Regional Interfaith Dialogue, Connecting and Cooperating for Peace and Harmony In the Asia-Pacific region
Based on the successful precedents of events organised in conjunction with prior G20 Summits since 2014, the G20 Interfaith Summit Association will hold a conference in Berlin on June 15-17, 2017) and preliminary events so that it can contribute to the C20 process in place with the overall 2017 G20 process.
A Vietnamese Delegation to the Vatican has concluded its visit and there are postivie outcomes. The two sides acknowledged the progress in Vietnam – Holy See relations, including regular contacts and consultations, the exchange of high level delegations and frequent pastoral visits to Vietnam by the papal representative and non-resident special envoy, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli.
An international congress will be held at the Vatican in October to reflect on the collaboration between faith and sport to improve man’s life. The meeting is organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
Worldwide, both government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion decreased modestly from 2013 to 2014 despite a rise in religion-related terrorism, according to Pew Research Center’s latest annual study on global restrictions on religion.
China must be on guard against foreign infiltration through religion and stop “extremists” spreading their ideology, President Xi Jinping told a top-level meeting on managing religion, state media reported on Sunday. China must also manage the Internet to promote the Communist Party’s religious theories and policies, the official Xinhua news agency cited Xi as saying.
As Singaporeans become more religious, there are concerns that some segments of society are becoming more distant from others. One strong antidote to this exclusive tendency, religious leaders said, lies in their followers reflecting on what their respective religions teach. This is crucial, they added yesterday at a conference on building inter-faith relations.
The phrase “spiritual but not religious” has become widely used in recent years by some Americans who are trying to describe their religious identity. While Pew Research Center does not categorize survey respondents in such a way, our surveys do find that the U.S. public overall appears to be growing a bit less religious – but also somewhat more spiritual.
The UN’s rights envoy to Myanmar has expressed alarm over the enactment of a controversial population control law, the first of four race and religion bills considered to be discriminatory against ethnic and religious minorities.
As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world’s largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third (31%) of all 6.9 billion people on Earth. Islam was second, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23% of the global population. If current demographic trends continue, however, Islam will nearly catch up by the middle of the 21st century. Between 2010 and 2050, the world’s total population is expected to rise to 9.3 billion, a 35% increase, reports the Pew Forum on Religion.
