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.”
RFI President Tom Farr delivered opening remarks at last week’s International Religious Freedom Summit 2022 held in Washington, DC, which First Things has published in adapted form. Farr’s wide-ranging remarks address violent persecution and repression outside of the West as well as the pernicious “retreat from religious liberty in Western democracies.”
The second annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. June 28-30. The goal of the Summit was to create “a powerful coalition of organizations that operate together for the cause of religious freedom around the world” with the aim of “increasing the public awareness and political strength for the international religious freedom movement.” Find more information about the IRF Summit here.
In an article published this week in Religion Unplugged, Miles Windsor, Senior Manager for Strategy and Campaigns for RFI’s Middle East Action Team, discusses the importance of terminology in the fight for religious freedom. In particularly, Windsor contrasts the term "international religious freedom," which is used in the U.S., with the term "freedom of religion or belief," which is gaining use around Europe.
The U.S State Department released its 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom on June 2, 2022. This comprehensive report provides a broad overview of the state of religious freedom for almost 200 countries around the globe.
RFI’s Paul Marshall, Director of the South and Southeast Asia Action Team, was recently interviewed on EWTN News Nightly to discuss the State Department’s newly released 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom. The report contains data from nearly 200 countries and documents where religious freedom is lacking, as well as countries that have seen improvement.
Stephen Rasche, RFI’s Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom in Conflict Regions, was recently interviewed on National Catholic Register’s “Religious Freedom Matters” podcast to discuss how Islamic extremism is the unacknowledged root of violence against Christians in Nigeria. Throughout the interview, Rasche discusses the abuses Nigerian Christians are suffering due to religious prejudice, and the Western world’s lack of understanding of the situation.
In an article published today in WORLD Magazine, RFI Executive Vice President Eric Patterson examines the evidence recently uncovered in Chinese government documents exposing atrocities the Chinese Communist Party is committing against Uyghur Muslims.
In an article published today in Newsweek, Miles Windsor, Senior Manager for Strategy and Campaigns with RFI’s Middle East Action Team, reflects on the challenges and opportunities that the upcoming International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, to be held in London July 5-6, 2022, presents.
In an article published recently in The Hill, Lena Abboud, Senior Manager for Research and Policy with RFI’s Middle East Action Team, argues:
“Religious freedom is regressing globally, and the United States has an opportunity to be in solidarity with the people most egregiously affected. But whether this solidarity goes beyond rhetoric depends on actions the United States takes against perpetrators and its engagement with governments and communities in countries where this freedom is most at risk.”
RFI Executive Vice President Eric Patterson this week authored a piece for WORLD magazine titled, “Understanding Xi’s China” in which he highlights the “dangers of the ‘cult of personality.’”
The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) joined eleven organizations — each “dedicated to the protection of religious freedom worldwide” — to send a letter to House and Senate leadership making “recommendations as Congress looks to reauthorize the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.”
In an article published recently in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s First Freedom Blog, RFI President Tom Farr writes, “In the 21st century, religious freedom is under growing pressure around the world, including in the United States. This alarming development should matter to all of us.”
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright passed away yesterday,at 84 years of age. Secretary Albright’s family emigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1948. She did not realize her family’s Jewish ancestry until much later in life and had countless relatives who had perished in the Holocaust.
In an article published recently in Newsweek, Miles Windsor, Senior Manager for Strategy and Campaigns with RFI’s Middle East Action Team, observes:
The Protestant Christian community in Algeria is under siege from its own government. The persecution of Christians by the Algerian state has been a sustained campaign for many years with the latest wave of repression beginning in November 2017.
On Tuesday, March 22, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced a short and simple piece of legislation “to reauthorize the independent, bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) through fiscal year 2024.”
Grounds for passing the bill are clear and compelling.
In an article published recently in The Hill, RFI Senior Fellow for Europe Todd Huizinga argues: The Global Respect Act fails to respect morally orthodox religious people while the protections against violence it would provide, that might otherwise have merit, are already in federal law. The bill should be opposed.
RFI Executive Vice President Eric Patterson this week authored a piece for WORLD magazine titled, “A Threat to Russian Authoritarianism.” In it, Patterson explains how Ukraine’s vibrant religious diversity and religious freedom threatens and provides a clear alternative to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian ways.
In an article published recently in Providence, RFI’s Executive Vice President Eric Patterson compares the controversial 1936 Olympics held in Nazi-controlled Germany to this year’s Olympics in Beijing. He goes on to explore the historical precedent for boycotting Olympic games held in certain countries and banning certain countries from competing.
