Around 90 percent of the South Asian nation is Muslim, with 7.95 percent being Hindu, 0.6 percent Buddhist, and just 0.3 percent being Christian - just about 500,000 people in a nation of 170 million.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned and fled the country on Monday, headed the Awami League, a secular party most non-Muslims support.

The protests against the Haina government began in early July with demands from university students to abolish quotas in civil service jobs. Still, they grew larger into a broader anti-government movement.

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"We will no longer register any new Churches. We will keep the figure of registered Churches unchanged from now on', members of various Protestant Churches quoted Davlatzoda as telling them.

"But he did not give any reasons," they added.

Several Churches which asked the SCRA for registration were individually told the same, one Protestant told Forum 18.

During the meeting with Protestant leaders, Davlatzoda also "openly warned that children cannot participate in Church activity, and no religious camps are allowed for them".

The 2011 Parental Responsibility Law bans the participation of anyone below the age of 18 in religious events apart from funerals. Religious communities have been fined for violating this ban. Continue reading

Farid Ahmed, who lost his wife in the shootings, was among 27 survivors of religious persecution from all over the world who met president Trump last Wednesday.

He thanked the president for the leadership and support he had shown "by standing up for humanity, standing up for religious groups and their rights."

"Thank you for supporting us during the 15 March tragedy in Christchurch," he said.

"God bless you and God bless the United States."

Prime minister not surprised

New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern said Ahmed's warm comments to the US president did not surprise her.

"I don't think I have ever heard or indeed met an individual who has had so little reason to be forgiving and yet is so incredibly forgiving," she said.

"He is a man full of love and compassion, and he exudes that in every interaction he has.

It doesn't surprise me at all he's doing that abroad and continuing to be a person that just promotes love and humanity."

During the Christchurch National Remembrance Service on March 29, Ahmed thanked "New Zealanders for coming together to show the world that New Zealand is a peaceful country".

"I have chosen peace, I have chosen love, and I have forgiven," he said.

Source

• christianpost.com
• tvnz.co.nz
• Image: White House

Crosses are being removed and (news sources say) churches throughout China are being demolished.

The ruling Communist Party has carried out a widespread crackdown on all religious institutions in recent years.

Changes the government initiated last year in Henan province, where authorities sought to suppress the Church by demolishing buildings and removing religious symbols have spread to the neighbouring region of Hebei.

Threatened by Chinese authorities and fearing retaliation, most Catholics are too scared to talk about what is happening to the outside world, causing a blackout of all news on the subject.

A Catholic from Hebei says people fear retaliation from the authorities might cause further demolitions or even lead to clerics being detained.

Such acts of retaliation had scared some pastors into silence, he says.

A priest from Hebei says local Catholics and priests did not dare to release news or photos of the demolition as they fear retaliation by authorities, he says.

"Once relevant photos are released, even though the specific location is not identified, you know that the authorities will investigate and find out the source of the news."

Tibetan children have been barred from Buddhist religious studies and over a million members of Islamic ethnic minorities have been incarcerated in "re-education centers."

President Xi Jinping , who is also party leader, has ordered that all religions must "Sinicise" to ensure they are loyal to the officially atheistic party or face the wrath of the Communist regime.

Source

• La Croix
• Fox Network
• Image: Business Insider

He is asking fellow Christians to "calm down" about their alleged persecution.

His comments come amid a brewing political storm over how the government should act to protect against religious discrimination.

Costello, a senior fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity, says the federal government should not try to legislate to cover "extreme" examples of competing rights. He cited the Israel Folau sacking case as an example of this.

Costello, who is the former chief advocate for World Vision Australia, says he has not seen any evidence of Christian persecution in Australia and Christians needed to "suck it up", just like Jesus.

"I would say to Christians if you want to see persecution, let me take you to places where there is persecution of Christians and other religious groups - let me take you to Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan and I will show you persecution.

"And if they read their Bibles, Jesus said the world will hate you and misunderstand you for following me, but to go on following, loving, serving - so I would say, just suck it up.

"Jesus didn't go around demanding legislation to protect his rights. Jesus didn't advocate for freedom of religion legislation."

Costello says he is "troubled" that the debate about religious discrimination had been reduced to a debate about competing individual rights and the role of the state.

This type of debate points to a "nihilism" in society that overlooked the importance of groups, he says.

Instead, he thinks the legislation needs to find the "middle road" on protecting people of faith, rather than focusing on the "extreme" case of Folau's sacking.

"I would want less of a debate on rights and more of a debate on respect, because it is very difficult in law to cover what I call the extremes," he says.

A spokesman for the Centre for Public Christianity said Reverend Costello had been "trying to take a bit of the heat out of the ­discussion".

But Bruce Meller, from the Presbyterian Church of Australia, says although Costello is right to recognise the experience of Christians overseas, "negative discrimination is defin­itely being experienced here".

Meller says Australian Christians should speak up in the debate about religiou­s freedom laws.

"This is the most important issue we face at the moment, and not just for Christians. The climate has changed dramatically, and it is that change to which Christians are reacting."

Source

• The Australian
• The Guardian
• Image: Pro Bono Australia

At the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Arlington, Mass., where Rabbi Avi Bukiet and his family live about 20 minutes outside of Boston, firefighters were called to put out a shingle fire May 11.

Then they were called there again for another fire May 16.

Then, about an hour later that day, firefighters responded to a nearby fire at the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham, where Rabbi Mendy Krinsky lives with his family about 30 minutes outside of Boston. Read more

The review estimates that one in three people suffer from religious persecution. Of these, Christians are the most persecuted.

Hunt says he thinks "political correctness" has played a part in the issue not being confronted.

The report says the main impact of "genocidal acts against Christians is exodus" and that Christianity faced being "wiped out" from parts of the Middle East.

It points to figures claiming Christians in Palestine represent less than 1.5% of the population, while in Iraq, the Christian population has fallen from 1.5 million before 2003 to less than 120,000.

Millions of Christians in the region have been uprooted from their homes and many have been killed, kidnapped, imprisoned and discriminated against.

The report also highlights discrimination across south-east Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and in east Asia - often driven by state authoritarianism.

"In some regions, the level and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide, according to that adopted by the UN."

Religion "is at risk of disappearing" in some parts of the world.

Hunt, who commissioned the review on Boxing Day 2018 amid an outcry over the treatment of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who faced death threats after being acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan, says he thinks governments have been "asleep" over the persecution of Christians.

In his opinion, the report and the deadly Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka had "woken everyone up with an enormous shock".

"I think there is a misplaced worry that it is somehow colonialist to talk about a religion that was associated with colonial powers rather than the countries that we marched into as colonisers.

"That has perhaps created an awkwardness in talking about this issue - the role of missionaries was always a controversial one and that has, I think, also led some people to shy away from this topic.

"What we have forgotten in that atmosphere of political correctness is actually the Christians that are being persecuted are some of the poorest people on the planet."

The review is due to publish its final findings within the next few months.

Source

• BBC
• The Guardian
• Image: The Japan Times

The Immigration & Protection Tribunal hearing also heard testimony from the woman by phone from Malaysia.

She said she intended to flee to New Zealand as well to join her boyfriend as soon as it was confirmed he could stay there.

She told the tribunal of her desire to get married to the man and have a family.

The pair cannot be named but Tribunal member Louise Moor gave an outline of the star-crossed lovers' relationship in the ruling.

The man, 25, was "drawn" to the woman, also 25, the first time they met at a cultural celebration in December 2015.

They carried on their relationship in secret, meeting regularly at his younger brother's house.

The Religious Affairs Department was alerted and three officers came to the house and walked in on the couple.

They saw the couple surrounded by Valentine's Day gifts including flowers and a teddy bear, Moor said.

"They did not believe their explanation that they were just friends," Moor said.

The officers took the woman into custody and returned her to her family.

She later told her boyfriend she was beaten by her father who demanded to know his home address.

The man was taken in for questioning by the Religious Affairs Department where he was physically abused in custody according to the tribunal decision.

His mother, concerned for their safety, pleaded with him and his younger brother to leave the country.

The two brothers arrived in New Zealand in April last year.

The Immigration & Protection Tribunal was established under the Immigration Act 2009 to consider all immigration, deportation, refugee and protection appeals in New Zealand.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• scoop.co.nz
• Image: sadlovestory.us

The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) statistics were unveiled ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting which took place on April 19 and 20 in the United Kingdom.

The figures show that the 53-state Commonwealth is "a vibrant multi-faith entity, but that religious freedom is still severely lacking in some countries."

Using data from the Pew Global Religious Futures Project, the figures show that Lesotho and Botswana closely follow New Zealand in the religious freedom rankings.

Malaysia heads the list of those with the least religious freedom, followed by India and Nigeria.

Christianity is the largest religious community in 43 countries of the Commonwealth, although only eight designate it as an official state religion.

The most religiously diverse country is Singapore, followed by Mozambique, while Papua New Guinea, which is 99.2 percent Christian, is the least.

Zaki Cooper, a CCJ trustee, said: "With its population of 2.4 billion people in 53 countries, spanning six continents, the Commonwealth is a truly multi-faith entity.

"Every major religion is practised within the boundaries of the Commonwealth, and each of these major religions is to be found in some way, shape or form in every Commonwealth country."

Cooper said while Christians are the largest religious grouping in 43 of the countries, many of them have significant minorities from different communities.

He said the survey showed a mixed picture for religious freedom. There is persecution of minorities in some Commonwealth countries.

Eight of the 53 Commonwealth countries appear on the Open Doors World Watch List - the ranking of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Source

• jewishnews.timesofisrael.com
• premier.org.uk
• huffingtonpost.co.uk
• Image: churchtimes.co.uk

This has seen the Religious Freedom Institute working with two US universities to find out: the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University's Religious Freedom Project.

The research findings are presented in a report called "Under Caesar's Sword".

The report collates three years of research that analyses over 30 of the world's most threatened countries.

It includes country-by-country analysis, examines the patterns of religious persecution, the varieties of responses to it and makes recommendations for action against persecution.

One of the project's signature features is its extensive efforts to disseminate its findings. This is part of its efforts to raise awareness of and be in solidarity with persecuted Christians.

There are two main groups that can affect religious freedom, the researchers found: state actors, and non-state actors.

They report the state actors include Islamist, Communist, religious nationalist and secular regimes, while non-state actors include violent religious extremists.

The report's executive summary says Christians' responses to persecution fall into three broad categories:

• Survival strategies, through which they aim to preserve the life and basic activities of their communities
• Strategies of association, through which they build ties with others that strengthen their resilience in the face of persecution
• Strategies of confrontation, through which they openly challenge the persecution levied against them or live out their faith so they accept the possibility of martyrdom.

The executive summary notes these responses are not mutually exclusive.

The study's major findings have been turned into a number of resources.

Source:

• University of Notre Dame
• Catholic News Agency
• Crux Now

Former North Korean Christian missionary Kim Chung-seong went on to explain why the country is so afraid:

"[It is] because the Bible and the Gospel speaks the truth. Once the light shines in the dark room, there is light in the room," he told the summit's political and religious leaders and representatives from 130 countries and territories.

The North Korean dictatorship is considered one of the worst human rights violators in the world.

Everyone is forced to worship the leader, currently Kim Jong-un, Open Door UK said in a recent report.

"Freedom of religion or belief does not exist and is, in fact, profoundly suppressed," the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2017 annual report says.

Despite the torture, forced hard labour, extraordinarily cruel treatment and death penalties the faith continues to spread, Kim said.

"I had to get out, or die."

Kim, who was one of many persecuted Christians speaking at the summit, has been living in South Korea since 2004.

He broadcasts a Christian radio programme every day into parts of North Korea.

He also helps send North Koreans Gospel messages, Christian music and world news on USB drives and SD memory cards.

Kim said the North Korean government uses a "façade" network — the Korea Christian Association.

Its role is to find the Christians in the country, make them think they're an authentic Christian group and give them false information.

The façade network also gives a false impression of religious freedom and religious pluralism in North Korea.

Summit keynote speakers included Washington D.C's Cardinal Donal Wuerl and US Vice President Mike Pence.

Source

• Catholic Online
• National Catholic Register
• Breitbart
• Image: Life Funds for North Korean Refugees
  

No self respecting party hire business can afford to not have a big stock of false nun's habits for hire .

So, "What's the fuss about Dame Trelise Cooper adorning some of her catwalk models in faux Native American headdresses?" asks Dr Avril Bell, senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Auckland.

"After all, haven't we all long worn gear like this at fancy dress parties — or to the rugby sevens? And even other garments that may be considered sacred in different quarters, such as nuns' habits as used by Moschino at the Milan Fashion Week"

So "How come it's acceptable to appropriate the attire and adornments of some cultures and not others?" asks Bell.

"There are various ways to address this question. One obvious point that could be made is that in referencing the nun's habit, Moschino was making use of the sacred within their own (Italian, Catholic) culture." says Bell.

She then goes on to say, " But I want to focus on another aspect of the issue, which is the role that cultural appropriation has played in the colonial history of societies such as our own, the United States and Canada."

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Image:Theboonreport

It is calling on the government to petition the Sudanese government to immediately release Mariam Ibrahim from imprisonment.

Ibrahim, a Sudanese mother, doctor and a Catholic, has been sentenced to be flogged 200 times and then sentenced to death unless she recants her Christian faith. She is 8 months pregnant and has a two-year-old son.

She is charged with adultery on the grounds that her marriage to a Christian man from South Sudan is considered void under Shari'a law, for which the penalty is flogging. She has also been charged with apostasy, or abandonment of religion, for which she has been sentenced to death.

Right to Life is asking New Zealanders to speak out and to urge the government to join the international community in calling upon the government of Sudan to respect the right to life and Meriam's right to religious freedom.

The United States, the European Union and advocacy groups have strongly condemned the death sentence imposed on Ibrahim.

Source

• Right to life
• Vatican Radio
• Image: d1bghp9m77ju8l.cloudfront.net

The share of countries with high or very high restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose from 31% in the year ending in mid-2009 to 37% in the year ending in mid-2010. Because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, three-quarters of the world's approximately 7 billion people live in countries with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, up from 70% a year earlier.

Restrictions on religion rose not only in countries that began the year with high or very high restrictions or hostilities, such as Indonesia and Nigeria, but also in many countries that began with low or moderate restrictions or hostilities, such as Switzerland and the United States. (See sidebar on the U.S..)

The rising tide of restrictions in the latest year studied is attributable to a variety of factors, including increases in crimes, malicious acts and violence motivated by religious hatred or bias, as well as increased government interference with worship or other religious practices. For instance, a November 2009 constitutional referendum in Switzerland banned the construction of minarets on mosques in the country. In Indonesia, more than two dozen churches were forced to close due to pressure from Islamist extremists or, in some instances, local officials. And in Nigeria, violence between Christian and Muslim communities, including a series of deadly attacks, escalated throughout the period.

During the latest year covered in the study, there also was an increase in harassment or intimidation of particular religious groups. Indeed, five of the seven major religious groups monitored by the study - Jews, Christians, Buddhists, adherents of folk or traditional religions, and members of other world religions - experienced four-year highs in the number of countries in which they were harassed by national, provincial or local governments, or by individuals or groups in society (for details, see Harassment of Specific Groups).

This is the third time the Pew Forum has measured restrictions on religion around the globe. The new study scores 197 countries and territories on the same two indexes used in the previous studies: ¹

• The Government Restrictions Index (GRI) measures government laws, policies and actions that restrict religious beliefs or practices. The GRI is comprised of 20 measures of restrictions, including efforts by governments to ban particular faiths, prohibit conversions, limit preaching or give preferential treatment to one or more religious groups.
• The Social Hostilities Index (SHI) measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations and social groups. This includes mob or sectarian violence, harassment over attire for religious reasons and other religion-related intimidation or abuse. The SHI includes 13 measures of social hostilities. Read more

Sources

• The Pew Forum
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Central European Religious Freedom Institute