News from Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Turkey. – Iranian Christian converts detained by US Immigration. – Catholic Church: more detailed data revealing the scale and geographic breadth of the 2026 Easter baptism surge. – Provincial council will address the pastoral challenge of welcoming, forming, and integrating the unprecedented number of neophytes entering the French Church. – The “missionary-as-provocateur” frame.
Proselytism and Religious Outreach Worldwide: Conflicts, Policies, and Trends – Weekly Briefing – 21-27 March 2026
India has entered an accelerated phase of what might be called the “juridification of conversion.” – The “public Islam” controversy in Britain as a template. – The structural asymmetry of persecution coverage. – The centennial of World Mission Sunday in October 2026 will likely generate a significant volume of Catholic reflection on the theology and ethics of mission.
Vatican and World Council of Churches study warns of conversion ‘obsession’
17 May 2006 — “Freedom of religion is a fundamental, inviolable and non-negotiable right of every human being in every country in the world,” states the report of the 12-16 May meeting in Lariano/Velletri, near Rome, that launched the cooperative study. “Freedom of religion connotes the freedom, without any obstruction, to practise one’s own faith, […]
Swami Dayananda Saraswati: “Religious freedom does not extend to having a planned program of conversion”
In June 2003, News Today published excerpts a long interview with Swami Dayananda Saraswati, whose views critical of missionary activities are well-known. In the interview, conducted by Editor T.R. Jawahar, Swami Dayananda Sarawsati reaffirmed his understanding of conversion as a form of violence: “What is violence? When you physically hurt me it is violence. When […]