Bitter Winter
A magazine on religious liberty and human rights
Bitter Winter was launched in May 2018 as an online magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China published by CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, headquartered in Torino, Italy. Scholars, journalists, and human rights activists from different countries started working together to give the voice for the voiceless by publishing news, documents, and testimonies about persecutions against all religions in China.
The unique feature of Bitter Winter was, and is, its network of correspondents in all Chinese provinces. At high risk for their security – some have been arrested – they report on what happens in China and how religions are treated or mistreated. They often supply exclusive photographs and videos.
From December 1, 2020, Bitter Winter added an international section covering religious liberty worldwide. We continuously expand our coverage to new countries and new issues. The fact that Bitter Winter is published by CESNUR makes us particularly attentive to religious liberty issues connected with new religious movements, but we try to cover all forms of religion and belief.
Placed under the editorship of Massimo Introvigne, one of the most well-known scholars of religion internationally, Bitter Winter receives some of its reports directly from members of religious minorities and organizations persecuted in China and elsewhere. However, it is independent of any religious or political organization and is mostly the fruit of volunteer work, although donations are gladly accepted. Bitter Winter does not take positions on political issues and limits itself to the field of human rights.