Category: Religious Freedom

“Christians in Pakistan suffer slavery and constant oppression”—Father Federico Suaya

Christians suffer from slavery and constant oppression, and their situation is terrible. The Christian is considered “chura”, which in the local language means “sweeper.” For us, it does not have a negative connotation, but there it is equivalent to saying “excrement.” In Pakistan, Christians are attacked, raped, beaten, or burned alive. Blasphemy laws are used as a weapon of terror by radicals to accuse innocent Christians of crimes they did not commit. Typically, there is no punishment for the criminal, and the persecution of the Christian is often celebrated.

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Political instability affects religious freedom in Bulgaria

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA), and the United Evangelical Churches (UEC), which gathers 13 registered denominations from the Evangelical-Protestant community and 14 non-governmental organizations in Bulgaria, submitted a joint report to the Human Rights Council ahead of the 50th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Bulgaria, scheduled for November 2025. The joint report “examines why Bulgaria must strengthen freedom of religion” and protect minorities from Roma Evangelical communities “from unfair treatment concerning their fundamental rights”.

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Education Freedom Meets Religious Freedom

The court has just heard Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which families from a variety of faiths—Muslims, Jews, Christians—are fighting imposition by the Board of Education in Montgomery County, Maryland, requirements that children learn material about gender ideology. As reported by the Becket Fund: “These parents are simply asking to be notified when the books will be read to their children and to be given an opportunity to opt out.”

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Church land may be next as India tightens control over Muslim religious assets

India’s Christian minority fears that the central government might be planning to bring their institutions under state control, following a series of recent developments that suggest the administration and its ideological affiliates are preparing to target church-owned properties. Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader in India’s main opposition party, the left-of-center Indian National Congress, warned that the Waqf law has set a precedent for state interference in minority-run institutions. He said the focus on Christian landholdings appears to be a continuation of an agenda to weaken the autonomy of religious minorities.

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Terror spreads in Nigeria as killing sprees spike against Christians

For Salamatu, terror was a way of life. In an earlier wave of violence, the jihadists had swarmed her Nigerian church, shooting the pastor in cold blood. Then, she says quietly, they came for her family. “My husband told me we should pray,” Salamatu remembers of that horrible night. “We said a short prayer and then ‘Amen.’ As soon as we said ‘Amen,’ we heard people pulling at the handles of our gate.” Quickly, her husband ushered her, the children, and grandchildren upstairs. “Don’t cry,” he told them. “Don’t make a noise — not even if you hear gunshots.” He walked outside to face the armed men, and it was the last time she saw him alive.

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Defending Faith and Parental Rights in the Classroom

Maryland’s Montgomery County Board of Education is denying my husband and me the ability to exempt our daughter from storybooks and instructional materials that promote a narrow and ideologically driven view of gender and sexuality. The school even refuses to inform us when these books are introduced or discussed, leaving us in the dark. Tomorrow, we will take our fight—Mahmoud v. Taylor—to the Supreme Court, asking for the restoration of our fundamental right to guide our child’s education in alignment with our faith.

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China Cracks Down on Foreign Missionaries

China’s communist dictator Xi Jinping has tightened his grip on religious activity in the world’s second most populous country, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced last week that starting May 1, foreign missionaries will be prohibited from sharing their faith or preaching, as well as establishing religious organizations.

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Gen Z Is Leading the Way in Dramatic Church Growth in the UK

A new survey is showing dramatic church growth among young adults in the United Kingdom.

The Bible Society study, “The Quiet Revival,” which surveyed more than 13,000 people, tracked a 12% uptick since 2018 among 18- to 24-year-olds who report attending church at least monthly. And, over the last six years, that number among men has shot from 4% to 21%.

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Canceling Easter

There’s no doubt that the so-called “woke” march toward cultural domination suffered a setback after the 2024 presidential election. But any suggestion of a major vibe shift may be premature. In England, an elementary school decided to cancel its Easter celebrations in the name of “diversity and inclusion,” reminding us of the enduring institutional strength of this ideology.

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