KINSHASA, Congo – Congolese church leaders, including the nation's cardinal, condemned security forces' attacks on Catholic protesters that left at least eight dead and 120 people detained.

OTTAWA – Religious freedom and conscience rights will continue to be top agenda items for Catholic and other faith groups in 2018 as challenges play out in the courts and in the public arena.

WASHINGTON, D.C., – A federal court has denied relief to the Archdiocese of Washington, in its request for an injunction that would have allowed it to run metro ads encouraging riders to discover the true meaning of Christmas.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court seemed equally divided in the long-anticipated oral arguments Dec. 5 about the baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs.

Quebec’s new anti-niqab law, which bans a small minority of Muslim women from public sector jobs and from receiving government services because they cover their faces in public, fails the basic test of justice, says the Canadian Council of Churches.

Most Canadians respect religion, believe it is relevant and think it benefits society, according to a new Angus Reid Institute poll.

VATICAN CITY – Christians and Muslims believe that freedom of conscience and religion are the most important human rights and, "therefore, our collective duty demands that we respect, preserve and promote such rights," said members of the Catholic-Muslim Forum.

Catholics and people of all religions should be troubled by a new Quebec law that is an obvious affront to religious freedom. 

OTTAWA – If the government is going to confront anti-Muslim hatred it should also address hatred against other religious groups and minorities, said Canada’s former Ambassador of Religious Freedom.

OTTAWA – A religious freedom advocate whose brother was murdered for his Catholic beliefs told a parliamentary committee that legislation on Islamophobia could bring Canada the type of religious violence many people came here to escape.

OTTAWA - After a surge of asylum seekers over the summer, Canada’s refugee policies will be the top concern for many faith-based groups when Parliament resumes Sept. 18.

OTTAWA – Canada’s Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Civil Rights League have been granted intervener status in an important religious freedom case to be heard later this year by the Supreme Court.

OTTAWA – A new bill before the House of Commons has triggered religious freedom concerns because it removes Criminal Code sanctions against disrupting or obstructing worship services.

OTTAWA – Senator Don Plett expects the new transgender law will soon be challenged for violating religious freedom or freedom of expression.

WASHINGTON – Many religious leaders viewed President Donald Trump's executive order on religious freedom, which he signed in a White House Rose Garden ceremony May 4, as a step in the right direction.