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The rise of religious intolerance in Europe
During its October I plenary session, the Ϸվ is due to hear a Commission statement on the rise of religious intolerance in Europe, followed by a debate. The item was included on the agenda in response to increasing concerns among human rights bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and religious communities regarding the situation of religious freedom and tolerance in Europe.
Lord Henry Plumb (1925-2022): President of the European Ϸվ 1987-1989
Lord Henry Plumb was the only British national ever to be elected President of the European Ϸվ, during almost 50 years of United Kingdom (UK) membership of the European Union. He passed away on 15 April 2022 aged 97 and the Ϸվ paid tribute to him at the opening of its plenary session on 2 May 2022, including holding a minute of silence. Speaking on that occasion, Ϸվ's President, Roberta Metsola, described him as a 'great European and a passionate believer in the power of politics ...
Russia's war on Ukraine: The Kremlin's use of religion as a foreign policy instrument
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia experienced a window of religious pluralism in the Yeltsin era, allowing western Christian missionaries to operate freely. The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) resented this encroachment into its canonical territory and, when Vladimir Putin took office in 1999, worked closely with him to consolidate its power. Putin valued such close collaboration as a way to exert control over society, eliminate alternative sources of moral authority at ...
Russia's war on Ukraine: The religious dimension
Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 drew attention to the close relationship between Vladimir Putin's regime and the Russian Orthodox Church. The latter has strongly backed Putin's war and has long provided theological and ideological justifications for his domestic and international actions. The Church's overtly political approach has contributed to deep divisions within the wider Orthodox world, including a formal split with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and significant tensions with ...