A new Equality Bill which would have forced Churches to employ practicing homosexuals or transsexuals as youth workers was amended and retained existing employment exceptions for the purposes of religion.
Liberal Group in the European Parliament tabled an amendment to the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World condemning Pope Benedict XVI's anti-condom statement.
A community ruling forbids any religious symbols, such as the crucifix, including on cemetery grounds, on May 6, 2009, in Lugo di Romagna.
The Belgian Chamber and Senate overwhelmingly approve of two decisions that formally condemn the pope for having stated that the distribution of condoms will not help to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The pope’s position is called a “crime against humanity."
A Christian foster carer has been struck off because she allowed a Muslim child in her care to convert to Christianity.
A nurse was suspended from work without pay for having asked a patient whether she wanted prayer. The nurse has been reinstated after public protests.
A man forcibly tried to take of a nun’s veil in Sarajevo on January 21st, 2009.
The Bulgarian government confiscated church properties with police force and violence. European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of Alternative Synod of Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
Aramaic Lawyer David Gelen reveals in an interview with German daily, "Die Welt," the pressures Turkish authorities have placed on the Christian Aramaic minorities.
Several reports prove fear of Muslim converts to Christianity in Europe.
Soldiers arrested a priest and more than 20 Christians in a Turkish Province during prayer. The Christian community wanted to hold a religious service in this region. When the Christians started to distribute sweets to the children and Bibles to the adults the security forces intervened and arrested them.
In summer 2008 Anthony Rollins, a street preacher in Birmingham, was arrested after expressing the Bible’s teaching on same-sex relationships. On December 8th 2010, he was awarded £4,250 in damages.
The members of Tower Hamlets Council in East London received an email asking them to observe restrictions implemented during Ramadan. Among these measures, Town Hall meetings were reduced and prayers were included in the evening in observance of the "holy month".
Two pupils from Alsager High School in Cheshire were punished after they refused to pray to Allah. The 7-grade class kids were urged by their religious education teacher Alison Phillips to take part in a Muslim prayer. Prayer mats were given to them, and the pupils were told to kneel down following the Muslim ritual. They were also told to wear Muslim headwear during the lesson.
Police investigated Northern Ireland MP Iris Robinson for expressing her religious beliefs about homosexuality on a BBC radio show. Officers from the ‘serious crime branch’ of the Police Service of Northern Ireland held interviews about the incident.
A group of women gathered in front of Santa María del Pi Church in Barcelona for a pro-choice manifestation. Five of them entered the Church, interrupted the service, and in front of the mass attendees chained themselves to one of the church altars for "free and unrestricted abortions".
Representatives of the United Left (Izquierda Unida Republicana) of Asturias released a public announcement where they condemned the participation of civil servants in the funeral in Madrid by „not being able to distinguish public functions from private life.“ They requested that a laity protocol be applied in the future.
The International Atheist Federation complained to President Rodriguez Zapatero requesting the immediate ending of the announcement of Roman Catholic services at Barajas airport, in Madrid.
Education Minister Caitriona Ruane, a member of the Sinn Fein Party, is importing school uniform policies from London which led to schools being able to ban students from wearing crucifixes and Sikh religious bangles.
The Catholic Bishop of Lancaster UK today gave a spirited response to accusations by secularist MPs in a Commons Committee who accused him of trying to establish religious "fundamentalism" in his schools. Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue told the Committee that schools in his diocese should see it as their prime duty to teach the Catholic faith and to evangelise and that this constituted neither "proselytism" nor "fundamentalism".
A police community support officer (PCSO) told two church workers in Birmingham, “You can’t preach here, this is a Muslim area”. The incident happened as Arthur Cunningham and Joseph Abraham handed out Christian tracts on Alum Rock Road.
The Anglican bishop of Hereford has been ordered by a court to undergo "equal opportunities training" and pay a fine of £47,345.00, the equivalent of about Euro 63,540.00, for refusing to hire an active homosexual for a position of trust with young people. The ruling also stated that Hereford diocese staff "involved in recruitment should receive equal opportunities training". "The respondents discriminated against the claimant on the grounds of sexual orientation," said the ruling from the Cardiff Employment Tribunal.
A Greek Orthodox priest was given a suspended 70-day sentence after residents complained he rang his church bell too loudly and too often.
The Parliament of Catalonia has passed a new law that increases the power of the government over religious organizations. Catholic and Evangelical churches, among others, have raised some concerns about the role of the state regulating activities that belong, originally, to religious organization. Under the new law, and from now on, a permit issued by the local City Hall is needed to carry out any religious activity, and the permit could be denied for security and health issues.
The Czech Constitutional Court dismissed the proposal by a group of senators to abolish a controversial amendment to the church law that churches say limits their rights.
Manchester, England - A Catholic airport worker was suspended for displaying an image of Jesus on a staff room wall after a Muslim colleague made a complaint against him.
A Christian couple was being forced to retire from fostering needy children on conscientious grounds after the local council imposed rules requiring them to discuss homosexuality with the children.
The European Court for Human Rights requested Turkey to bring its education system and domestic legislation into line with Article 2 of Protocol 1 to the ECHR. What triggered this decision was the discovery that religious culture and ethics classes, mandatory in primary and secondary schools, provided exclusively specific instruction in the guiding principles of the Muslim faith and its rites.
Church worker Julian Hurst, was handing out invitations for his church's Easter service. Police seized the literature after complaint by homosexual man that church should not be allowed to advertise.
New gay rights law forces the Catholic Church to pull out of offering adoption services in the UK.
Regulations Barring Religious Schools from Teaching Against Homosexuality Approved Sexual Orientation Regulations Pass House of Lords. Concerned Christians prayed outside of the Houses of Parliament.
Fernando Perez Crespo, teacher of religion at Carlos III High School, filed a formal complaint for mobbing. For the last four years, the schedule for his class had not been respected by the school authorities, parents who had requested religious instruction discovered that their children had been enrolled in other courses instead of Perez Crespo's religion class. At times Mr. Perez Crespo was compelled to use the school bathrooms or the smoking room to for teaching.
A British schoolgirl has been barred from wearing a crucifix necklace in class, the Daily Mail reported.
Totnes Town Council replaced Christian prayers at the start of its meeting with a moment of silence.
The Catholic School Monte Tabor was vandalized just a few days before its inauguration in September 2006. Early in the morning, wearing gloves, four youths broke into the school and caused significant damage to the establishment, estimated in the amount of 20,000 Euro. Doors, windows, desks, and chairs were destroyed, and the walls painted with anti-Catholic expressions, as well as attacks to the PP, the PSOE political opponents.
In July 2005 the Spanish Socialist Youth political wing (JSE) has requested the government to appoint a commission to review the agreements between Spain and the Holy See. The JSE General Secretary and speaker, Herick Campos, emphasized the need to put the Catholic Church "in its place, without any privileges because the Catholic hierarchy has abused of its condition of majority to influence government affairs, specially in issues related to education and finance". This was supported by government leaders in 2006.
Stephen Green, 55, national director of the evangelical organization Christian Voice, Christian Arrested for Distributing Bible Quotes Opposing Homosexuality in South Wales, UK.
The Secretary of the State Department of Communications, Fernando Moraleda, declared that the Government will "not pay more attention to the catechism than to the [official] program". Moraleda´s statement came right after the Pope Benedict XVI requested the teaching of religion in the schools be conducted in similar conditions to other subjects and as it has been agreed to in an international treaty signed by Spain and the Vatican. These agreements are mandatory law for Spain. "The Government has a program and it cannot pay attention to the catechism", Moraleda added.
After receiving a formal claim from the Ombudsman Jose Chamizo, the Council of Andalucia requested the Department of Education to remove crucifixes and other religious symbols from San Juan de la Cruz of Baeza school in Jaén. According to the media, only one parent had complaint to the Ombudsman to remove the crucifixes displayed in the classrooms.
Sergei Shavtsov was arrested and jailed for 10 days for organizing a meeting on Christian history and Bible issues without an official permit.
The retired couple Joe and Helen Roberts were interrogated by police officers after they complained about their local council's gay rights policy on the grounds of their Christian belief that homosexual practices are morally wrong.
Members of the socialist party said that they would vote against the National Spanish Budget as long as the government continues the provision of funds to the Catholic Church. During an interview broadcast by the media Ser, MP Victorino Mayoral, a socialist representative, claimed that the Catholic Church funding is "dubious, not to mention unconstitutional". Mayoral says that the secular government of Spain cannot afford the funding of a religious organizations that "revives Franco's times“.
Member of the Scottish Parliament asked Strathclyde Police to investigate remarks made by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow. The Archbishop had defended the institution of marriage in a church service.
(ongoing) Visa difficulties for religious personel; police failure to protect the faithful; administrational obstacles prevent religious services.
(2000-2006) Several instances recorded. Christians faced violence including murders, threats, vandalisations and administrational difficulties.
The Spanish Socialist Youth political wing (JSE) has requested the government to appoint a commission to review the agreements between Spain and the Holy See. The JSE General Secretary and speaker, Herick Campos, emphasized the need to put the Catholic Church "in its place, without any privileges because the Catholic hierarchy has abused of its condition of majority to influence government affairs, specially in issues related to education and finance".
The official speaker for the PSOE on issues related to Education, Adolfo Navarro, has requested the intervention of the Education Council to reprimand another case of "bad education". The complaint submitted by Navarro refers to some material facilitated by the Ethics Professor of two students from Colegio de Jesus who requested it. The material contains traditional Catholic teachings on sexuality. Navarro says the material "only promotes homophobia and ignorance".
Karoli Gaspar Calvinist University in Budapest was sued by the Hatter Support Group for Gays and Lesbians after the University had dismissed a student who was involved in promotion of homosexuality. The university declared that the religious school cannot let, conduct and promote homosexuality, because it is against its morals, beliefs and the way of teaching.
On Sunday June 5th, priest Monsignor Patrick Jacquin was hurt in Notre Dame Cathedral when about twenty members of the association ‘Act Up’ burst into the cathedral, defying the security personnel, in order to perform a mock marriage of two lesbians.
The former Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, Gonzalo Puente Ojea, affirmed that the Catholic Church is a public enemy nowadays. In the view of Puente Ojea, the Church is used to a privilege treatment and its bellicose tone towards the Spanish government is part of a power game.