News from 2023
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Cote d’Ivoire
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religious belief and worship, consistent with law and order, and prohibits religious discrimination. It emphasizes that religious tolerance is fundamental to the nation’s unity, peace, reconciliation, and social cohesion and forbids speech that encourages religious hatred.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Uganda
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and stipulates there shall be no state religion. It provides for freedom of belief, the right to practice and promote any religion, and the right to belong to and participate in the practices of any religious organization in a manner consistent with...
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Haiti
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: Haiti’s 1987 constitution provides for the free exercise of all religions. Any religious group seeking official recognition must obtain it through a multistep registration process with the Bureau of Worship (BOW), a unit within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government has a special relationship...
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Jamaica
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion, including the freedom to worship and to change one’s religion. It prohibits discrimination based on belief. A colonial-era law criminalizing the practices of Obeah and Myalism remains in effect but is not enforced.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Panama
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution, laws, and executive decrees provide for freedom of religion and worship and prohibit discrimination based on religion. The constitution recognizes Catholicism as the religion of the majority of citizens and requires Roman Catholic instruction in public schools, with exemptions allowed.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Angola
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution defines the state as secular, prohibits religious discrimination, and provides for freedom of conscience, religion, and worship. The constitution requires the state to protect churches and religious groups as long as they comply with the law. The law increases the penalties for crimes...
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Philippines
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for the free exercise of religion and religious worship and prohibits the establishment of a state religion. The law treats intentional attacks directed against religiously affiliated buildings or facilities as war crimes or crimes against international humanitarian law.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Papua New Guinea
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of conscience, thought, and religion and the right to practice religion freely, except where that practice infringes on another person’s rights or where it violates public laws, safety, and the welfare of marginalized groups.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Guatemala
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion, including freedom of worship and the free expression of all beliefs. The constitution recognizes the distinct legal personality of the Roman Catholic Church. Non-Catholic religious groups must register with the Ministry of Interior to enter into contracts or receive tax-exempt status, after following a process involving several steps that could take up to two years and cost approximately 10,000 quetzals ($1,300).
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion, including the freedom of individuals to change their religion. Religious organizations may register as nonprofit religious institutions with the government or register as corporations, the latter option requiring an application to parliament.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Argentina
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution and laws provide for freedom of religion and the right to profess freely one’s faith. The constitution grants the Roman Catholic Church preferential legal status, but there is no official state religion.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom:
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: Executive Summary Title. The constitution grants individuals the right to choose, practice, and change religions; it prohibits discrimination based on religion. The constitution also states secular ethics are the basis for public service and the legal system. The law requires all religious groups to...
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Canada
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution guarantees freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion, expression, and the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination based on religion. The federal government does not require religious groups to register, but some registered groups may receive tax-exempt status.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Japan
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion and prohibits religious organizations from exercising any political authority or receiving privileges from the state. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA), there are approximately 180,000 registered religious organizations with corporate status that received government tax benefits.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: China—Macau
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) grants residents freedom of religious belief, freedom to preach and participate in religious activities in public, and freedom to pursue religious education. These rights may be limited in extraordinary situations for national security reasons.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Mauritius
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution prohibits discrimination based on creed and provides for the right of individuals to change, manifest, and propagate their religious beliefs. The government recognizes seven groups as religions: Hindus, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Seventh-day Adventists, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church of Jesus Christ). Other religious groups must register as associations.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Eritrea
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The law and unimplemented constitution prohibit religiously motivated discrimination and provide for freedom of thought, conscience, and belief, as well as the freedom to practice any religion. The government recognizes four officially registered religious groups: the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunni Islam, the Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Ethiopia
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The country is a secular state; the constitution requires the separation of religion and the state, establishes freedom of religious choice and practice, prohibits religious discrimination, and stipulates the government shall not interfere in the practice of any religion, nor shall any religion interfere in the affairs of the state.
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Nigeria
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution bars the federal and state governments from adopting a state religion, prohibits religious discrimination, and provides for individuals’ freedom to choose, practice, propagate, or change their religion. The constitution provides for states to establish courts based on sharia or customary...
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Mongolia
By State Newswire | May 16, 2023
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of conscience and religion, prohibits discrimination based on religion, and mandates the separation of the activities of state and religious institutions. The law requires religious institutions to register with authorities but provides little detail on registration procedures, leaving local authorities to decide most of the specifics of implementation. The law prohibits hindering the free exercise of faith but limits proselytization.