religious freedom

The Latest

Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Wukari.

Nigerian bishop: Displaced families in need of spiritual and material help

Jul 5, 2025

By Kristina Millare

Since his 2022 appointment, Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein has seen the destruction of at least 325 Catholic places of worship... Read more

Attorney and columnist Andrea Picciotti-Bayer was named the winner of the Religious Freedom Impact Award by the Religious Freedom Institute on July 2, 2025.

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer named religious freedom award winner

Jul 4, 2025

By Amira Abuzeid

The Religious Freedom Impact Award honors leaders who demonstrate “consistent, effective, and innovative leadership in advancing religious freedom.” Read more

Delegates at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 17, 2025.

Kenya hosts landmark summit on religious freedom in Africa

Jun 18, 2025

By Jude Atemanke

Regional and global experts as well as proponents of religious freedom gathered June 17 for the first International Religious Freedom... Read more

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota.

Bishop Barron at Religious Liberty hearing warns of ‘dictatorship of relativism’

Jun 17, 2025

By Tyler Arnold

At the first hearing of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, Bishop Robert Barron echoed Pope Benedict XVI’s warning against... Read more

The Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission meets in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 16, 2025.

At Religious Liberty Commission hearing, scholars urge government to support faith, freedom

Jun 17, 2025

By Tessa Gervasini

Since its creation, a number of prominent Catholics have been appointed to the White House Religious Liberty Commission, including Bishop... Read more

Sam Brownback.

Religious freedom expert says the West uses a ‘suffocation technique on religion’

Jun 7, 2025

By Francesca Pollio Fenton

Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback recently spoke with OIDAC Europe about challenges to religious freedom. Read more

The Catholic bishops backed a suit by a coalition of Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Native Americans and their supporters, in their lawsuit against the federal government. The lawsuit argued that their freedom of religion was violated when the federal government announced its intention to sell formerly protected land in Arizona to a mining company.

Native group backed by U.S. bishops loses Supreme Court bid to halt sacred land transfer

May 28, 2025

By Daniel Payne

The Supreme Court this week denied a request from the Native American coalition group Apache Stronghold to halt the sale... Read more

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois.

Bishops Paprocki, Rhoades join Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission advisory board

May 19, 2025

By Tyler Arnold

Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, and Father Thomas Ferguson will join advisory board for President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. Read more

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During oral arguments, Supreme Court seems open to state-funded Catholic charter school

Apr 30, 2025

By Kate Quiñones

The case could reshape school choice and religious freedom in the United States.  Read more

Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback (right) speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Mark Irons on Friday, April 11, 2025.

Former ambassador Sam Brownback praises Trump’s religious freedom pick: ‘It’s in his DNA’

Apr 12, 2025

By Daniel Payne

Brownback served in the religious freedom role from 2018 until 2021. He was the first Catholic to serve in that... Read more

Kansas Capitol.

Kansas governor vetoes bill to protect religious liberty of adoptive parents on gender issues

Apr 8, 2025

By Tyler Arnold

The bill would have prohibited the state from requiring prospective adoptive or foster parents to first affirm support for gender... Read more

Tiananmen Square - Entrance to Forbidden City, Beijing, China.

China’s new religious restrictions severely limit foreign missionary activity

Apr 3, 2025

By Courtney Mares

According to the regulations, “collective religious activities organized by foreigners in China are restricted to foreign participants only” with few... Read more

Polonia Castellanos, founder of the Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers.

Report: Attacks on Catholics increasingly common and tolerated in Europe and Latin America

Apr 2, 2025

By David Ramos

Attacks against Christians, especially Catholics, are on the rise in both Europe and Latin America, according to various reports from... Read more

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks to attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida.

Oklahoma governor signs order directing state to prioritize religious freedom

Apr 1, 2025

By Kate Quiñones

The directive explicitly targets several state laws, including one requiring charter schools to be “nonsectarian” in their operations. Read more

Idaho Capitol in Boise.

Idaho governor signs bill to protect religious, conscience rights of doctors and nurses

Mar 21, 2025

By Tyler Arnold

The new law establishes that Idaho recognizes “that the right of conscience is a fundamental and inalienable right.” Read more

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In federal suit, Illinois diocese says state ‘human rights’ law violates religious freedom

Mar 21, 2025

By Daniel Payne

The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois is arguing in federal court that a state “human rights” law is infringing upon... Read more

Cathedral of Managua, Nicaragua.

Nicaraguan dictatorship tightens monitoring of Catholic priests

Mar 17, 2025

By Walter Sánchez Silva

The regime is now keeping Catholic priests under surveillance, checking their cellphones, and demanding weekly reports on their activities. Read more

Activists display a long list of atrocities against minorities on the first 300 days of the Narendra Modi government on March 19, 2015.

Christians decry plan in India for death penalty for conversions

Mar 14, 2025

By Anto Akkara

“A provision for capital punishment will be made in the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act for religious conversion,” declared... Read more

Normally busy streets in Manhattan are deserted April 10, 2020, after officials imposed a COVID-19 lockdown.

UPDATED: Which states protect churches from closure, 5 years after COVID lockdowns?

Mar 13, 2025

By Jonah McKeown, Zelda Caldwell

There is now legal precedent at the federal level suggesting that states may never shut down worship entirely again. Read more

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Church ‘frustrated’ over government takeover of school appointments in Gujarat, India

Jan 29, 2025

By Anto Akkara

The verdict “is frustrating for us. We are sad that it came just ahead of the 75th anniversary of the... Read more