USCIRF confirms “intensified religious persecution during the pandemic”

May 17th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom annual report denounces that “the pandemic fostered misinformation targeting religious minorities”. Persecution of religious minorities has intensified with the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest USCIRF annual report. / Photo: Open Doors. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new edition of its annual report on religious persecution worldwide, focusing on the effect of the public health measures put in place to prevent …Read More

Legislators urge Biden to address global religious persecution

May 17th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

mdgn/Shutterstock Washington D.C., May 6, 2021 / 19:00 pm America/Denver (CNA). A bipartisan group of members of Congress asked President Biden this week to prioritize responding to global religious persecution. “Religious freedom, one of the most basic human rights for all people, has historically been an area of sincere bipartisan support and agreement in American foreign policy,” stated a May 4 letter by members of both the House and Senate to President Biden. The May …Read More

53 years of abortion: 9,675,153 lives lost since 1967 – one unborn baby every 3 minutes

April 29th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the Abortion Act coming into effect in 1968 – 6 months after it received Royal Assent. Since then, a staggering 9,675,153* unborn babies have lost their lives to abortion across England, Wales and Scotland — more than one death every three minutes; 25 lives ended every hour. The number of abortions in England & Wales reached an all-time high in 2019 at 209,519, while the number of terminations performed …Read More

Arizona disability abortion ban will protect mothers and unborn babies, Catholic bishops say

April 29th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who has signed a law barring abortions based on non-fatal genetic disorders, speaks at an awards luncheon in Scottsdale, Ariz., June 17, 2019. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) Phoenix, Ariz., Apr 28, 2021 / 17:01 pm America/Denver (CNA). The Catholic bishops of Arizona on Tuesday applauded the passage of an expansive state law that they say will help mothers and unborn children while saving lives. SB 1457, signed …Read More

‘No government has the right to close churches’: Pastor holds outdoor service in Ireland despite worship ban

April 29th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

An Evangelical pastor has told Premier he will hold a second socially-distanced service in Phoenix Park, Dublin this weekend, despite religious services being outlawed in Ireland. On Sunday, Pastor John Ahern of the All Nations Church, preached in front of around 100 worshippers at the foot of the park’s papal cross and said he will hold another service on Sunday 2nd May. Health Minister Stephan Donnelly signed a regulation earlier this month making in-person services temporarily …Read More

Canadian Supreme Court cements closure of private hospices for refusal to participate in assisted suicide

April 29th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

A British Columbia hospice society recently lost an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, one of several legal avenues it unsuccessfully pursued in an attempt to avoid participating in assisted suicide. Delta Hospice Society, located in the town of Delta in the Canadian province of British Columbia, was founded 30 years ago by a Christian woman who vocally opposed assisted suicide. Up until this year, the private society operated a 10-bed hospice facility, a charity …Read More

Religious hatred driven by weaponisation of technology

April 26th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

Persecution of faith groups has drastically increased in more than 95 percent of the world’s worst-offending countries, according to the latest Religious Freedom in the World report. The report, by international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, shows how the latest technologies are being used to crush religious freedom. Over the past two years, oppression against vulnerable faith communities has increased in all but one of the 26 countries listed in the survey’s …Read More

Govt moves to cancel ‘cancel culture’ at universities

April 12th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

Cancel culture’ and ‘no-platforming’ are to be challenged on university campuses with sanctions against institutions that fail to uphold freedom of speech. The newly created Office for Students (OfS) will take a robust approach to free speech in response to growing censoriousness at campuses across the country. In recent years, mainstream speakers such as Tory MP Amber Rudd have been barred from debates at Oxford University. Feminist Germaine Greer has also been blocked from debating …Read More

European bishops: Some nations reduced religious freedom during pandemic

March 30th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

A commission of Catholic bishops has warned religious freedom is threatened in the European Union, as restrictive laws are imposed in the wake of Covid-19. Some governments in Europe have “unquestionably reduced and diminished” religious freedom during the pandemic in disproportionate ways, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, or COMECE, said this week. “It is important not to send out a message that Christians, or more generally believers, are being persecuted inside the EU. However, not overdramatising …Read More

‘I’m overjoyed’: Catholic priest wins legal challenge to blanket ban on public worship

March 30th, 2021 by Vox Cervi 1

Canon Tom White, who is challenging Scotland’s ban on public worship. / Credit: Photo courtesy of ADF International. CNA Staff, Mar 24, 2021 / 02:00 pm MT (CNA).- Scotland’s supreme civil court ruled on Wednesday that the Scottish government’s blanket ban on public worship is unlawful. Judge Lord Braidoverturnedthe ban on March 24 in response to a challenge by 27 faith leaders, alongside Glasgow Catholic priest Canon Tom White. He had heard their challenge on …Read More