Search Results for: church

The Commission on Reproductive Self-Determination and Reproductive Medicine in Germany on Monday submitted a final report recommending the legalization of abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in the country. The German government appointed the Commission in March last year to answer the government’s questions regarding abortion and reproductive medicine. An interdisciplinary body, the [...]

The Argentine court issued a decisive ruling Friday condemning Archbishop Mario Cargnello of Salta, alongside three other clergy members, for their involvement in gender violence against a group of nuns. The case, which centers around allegations of violence against Carmelite Nuns of the San Bernardo Convent, stemmed from the nuns’ support for devotion to the [...]

Two senior UN officials told the UN Security Council on Thursday, during the council’s first meeting about Myanmar since the military seized power from the democratically elected government, that the ongoing fighting in Myanmar since the military takeover in 2021 has deprived local communities of basic needs and access to essential services, which has resulted [...]

Israel concluded on Friday its weeks-long investigation into the alleged deaths of multiple hostages held by Hamas via friendly fire, asserting that it is likely that at least one hostage was killed by an Israeli helicopter. In its investigation, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) found that Efrat Katz, who was kidnapped from her home in [...]

Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld most provisions of controversial legislation that imposes a sentence of death by hanging against individuals convicted of “aggravated homosexuality.” In upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the court maintained that though the country’s penal code is “undoubtedly … considered to be a relic from the country’s colonial past,” the bill’s overwhelming [...]

The US State Department expressed concern regarding the recent convictions of ethnic minority and religious freedom advocates in Vietnam on Monday. The statement highlighted the convictions of five individuals since January 2024 and called on the Vietnamese government to uphold freedoms of expression, association, and religion or belief. One of the cases mentioned in the statement [...]

In the wake of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, many of Israel’s supporters, myself included, have succumbed to the understandable impulse for violent retribution. Israel is a land that I love, both culturally as a Jew — and third-generation Holocaust survivor — and spiritually as an ordained cantor. It follows that [...]

Amnesty International (AI) said Monday that Crimean residents have suffered ten years of systematic oppression since Russia’s annexation of the region in 2014. AI reported that since annexation, Russia has oppressed Crimea’s non-Russian residents, namely Ukrainians and Crimean Tartars, in two ways: by changing the region’s ethnic demographics and, more systematically, through “restrictions on education, religion, [...]

Independent French reparations agency, Instance Nationale Indépendate de Reconnaissance et de Réparation (INIRR), reported that it has provided financial reparations to over 500 victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy or leaders in the Catholic Church in 2023. INIRR’s 2023 report revealed that over 60 percent of victims are men, averaging an age of 61 years [...]

The US Department of State imposed arms restrictions Thursday on the import or export of US-origin weapons and services from or to Nicaragua. In a statement to the press, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller cited “brutal repression” and “recent sham elections” as ongoing concerns for the Biden administration, vowing to continue to use “diplomatic and [...]