Vatican Archives - LAW AND RELIGION FORUM

Posted on January 26, 2026January 24, 2026 by L&R Forum

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This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments in two cases challenging state laws that require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case brought by a Jewish group seeking to recover a collection of sacred manuscripts that were seized by the Nazis and are now being held in Russia.
A Ukrainian Catholic Church in Pennsylvania has sued Collier Township, alleging religious discrimination after the town rejected plans for a church bell tower.
The European Court of Human Rights is hearing a case that seeks to remove Christian icons and symbols from public buildings in Greece.
The Vatican is currently evaluating the Trump Administration’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, which was established with the goal of rebuilding Gaza.

Posted on October 20, 2025October 20, 2025 by L&R Forum

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After New York City dropped the case against a woman who assaulted a pro-life influencer, the legal nonprofit Thomas More Society has asked the DA to reconsider.

The Vatican has appointed a five-member panel of independent judges to oversee the canonical trial of Father Marko Rupnik, who faces allegations of sexual and psychological abuse involving consecrated women under his spiritual care.

Oklahoma’s new state superintendent has dropped the prior mandate requiring Bibles to be placed in public school classrooms and will not distribute them or enforce a biblical character curriculum.

Hispanic Christian leaders are endorsing the Republican-introduced “Dignity Act,” a bill that would protect certain undocumented immigrants from deportation without granting them a path to citizenship.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked key provisions of Texas’ new campus speech law, siding with Christian and other student groups who argued the law infringed their First Amendment rights.

A New Jersey jury has awarded $5 million in damages to a former student who alleged he was sexually abused decades ago by a monk at the elite Delbarton School.

After strong community pressure and protests, St. Demetrios Church in Astoria and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America reached a deal changing how the Archdiocese is involved in the parish, including removing a controversial clause and banning the sale of church or school property. This agreement protects the school, keeps the parish independent, and sets up a plan for managing money responsibly in the future.

Dallin H. Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice, has been selected to lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following the death of his 101-year-old predecessor, Russell M. Nelson.

California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 509, a proposed law that would have required police to receive training on “transnational repression” (how foreign governments target people living in the U.S.) because he felt existing programs were sufficient and worried about federal coordination. The veto caused tension in the Indian-American community, with many Sikh Americans supporting the bill for protection against harassment, while many Hindu Americans opposed it, fearing it could unfairly target them.

The Catholic nonprofit Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will publish its biennial “Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025” on October 21 in Rome, highlighting global trends in religious persecution and restrictions.

Posted on August 18, 2025August 15, 2025 by L&R Forum

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A German news site interviewed Mattone Center Director Mark Movsesian about a bill that proposes to protect the US citizenship of the pope.
In Perez v. City of San Antonio, the 5th Circuit affirmed a trial court’s refusal to enjoin San Antonio’s development plan for a city park, holding that the project did not violate the Free Exercise Clause, inter alia.
In Schmitt v. Robertus, the 8th Circuit held that Minnesota prison officials likely violated the 1st Amendment when they refused to allow a volunteer to teach a program titled “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” at the Minnesota Correctional Facility, which defines manhood through a biblical lens.
In Melton v. City of Forrest City, Arkansas, the 8th Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment for the City in a retaliation suit by an Arkansas fireman who was dismissed after making a pro-life social media post.
Four California mothers have filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit after a U.S. District Court dismissed their claims challenging a 2016 law that eliminates religious exemptions for school vaccinations, arguing the law violates their First Amendment rights.
In Trakel v. Critchfield, a federal district court in Idaho rejected parents’ claims that they are entitled to reimbursement for religious home-schooling material under the 1st Amendment.
A federal district court in Pennsylvania blocked a rule from President Trump’s first term that provided religious exemptions to employers who object to the ACA’s contraception mandate. The Little Sisters of the Poor are set to appeal.
The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice notified George Washington University that the University is in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act due to its lack of response to discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students by other students.
The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, a religious institute in New Zealand, has lost its appeal to the Vatican to resume public ministry in the Diocese of Christchurch. The local bishop had ordered the ban due to allegations of abuse and unauthorized exorcisms.
The Vatican issued new regulations on the awarding of public contracts “to streamline steps in the Holy See’s contracting processes while maintaining integrity and transparency.”

Posted on June 17, 2025June 17, 2025 by Mark Movsesian

Caviar Diplomacy at the Vatican

Over the past year, Azerbaijan has increased its presence in Rome—funding the restoration of St. Paul Outside the Walls and co-sponsoring interfaith conferences at the Gregorian University. These initiatives have been welcomed as gestures of tolerance and dialogue. But they also raise difficult questions.

In First Things Magazine, I explore what Azerbaijan’s “caviar diplomacy” means for the Vatican’s moral witness—particularly in light of Baku’s ongoing campaign of cultural erasure against Armenian Christians. If the Church is serious about ecumenism with the Christian East, it must be willing to speak plainly, even when uncomfortable.

Read the full piece here: https://firstthings.com/the-vaticans-duty-to-armenian-christians/.

Posted on November 4, 2024October 31, 2024 by L&R Forum

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In Loffman v. California, the Ninth Circuit held that California’s exclusion of Jewish schools from special-education programs violates the Constitution’s neutrality requirement. The court found that California’s policy discriminates against religious parents and schools.
In Tanvir v. Tanzin, on remand from the Supreme Court, the Second Circuit held that FBI agents were entitled to qualified immunity against RFRA damages claims because the Muslim plaintiffs who were put on a no-fly list had not disclosed their religious objections to serving as informants. The court found that, since the agents had no reason to know their actions violated the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs, they could not be personally liable for damages.
Luther Rice College and Seminary filed a complaint saying that Georgia officials are violating the Constitution by excluding its students from state financial aid programs solely because of the college’s religious mission. The lawsuit argues that this exclusion from public benefits violates the Free Exercise Clause by discriminating against religious institutions based on their religious character.
President Biden formally apologized for the U.S. Federal Indian Boarding School Policies (1819–1969), which aimed to assimilate Native American children. He acknowledged that over half of these schools were associated with religious organizations, and many of them subjected Native children to severe mistreatment, leaving lasting trauma across generations.
The Vatican and China have agreed to extend their Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops for another four years, marking the third renewal since its initial signing in 2018. This agreement has allowed bishops in China to be appointed with papal consent, fostering full communion with the Pope and resulting in about ten new bishop appointments and formal recognition of previously unrecognized bishops.

Posted on July 24, 2023July 24, 2023 by L&R Forum

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The 9th Circuit heard oral arguments in Catholic Healthcare International, Inc. v Genoa Charter Township, Michigan, a RLUIPA case stemming from the organization’s construction of religiously symbolic structures on a property without the Township’s approval, contrary to the Township’s instruction that such construction would be classified as a special land use requiring specific approval.
In Kariye v. Mayorkas, a California Federal District Court dismissed a case brought forward by three Muslim plaintiffs who claimed their rights were violated by religious questioning at US ports of entry. Rejecting the plaintiffs’ Establishment Clause and Free Exercise claims, the court cited “historical practices” at the border and “maintaining border security” as compelling government interests.
Suit was filed in a Pennsylvania federal district court on behalf of two parochial school students and their parents challenging a school district policy that allows home school and charter school students to participate in the district’s extracurricular and co-curricular activities but does not allow private and parochial school students to do the same. The plaintiffs argue that the exclusion of religious parochial schools infringes on their free exercise and equal protection rights.
In In re Matyas v. Board of Education, a New York trial court dismissed a teacher’s objections to the Department of Education’s refusal to exempt her from its Covid vaccine mandate. The teacher, citing her Catholic faith and recent conversion to an unspecified Evangelical Protestant sect, argued that her religious beliefs prevented her from receiving any vaccination. The court ruled that she failed to demonstrate that the city’s vaccine mandate was based on religion or that her views on vaccinations were an established doctrine in either Catholicism or Evangelical Protestantism.
In a historic Vatican trial, prosecutor Alessandro Diddi is defending his charges against 10 figures, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, over alleged financial crimes. The trial exposes the alleged misuse of the Pope’s funds in speculative investments, such as a $390 million London real estate venture. Cardinal Becciu is additionally accused of misappropriating Vatican funds for personal use and paying ransom fees.
Iraqi security forces dispersed protesters seeking to reach the Danish Embassy in Baghdad, following reports of a Quran being burned in Denmark. The incident follows similar protests at the Swedish Embassy, which was set alight due to a planned Quran burning in Stockholm. Despite Denmark’s Foreign Minister condemning the act as an attempt to create division, he notes that burning religious books is not a crime in Denmark.

Posted on July 22, 2020 by L&R Forum

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Caviar Diplomacy at the Vatican

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