The Italian prelate died shortly before his 100th birthday. He was a larger-than-life figure, whose ideas on new religious movements still deserve to be studied.
From the World
Pakistan Claims 400,000 Social Media Accounts Spread Blasphemy
It also reports eleven “Internet blasphemers” have been sentenced to death, and two of the sentences have already been confirmed on appeal.
“Psychological Subjugation”: France Ready to Invent a New (or Old?) “Cultic Crime”
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.”
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.
The 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh: Still Unacknowledged, Says a New Documentary
3,000,000 people killed, 400,000 women raped, tens of thousands abducted, 43,000 who were girls at the time still missing. Global Human Rights Defence’s movie calls for justice.
The Hague Human Rights Film Festival: Movies Vindicate Persecuted Women
The second annual Global Human Rights Defence’s Human Rights Film Festival in The Hague presented the sufferings of Tajik, Yazidi, Ahmadi, Pakistani, Uyghur, and other women.
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 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.