In November, two Sundays are devoted to prayer for persecuted Christians around world October 18, 2024By Gina Christian OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News A number of organizations are inviting faithful to pray for persecuted Christians throughout the month of November, as more than 365 million believers in Christ worldwide suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination, according to a 20242023 report by the advocacy group Open Doors.
Poland’s church remembers its heroic ‘Solidarity Martyr’ — Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko October 18, 2024By Jonathan Luxmoore OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, Saints, World News As 40 years have passed since the murder of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, one of their church’s most famous priests, Polish Catholics are urging people everywhere to revisit and learn from his heroic testimony.
British court convicts army veteran for silent prayer in front of abortion clinic October 17, 2024By Simon Caldwell OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, Respect Life, World News A court has convicted a British army veteran of violating a “buffer zone” around an abortion clinic after he prayed silently within the boundary.
Church leaders speak up after French school supervising body fires principal of Catholic school October 16, 2024By Caroline de Sury OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, Schools, World News The archbishop of Paris spoke out in favor of freedom of Catholic education in France, amid weeks of tensions and protests after the principal of a Catholic school was fired by the state school-supervising body for “breaching secularism.”
Russia blocks Catholic, other religious websites amid war in Ukraine October 14, 2024By Gina Christian OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, War in Ukraine, World News Amid its war on Ukraine, Russia continues to block a number of external religious websites, social media accounts and apps from several countries, preventing believers of various faiths from accessing information and engaging in dialogue, according to a human rights watch group.
Pro-life activists given prison sentences for Tennessee abortion clinic blockade October 3, 2024By Kurt Jensen OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, Respect Life, World News Federal sentences for three defendants imposed Sept. 26-27 in connection with a March 5, 2021, blockade of an abortion clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, leave only sentencing in a Michigan case in the current round of Justice Department prosecutions of clinic blockades.
Prayer, thought and peaceful presence will be banned all over the UK September 29, 2024By Simon Caldwell OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, Respect Life, World News The English and Welsh bishops have criticized a decision by the British government to put “buffer zones” around all abortion clinics, which could see Christians arrested for offering private prayers.
Christian leaders express ‘serious anxiety’ over Indian atrocities September 20, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, News, Religious Freedom, World News About 40 Christian leaders who gathered in mid-September expressed “serious anxiety” over “the increasing atrocities on Christians and other minorities,” and they demanded protection for minority rights and security for minority communities.
U.S. lawmakers from Baltimore join call on China to free Hong Kong Catholic, democracy advocate Jimmy Lai September 20, 2024By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers gathered Sept. 18 to call for the immediate release from prison of prominent Hong Kong Catholic, philanthropist and media mogul Jimmy Lai, who is facing a trial on what they called bogus charges.
Head of Sacred Heart order appeals to Polish authorities to respect dignity of arrested priest September 12, 2024By Jonathan Luxmoore OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News As the superior general of the Sacred Heart order appealed to Polish authorities to ensure an arrested Polish priest’s “dignity” is “respected,” defenders have accused the country’s government of using Father Michal Olszewski as a political prisoner and urged the Catholic Church to speak up on his behalf.
Indigenous coalition asks Supreme Court to stop mine threatening sacred site September 12, 2024By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: News, Racial Justice, Religious Freedom, Supreme Court, World News A coalition of Western Apache people, along with other Native American and non-Indigenous supporters, under the banner of the non-profit Apache Stronghold, asked the U.S. Supreme Court Sept. 11 to protect their sacred site at Oak Flat, Arizona, from destruction by a copper mining giant after a federal appeals court rejected their request.
German bishops call for responsible governing after ‘extreme right’ party wins local elections September 5, 2024By Karin Wollschläger OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News The results of local elections in eastern Germany’s regions of Thuringia and Saxony prompted German bishops to call for “responsible” formation of a government, even under “difficult” circumstances as the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won over 30 percent of the vote.
