Religious Freedom

A month after the abduction of American pilot Kevin Rideout in Niger’s capital, Niamey, church and missionary sources in the West African country say the silence surrounding his disappearance is disturbing.

Two Belarusian Catholic priests listed as political prisoners of the regime were freed Nov. 20, following the October visit of papal envoy to the country.

As night falls across continents on Nov. 19, more than 600 churches and landmarks will light up in red, reminding the world that Christian persecution remains a stark global reality.

In its 2025 report, the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, or OIDAC, noted “a significant rise in personal attacks” against Christians in 2024.

As reports spread that U.S. President Donald Trump appealed directly to China’s Xi Jinping to free jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai when they met in South Korea Oct. 30, American theologian George Weigel told OSV News that Lai “is a non-violent, deeply committed defender of not simply his rights to free speech, but to those of the people of Hong Kong” and that his “witness to human dignity and to basic human rights is an expression of his Catholic faith.”

Faith is a matter of life and death in northern Nigeria, said Bishop John Bogna Bakeni of Maiduguri.