A closer look at the 2026 ICCPR–ICESCR review reveals that key concerns went unanswered, while the decades-long Tai Ji Men injustice continues.
Massimo Introvigne
“Magnifica Humanitas” and Xi Jinping’s Thought on AI: Same Problem, Different Solutions
A CCP essay and a papal encyclical both warn about AI’s promise and peril, yet their moral universes could not be farther apart.
Japan’s Justice Okino: Will a True Believer in Brainwashing Judge the Unification Church Case?
A judge who once attacked the religious organization at an anti-cult seminar is not impartial and should be recused.
The Price of Belief: Misuse of Taxes, the Two Covenants, and the Tai Ji Men Case at the UN Human Rights Council—Again
A new submission highlights abuses of fiscal authority against spiritual groups, revealing systemic weaknesses and persistent human rights concerns.
Konstantin Rudnev’s “Manifesto of Humanity”: A Review
I read the text written by the Russian spiritual master while in jail in Argentina with both sorrow and admiration.
Scientology: Berlin Finally Blinks
Germany’s quiet retreat from a thirty-year surveillance practice marks a return to legal fairness after a policy that caused stigma rather than security.
Jehovah’s Witnesses: After Norway, Sweden Also Rediscovers Neutrality and Religious Freedom
A Stockholm court overturns the state’s attempt to police doctrine, restoring equal access to public support for a minority faith.
Scientology Behind the Climb? Anti-Cult Narratives, and the Nardi Case
An Italian mountaineer who was a Scientologist died in 2019 in the Himalayas. Apostate ex-members and the media manipulated the incident to blame the “cult.”
From Russia with Hate: How Russia Sponsored Attacks on French Places of Worship
Serbian court verdicts quietly revealed that Moscow intelligence financed desecrations of synagogues and mosques in France. by Massimo Introvigne The synagogue Agoudas Hakehilos was spray-painted green on May 31, 2025. From X. It is uncommon in the busy world of...
When Words Become Weapons: From Rwanda’s Hate Media to the Tai Ji Men Case
Reflecting on the propaganda that prepared the 1994 genocide and on how unchecked media hostility against minorities shows the urgent need to stop hate speech.
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.