Secretary of State Sonia Backès announces a new anti-cult statute. It is yet another incarnation of the discredited notion of brainwashing and of the fabrication of false “victims.”
Massimo Introvigne
The Vatican-CCP Compromise on the Bishop of Shanghai: Who Won and Who Lost
The Holy See has accepted an appointment illegally made by Beijing. But the incident led the Vatican to acknowledge that a “clandestine church” still exists.
Why Senegal’s Mourides Want Vatican-like Status for Their Holy City of Touba
The proposal is criticized by non-Mouride Senegalese but has a clear political significance as the country prepares for the 2024 presidential elections.
“Cult Victims”: Real, “Time-Bomb,” and Imaginary
A controversial Belgian report offers the opportunity of reflecting on real and fabricated “victims” of new religious movements.
Xi Jinping: The End of the Soviet Union Is “Too Painful to Look Back Upon”
Xi, like Putin, believes that the end of Communism in Eastern Europe was a tragedy, still causing him an almost physical pain. It is a key that explains many of his policies.
Pakistan: Muslim Retired Teacher Arrested for “Offending the Prophet’s Companions”
A comparatively rare enforcement of Article 298-A of the Criminal Code shows that a private “Internet police” looks for blasphemy everywhere.
USCIRF: Religious Liberty Worse than Ever in Russia and Russian-Occupied Ukraine
Two well-written reports highlight the systematic persecution of religious minorities by the Putin regime, and its crimes against religion in Ukraine.
The Decurions, Parliamentarianism, and Tai Ji Men
The local assemblies of “decuriones” made the Roman Empire great and victorious. Tax injustice destroyed them—and the Empire itself.
The Bloody Anti-Cult International: Novopashin Goes to China
A little bird sent to Bitter Winter an interesting document. Reportedly, the leading Russian anti-cultist is going to China in August to support the repression of Falun Gong.
Süleymancılar: Russia Cracks Down on Turkish Sufi Organization
Accused by anti-cultists of being a “pseudo-Islamic cult,” the group has two million members in Turkey and a distinguished history.
Massimo Introvigne
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press' Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the "Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions" of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.