(ESSAY) Flee the clamor of urban life, and take a drive through this beautiful desert and wilderness area. Meet three faith leaders who found the solitude and peace they were looking for — and who ultimately made this stunning landscape their home. Across New Mexico, religious communities locate themselves in remote areas in order to gain solitude and silence.
Read MoreWhen the Pew Research Center asked Mainers what religions they followed, the most common answer wasn’t Catholicism or Evangelical Protestantism. It was “nothing in particular.” But there’s more to the story.
Read More(ANALYSIS) You’ve seen the headlines about Iran’s uprising, but there is a deeper story: Two-thirds of the nation’s mosques, 50,000 out of 75,000, have been closed due to declining worship attendance, according to a high-ranking cleric. What does that mean for Iran and for Islam?
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Maldives, the small South Asian island nation, recently passed a new law to tighten the noose of the media. But this new law also indirectly strengthens the state’s restriction on religious freedom. Under this law, media outlets will be punished if they publish any content that contradicts Islamic principles or that could be seen as offensive to Islamic sentiments.
Read MoreNearly 175 worshippers were abducted on Jan. 18 from three churches in Kaduna State in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, Christian advocacy groups reported, after at least 35 were killed in separate attacks on villages in the Middle Belt and eastern Nigeria.
Read MoreIndia recorded 1,318 in-person hate speech incidents in 2025, averaging more than three each day and overwhelmingly led by Hindu nationalist groups affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The report supports the inference that a political choice is behind the sustained scale of public incitement, which undermines both the rule of law and the idea of equal citizenship.
Read MoreA Nigerian minister and humanitarian urged the U.S. government to use peaceful methods to address religious persecution during a Jan. 13 USCIRF hearing in Washington. Rebecca Dali said bombing worsened trauma for communities and encouraged intelligence-based cooperation, as witnesses testified about Christian persecution in multiple countries worldwide.
Read More(OPINION) Days of protest across Iran left hundreds dead as authorities imposed an unprecedented internet blackout to suppress dissent. Social media nevertheless shaped mobilization, documentation and global awareness through diaspora networks and dissident media, revealing escalating demands for regime change through the use of technology.
Read MoreChristians are bringing light amid the evil, with many treating the wounded at homes to avoid certain arrest at hospitals. Christians are also taking food and water into crowds of protesters amid Iran’s humanitarian crisis. One Christian couple prepared 50 sandwiches, put them in their backpacks along with bottles of water and distributed the food to protesters.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Iran’s leaders warned the United States and Israel of retaliation as nationwide protests challenged the Islamic Republic’s theocracy. Facing mounting deaths and unrest, Iranian officials framed dissent as foreign-backed chaos, tightened repression and escalated external threats, revealing a regime prioritizing clerical survival over popular consent.
Read MoreMilitants have killed at least 58 individuals in Christian villages in northeastern and northcentral Nigeria since Christmas, and kidnapped others from a Catholic boarding school, according to numerous reports.
Read MoreA Hindu businessman was attacked by a mob in Bangladesh’s Shariatpur district on Dec. 31. He was beaten with sharp weapons, doused in petrol and set on fire. This was the third such attack in a month — part of a larger pattern of violence against religious minorities since the fall of the previous government.
Read MoreZohran Mamdani’s swearing-in at City Hall highlighted the full diversity of New York City and included a striking display of Jewish presence and pride during a historic change in leadership. In a scene rich with symbolism, Sen. Bernie Sanders administered the oath of office to the city’s first Muslim mayor as Mamdani placed his hand on a Quran.
Read MoreNestled among the calm and modest apartment blocks of the small district of Strašnice in Prague, Czechia, is an equally modest site of worship. From the outside, it looks like just another construction complex decorating the ordinary streets of Strašnice. However, closer inspection reveals that there is something more than meets the eye.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On his recent visit to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV met with political and religious leaders, celebrated Mass and visited historical sites. The trip also marked the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which resolved core doctrinal differences, with the aim of advancing Christian unity at the time.
Read MoreAt a Delhi temple, Afghan Sikhs gather in prayer, their voices rising in unison, yet their hearts weighed down with longing for a homeland they were forced to leave. Among them is Daya Singh. He fled Afghanistan twice — first in 1992 when the Taliban seized control, and again in 2006 after facing persecution for being Sikh.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s been over a decade since Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from a school in Chibok, Borno, in April 2014. The abduction received international attention, with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirl being shared globally, including by Michelle Obama.
Read MoreThe U.S. designation of Nigeria as an egregious violator of religious freedoms has not gone far enough to stem violence there, top persecution watchdogs said amid an intense uptick in attacks on Christians in the African nation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the most talked-about film from the final year of the 20th century, “The Matrix,” a computer hacker named Neo finds that the world he lives and works in isn’t real. It’s a virtual reality, created by artificial intelligence.
Read MoreA group of faith leaders has sent a letter to President Donald Trump thanking him for his recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
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