IARF News Digest

In occupied eastern Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church has annexed about 800 Ukrainian Orthodox Church churches. The article explains that before 2022 the ROC formally preserved UOC dioceses for political and canonical reasons, but after Russia recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk republics and annexed territories, it moved to take over church structures.

Interfaith Alliance joined over 150 civil society organizations to defend free expression and stand with the Center for American Progress after President Trump’s legal attack. The statement says the First Amendment protects independent think tanks and that suppressing free expression also threatens religious freedom.

As the far-right AfD could win state power in Saxony-Anhalt, German churches are countering its plans to end church asylum, strip state funding from Catholic and Protestant churches, and deport refugees. The article profiles church asylum at St. Petri, pastors running campaigns and town halls, and AfD leader Hans-Thomas Tillschneider’s policies.

In an interview on The State of Belief, Dr. Robert P. Jones discusses his book Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy, drawing parallels between 2026 American democracy and 1933 Germany. He argues the crises of faith and democracy share origins and require religious communities to actively defend democratic institutions.

The World Bektashi Headquarters will host a jubilee international conference on Monday, 7 September 2026, at its Holy See in Tirana. The event, held under the patronage of World Bektashi Leader Haxhi Dede Baba Edmond Brahimaj, will bring together senior state officials, diplomats, religious communities, academics, cultural figures, and representatives of Bektashi centers and tekkes from Albania and the diaspora. It will celebrate three milestones: the 35th anniversary of the reopening of the World Bektashi Headquarters (1991–2026), the 15th anniversary of the election of Haxhi Dede Baba Edmond Brahimaj (2011–2026), and the 11th anniversary of the Odeon Cultural Complex (2015–2026). Three thematic sessions will focus on Bektashi history, spiritual and cultural heritage, and interreligious dialogue.

Wondervoel is a Dutch network for people in their thirties and forties who are looking for liberal religious connection and deeper conversation. Because this age group is often a minority in local congregations, Wondervoel organizes national activities where they can meet one another. It began with the Remonstrants and now also includes Mennonites and Vrijzinnigen Nederland. Program maker Roos van Doorn says the team focuses on doing rather than meeting, creating moments such as mudflat hiking, visiting church asylum in Kampen, attending demonstrations and festivals, and planning future museum visits, retreats, and nature trips without digital distraction. The initiative is open to new ideas and is growing step by step.

Connecticut has enacted legislation tasking its Department of Education with creating optional curriculum resources on Arab and Islamic studies for public schools. Supporters see it as a key step to counter anti-Muslim bias, while critics raise constitutional concerns regarding religious endorsement.

Three Houston-area mothers filed a lawsuit using the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act and parental rights provisions to challenge a state law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

A report by the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist Christian Unity Council details widespread communal violence, harassment, and property seizures targeting religious minorities during the first half of 2026, prompting calls for a Minority Protection Act.