Bulgarians Line the Streets of the Capital to Bid Farewell to Orthodox Patriarch Neophyte
Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, led the memorial service.
The Church of England Aims to Raise More Than $1 Billion to Address Its Past Links to Slavery
The commitment falls short of demands from some campaigners for institutions that benefited from slavery to pay compensation to descendants of the enslaved.
Islamist Nigerian Militants Press Attacks Against Christians to Foment Religious War
The militants 'are terrorists, and they are not fighting for any religion. But they want to use religion to achieve their target of destabilizing the country and establishing an Islamic state,' said a local evangelical Christian pastor.
Belarus Cracks Down on Clergy Who Supported Protests of Its Authoritarian Leader
The pro-Kremlin Lukashenko last month signed into law a measure requiring all religious organizations in the country to reregister with authorities or face being outlawed if their loyalty to the state is in doubt.
Subversive Are Those Who Mourn
This issue of A Public Witness explores the subversive power of public mourning — like what happened recently after the state murder of Russian political dissident Alexei Navalny — to better understand a Beatitude of Jesus.
For Iranian Converts Claiming Religious Persecution, European Courts Require Proof of Faith
Judges across Europe are having a tough time deciding whether asylum-seekers claiming religious persecution are ‘genuine’ Christians.
Greece Just Legalized Same-Sex Marriage. Will Other Orthodox Countries Join Them Any Time Soon?
Eastern Orthodox leadership, despite lacking a single doctrinal authority like a pope, has been united in opposing recognition of same-sex relationships both within its own rites and in the civil realm.
Israel Complains After Vatican Denounces ‘Carnage’ and Disproportionate Response in Gaza
'Israel’s right to self-defense has been invoked to justify that this operation is proportional, but with 30,000 dead, it’s not,' said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.
The War on Valentine’s Day
With a bloody cleric adding Valentine’s Day to his culture (and literal) wars, this issue of A Public Witness looks deeper into the subversive mythology behind St. Valentine.
Church of England Leader Says a Plan To Send Migrants to Rwanda Undermines the UK’s Global Standing
If approved by Parliament, the law will allow the government to “disapply” sections of U.K. human rights law when it comes to Rwanda-related asylum claims and make it harder to challenge the deportations in court.