at risk of what he and other experts are calling “genocide by starvation.”
Parents ask appeals court to allow an opt-out from school books with LGBTQ+ themes August 31, 2023By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, Schools, World News An interfaith group of Maryland parents has asked a federal appeals court to allow them to opt their children out of classroom instruction pertaining to books containing LGBTQ+ themes to which they object on religious grounds.
Society of Jesus banned in Nicaragua August 24, 2023By David Agren OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News The Nicaraguan regime has extinguished the Jesuits’ legal status and ordered the expropriation of its assets, effectively making it illegal for the Society of Jesus to operate in the Central American country.
Three years after disputed election, Belarus church is urged to speak up for the persecuted August 23, 2023By Jonathan Luxmoore OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News A Christian campaigner has urged Catholic church leaders and the Vatican to condemn worsening human rights abuses in Belarus, after another Catholic priest was arrested in front of his parishioners for spreading “extremist material.”
‘We are willing to die for the name of Jesus,’ persecuted Christians say as world marks day of awareness for religion-based violence August 22, 2023By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News On the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief, observed on the United Nations’ calendar Aug. 22, Pakistan and India are among places of particular concern for Christian rights advocates.
Maryland, New Jersey cases on public schools’ trans student policy, parental rights get day in court August 20, 2023By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News A federal appeals court threw out a Maryland lawsuit Aug. 14 from parents challenging guidelines barring teachers from notifying parents if a student identifies as transgender. In New Jersey, a case is under consideration by a judge after the state government objected to three Monmouth County school districts implementing new policies requiring school staff to notify parents in such cases.
Maryland court rules religious exemption bars discrimination claim against CRS August 17, 2023By Julie Asher OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Religious Freedom The Maryland Supreme Court ruled Aug. 14 that the religious exemption in the state’s Fair Employment Practices Act “bars claims (of) religious, sexual orientation, and gender identity discrimination against religious organizations by employees who perform duties that directly further the core mission(s) of the religious entity.”
Lawsuit seeks to block public funding for nation’s first religious charter school August 2, 2023By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, Schools, World News A lawsuit filed July 31 in Oklahoma is seeking to block state funding for what could become the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school if it survives the legal challenge.
U.S. official calls state of religious freedom in Nigeria ‘abysmal,’ says country in ‘slow -motion genocide’ July 30, 2023By Ngala Killian Chimton OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News The chairman of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, has described religious freedom conditions in Nigeria as “abysmal.”
Pence defends role of faith in public life at Catholic conference July 28, 2023By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: 2024 Election, Feature, News, Religious Freedom, Respect Life, World News Former Vice President Mike Pence defended the role of faith in public life at a Catholic conference on July 27.
Global status of religious liberty ‘dire,’ House lawmakers warn July 19, 2023By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, U.S. Congress, World News U.S. House lawmakers called the global status of religious liberty “dire” during a hearing July 18, citing concerns across the globe from China to Nicaragua.
Pence pushes back on false claims about Ukraine’s religious freedom at GOP forum July 18, 2023By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: 2024 Election, Feature, News, Religious Freedom, War in Ukraine, World News Former Vice President Mike Pence had a tense exchange with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson July 14 at an Iowa candidate forum about the war in Ukraine, shedding light on both how Republican presidential candidates are navigating increasingly conflicted views on the subject among their base, but also an oft-repeated disinformation tactic by Russian propagandists.
