The dramatic intensification of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that commenced February 24, 2022 (with origins that go back to 2014) constitutes a shameful and horrific injustice. In the context of this ongoing conflict, RFI seeks to increase understanding of the religious dynamics of the region — both the thriving landscape of religious pluralism in Ukraine and the many dimensions of religious freedom that have helped to secure and foster it. The resources below address these themes, and RFI will continue to add to them throughout the crisis.
RFI’s Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team has joined several religious institutions in a friend of the court brief filed in the Supreme Court in support of the religious liberty of Quaker prisoners. The case is Green Haven Preparative Meeting v. New York State Department of Corrections, No. 21-1027.
From February 12-19, RFI’s Vice President for Public Policy, David Trimble, joined Jeremy Barker, Director of RFI’s Middle East Action Team, to lead a series of religious freedom trainings and public events across Iraq.
RFI Excecutive Vice President Eric Patterson recently authored an article published in WORLD titled, “Beijing’s Berlin moment.” In it he draws parallels between the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and asks what should have been done differently in the lead up to the current games, and what should be done now as they begin, to avoid letting “the Olympics overshadow China’s human rights abuses.”
In a November 2021 interview for the Academy of Freedom series of the Laboratory of Religious Freedom in Poland, David Trimble, Director of RFI’s National Center for Religious Freedom Education, discussed how religious freedom plays a critical role in securing and strengthening other freedoms in society. He also noted how religious liberty contributes to a host of other societal goods.
In an article published recently in Christ Medicus Foundation’s Catholic Journal on Religious Freedom and Healthcare, RFI Research Fellow Andrew Kubick argues: Physicians who, through a well-formed conscience, discern which acts are good and commit to them are sure to enjoy the fruits of their profession. Unfortunately, there is a pervasive assault on the rightful exercise of medical conscience that disturbs the joy of medicine and disrupts the plans of future physicians who refuse to forfeit their morals to attain their license
In an article published this week in the National Catholic Register, Jordan Buzza, director of CMF CURO for Christ Medicus Foundation, considers whether “medical professionals should be required to perform procedures that they disagree with ethically, morally or due to religious reasons.”
C.S. Lewis asks, “Who can condemn what clearly makes many people, at many important moments, behave so much better than they could have done without its help?” Patriotism moves individuals beyond selfishness and conceit to give and to share and to sacrifice, particularly in times of duress and violence. Lewis goes on to say that love of home and one’s people should point us to higher loves and higher duties, beyond “our mere natural impulse.”
In an article published yesterday in the National Catholic Register, Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, legal analyst for EWTN News, argues for a return to certain bedrock principles of the American experiment, foremost among them, religious freedom.
On January 18, America will commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose work and legacy embody the spirit of religious freedom.
On August 14, 2020, Thomas Farr, President of the Religious Freedom Institute, spoke at the Tenth Annual Napa Institute Conference, which was being held virtually for the first time.
In his presentation, “Come Be My Light: The American Crisis of Religious Freedom and Catholic Responsibility,” Farr takes a sober look at the troubling state of religious freedom in America, especially the many challenges faithful Catholics, and their institutions, are facing.
On October 23, 2019, RFI’s Center for Religious Freedom Education held the final event of its Fall Speaker Series entitled, “Brutal Exchange: Genocide, Trafficking, and the Human Person as Gift.” The event featured Laura Bramon, a senior program manager at World Vision with experience working in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Middle East. Her primary focus is on human trafficking interventions.
