(ANALYSIS) Despite being a stateless monk with no official power, the Dalai Lama remains one of China’s most persistent challenges. As he nears 90, Beijing’s anxiety over his influence grows, especially over who will succeed him. For decades, China has tried to erase Tibetan identity and control its spiritual leadership, but the Dalai Lama’s global stature defy state power.
Read MoreIt was during a June 22 service, a jihadi — Syria blamed the Islamic State group — entered with a rifle and began firing. As worshippers tackled him, he detonated an explosive vest. In seconds the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch had more names to add to its two millennia of saints and martyrs.
Read MoreAt a time when the Trump administration has renewed a travel ban on various Muslim majority countries in Africa and across the Middle East, the Quran owned by John Adams is but one indication that our nation’s founders regarded Islam — as well as other, non-Western, non-Christian faiths — as worthy of respect and protection under the law.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On June 21, 2025, Alex Sobel, a member of the U.K. Parliament, delivered a letter to Pope Leo XIV after a special audience for members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in the Hall of Benediction, the Vatican, calling upon him to stand up for Jimmy Lai, who has been imprisoned by Hong Kong authorities since December 2020.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled parents of public-school children in Montgomery County, Md., have a right to opt their kids out of classroom reading times with books the school board labels as “LGBTQ inclusive.” These books were introduced as part of a new curriculum in 2022 for pre-K through eighth-grade students. They promote storylines that teach gender is a construct rather than a biological fact.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Taiwan’s international rating on freedom of religion is undisputedly very high. The 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, published by the U.S. Department of State, also noted Taiwan’s constitutional protection of the freedom of religion as well as the diversity of religious beliefs, but questions are asked about how freely can one practice their religion.
Read MoreThe 500 Christians had already fled terrorism at home and found temporary shelter in storefronts transformed into living quarters in downtown Yelewata. But as they slept overnight on June 13, men identified as militant Fulani attacked from multiple sides.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a Catholic benevolent ministry qualifies for a tax exemption granted to churches.
Read MoreThe Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan has long experienced significant constraints on its religious practices. From not being allowed to call their places of worship “mosques” or use Islamic terms such as “Azan” (call to prayer) to not being able to vote because Ahmadis must either renounce their faith or agree to be placed on a separate electoral list categorizing them as “non-Muslim.”
Read MoreChina is operating a vast network of “colonial” boarding schools across Tibet that forcibly removes children—including those as young as four—from their families, a new report released Wednesday claims. The report, published by the U.S.-based Tibet Action Institute, says the system is designed not for education access but for political assimilation, cutting children off from their language, culture and religion.
Read MoreThroughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Christianity flowed from Europe and North America to Africa, often carried by missionaries. But in the 21st century, the pattern has reversed. African-led churches are now sending their own missionaries abroad, and many are planting churches in many former colonial capitals.
Read MoreZakir Hussain, the imam of the ancient Akhunji Mosque in Mehrauli, a section of South Delhi, has a vivid memory of Jan. 31, 2023. He described the terrible events of that morning, when the Delhi Development Authority destroyed not only the centuries-old mosque — but also the nearby Madrasa Bahrul Uloom and the cemetery next to it.
Read MoreA federal tax credit proposal would provide up to $5,000 per student in tuition assistance for yeshivas and other Jewish schools nationwide. The proposal, which has been criticized by some as a threat to religious liberty, has been hailed as "historic" by Agudath Israel.
Read MoreIndian authorities have allegedly “abandoned” — rather than deported — 40 Rohingya refugees in international waters near the Myanmar maritime border, forcing women, children and the elderly to swim to safety using life jackets. The action could be seen as a “secret rendition,” a term used to describe the covert transfer of individuals across borders without legal process.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Despite the disruptions of global economics and trade, and a couple dozen other hot disputes, let's not neglect such perennial realities as the way religion can affect politics, and vice versa. As President Donald Trump promised, this is a central aspect of his agenda, underscored by the recent establishment of the new Religious Liberty Commission.
Read MoreMany Christian families reported living in fear — facing threats of social boycott, electricity cuts and verbal abuse. Some have left their villages or publicly disavowed their faith to avoid conflict. Others now live with the trauma of having been denied the chance to grieve with dignity. In cases where women were disrobed or attacked during mourning, the abuse was not only communal but gendered.
Read MoreNigeria’s size, population and underdeveloped infrastructure make full and accurate data on such attacks difficult to obtain, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said at a Capitol Hill hearing on religious freedom in Nigeria, but the country is the deadliest in the world for Christians.
Read MoreSadhu Sundar Singh, a Christian pastor, serves Adivasi/tribal communities in Odisha’s Balasore district. He helps people in these communities move away from alcoholism, hooliganism and the consumption of unsafe water. However, because he also shares his Christian faith with them, he has received death threats.
Read MoreThree men from different faiths sit side by side on a stage. It’s nearly sundown just outside Berlin, with more than 100 people gathered for an interfaith iftar — the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims during Ramadan. Each religious leader speaks about the power of fasting in their tradition, their words framed by the clatter of Turkish food being prepared in the kitchen.
Read MoreChristian faith threatens Russian President Vladimir Putin because it is out of his control. As such, his war on Ukraine has centered on the systematic persecution of Christians, their families and their churches. That is the central message of “A Faith Under Siege: Russia’s Hidden War on Ukraine’s Christians,” a documentary premiering May 10 on CBN, and following on TBN, Newsmax and several screening platforms.
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