Religion

President Putin said that it is important that the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian confessions pay tireless attention to issues of moral health of society, strengthening the institution of the family, educating the younger generation, and sincerely care about maintaining interethnic and interreligious dialogue

Ilya II is considered the most important unifying figure in Georgian society, and commands great respect throughout the country. Despite the fact that the Church in recent years has been embroiled in a number of scandals respect for the patriarch has remained very high.

“In the fight against political Islam, I am in favour of creating a European imams directory based on the example of Austria. Most imams travel through many EU countries, so the security authorities have to know who is preaching what in which mosque, ” Austrian Minister for European Affairs Karoline Edtstadler, told WELT AM SONNTAG.

Bethlehem on Thursday ushered in Christmas Eve with a stream of joyous marching bands and the triumphant arrival of the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

“It is clear to the public what these groups have done in distorting some texts, cutting them out of their context, and using them to achieve personal goals or interests and corrupting the land,” al-Azhar said in a fatwa. “Membership in these extremist groups is considered forbidden by Shariah.”

The 747th anniversary of the death of the most important Sufi mystic and poet in the world, Jalal al-Din Rumi was commemorated during the “Seb-i Arus” ceremony held on December 17 at the Mevlana Cultural Centre in Konya, in Turkey. This annual commemoration was this year held in virtual format because of the coronavirus pandemic

In a recent controversial decision, the European Court of Justice has upheld a ban on kosher and halal slaughter in Belgium.  Deutche Welle's religious affairs expert, Christoph Strack says that bans on such forms of animal slaughter in Belgium, and elsewhere, arose over debates over the way Islam is practiced in Europe. Individuals sought to impose tighter rules on Islam on the continent — yet also hit Europe's Jews.

Turkey's presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin told the religious leaders it was extremely important to fight against hate crimes and discrimination with a single voice, especially at a time when anti-Islamism, anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity are on the rise all over the world.