A Virgin Mary in La Flotte-en-Ré, a statue of St. Michael in Les Sables-d’Olonne. “Cancel culture” or campaign for the presidential elections?
PierLuigi Zoccatelli
Christian Churches Vandalized Again Across United States
The incidents are just too numerous to explain all of them away with mental health issues of the perpetrators
Is Corruption a Violation of Human Rights? Implications for the Tai Ji Men Case
United Nations’ documents are increasingly treating corruption as a human rights issue. This directly impacts the case of Tai Ji Men.
Slavery, Slaves, and the Tai Ji Men Case
Spiritual motivations played a crucial role in eliminating slavery. Today, they give us hope that administrative oppression can be eliminate as well.
Tai Ji Men and the International Day of Peace
Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, the leader of Tai Ji Men, offered a contribution to the international promotion of world peace, including through resistance to persecution.
Parliaments and Freedom of Religion or Belief: Italy and Taiwan
Do legislative assemblies protect religious liberty? They should, but they do not always succeed, particularly when a country emerges from a non-democratic past.
Andorra’s Archbishop: Persecution of Christians Is a “Humanitarian Emergency”
In a pastoral letter, Mgr. Vives calls for Roman Catholics to denounce the “hidden” persecution against Christians, and defend religious freedom for all faiths.
Several Christian Churches, Statues Attacked in Europe in March and April
The Observatory of Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe details incidents in several countries, including UK, Italy, Germany and Poland.
Taxes and Religious Minorities in Italy and Taiwan: A Comparison
Repressing movements labeled as “cults,” including through a misuse of taxes, and denying tax justice also happens in Italy. But more remedies exist there.
The Calvary of Plorec-sur-Arguenon Will Not Be Destroyed
A court ordered its destruction in the name of French laïcité. Local authorities found a solution. An emblematic story.
PierLuigi Zoccatelli
PierLuigi Zoccatelli (1965-2024) taught Sociology of Religions at Pontifical Salesian University, Torino, and Sociology of Esotericism at the University of Turin. He was deputy director of CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, and the associate editor of The Journal of CESNUR. Among other affiliations, he was a member of the scientific committee of the Interdepartmental Center for Research in Religious Sciences “Erik Peterson” (CSR) of the University of Turin, and of Contemporary Religions And Faiths in Transition (CRAFT), a research center of the Department of Cultures, Politics and Societies of the University of Turin. He was also a member of the section “Sociology of Religion” of the Italian Sociology Association (AIS), and of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE). He is the author of several books and articles in the field of New Religious Movements and Western Esotericism, and co-director of the widely reviewed Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy. His writings has appeared in 12 countries and in 8 languages.