The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom denounces the “dire condition” of religious minorities.
Massimo Introvigne
Ata Zholy: Crackdown on a Kazakh Islamic Religious Movement in Russia
Falsely qualified as “pagan” by anti-cultists, the groups was born from popular Islam and mediums who claimed to channel Sufi saints.
Shincheonji: Korean Supreme Court Confirms Leader’s Acquittal from COVID Charges
It is now definitively confirmed that the movement and its leader Chairman Lee did not breach any COVID regulation.
Generation Z, Spirituality, and Tai Ji Men
Introduction to the hybrid seminar “The Stolen Youth of Tai Ji Men,” co-organized by CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers on August 8, 2022, in Walnut, California, in sight of the UN International Youth Day of August 12.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Both Lahore Statue and Man Who Vandalized It Attend Their Fate
The monument has been restored, but may not be re-installed where it once was. The man who attacked it has confessed he planned to kill an Indian politician.
“The Unknown War”: Re-Assessing Anti-Soviet Lithuanian Partisans
A new book in English edited by Arūnas Streikus was written before the war in Ukraine but is published in the right moment.
Pakistan: Swearing You Are Not an Ahmadi Mandatory for Marrying in Punjab
Spouses should take an oath that they believe there can be no prophets after Muhammad, according to instructions issued on July 30.
Cloridano, Medoro, and the Epic of Tai Ji Men
Epic tales of friendship remind us of the importance of global networks of friends for solving the Tai Ji Men case
Les Témoins de Jéhovah face aux ex-Témoins. 6. Pourquoi respecter leur choix de ne plus s’associer avec d’ex-adeptes
L’exclusion fait partie des pratiques et enseignements fondamentaux dans lesquels les autorités gouvernementales ne devraient pas s’immiscer.
Allya Ayat: A Global Kazakh Esoteric Movement Persecuted in Russia
Russian FECRIS affiliates instigated for years a police repression of the group, which has started again in July 2022.
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.