U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)

Advocates have urged President Donald Trump to raise human rights issues, including religious freedom, when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Washington.

President Donald Trump’s new appointees to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom include Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, the commission said Sept. 16.

Religious persecution predominantly affecting Christian communities in Nigeria remains a key concern for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the commission’s new chair told OSV News

Catholics located in the northern and remote areas of Pakistan often experience particular difficulties “just to keep their religion.”

“Our identity was denied, our citizenship was taken, and our dignity was slowly destroyed, largely because of our faith.”

The same week as the State of the Union in Washington, an international religious freedom watchdog flagged Turkey and bishops addressed the 2026 Farm Bill.

The cause of international religious freedom is tied to global stability and is increasingly threatened by authoritarian regimes, said speakers and participants in the sixth annual International Religious Freedom Summit.

President Daniel Ortega’s ban on religious processions has intensified in Nicaragua, and now faithful at Masses “cannot pray out loud,” said one witness.

The Supreme Court on Dec. 5 said it would take up a case regarding the Trump administration’s executive order to end birthright citizenship.

Religious freedom violations are an early warning sign of where mass atrocities could occur around the globe, a new report said.