· July, 2011

Stories about Religion from July, 2011

Somalia: Happy Ramadan

  31 July 2011

Happy Ramadan wishes from Terror Free Somalia Foundation: “In the spirit of Ramadan, I pray that Ramadan gets into our hearts and minds and make us embrace all factions of Muslims without undermining their tradition and further pray that we treat every human on the earth with dignity, respect and...

Haiti: Revered Flag Maker Dies

  29 July 2011

Repeating Islands acknowledges the passing of “Silva Joseph, a highly regarded Vodou flag maker…in the tradition of BelAir’s famous flag artists, such as Tibout, Joseph Fortine and Luc Daniel Cedor.”

Malaysia: Letter of Catholics to Pope

  28 July 2011

A letter signed by 365 Catholics and other Christians in Malaysia was sent to Pope Benedict XVI expressing concern about the timing of the visit of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in the Vatican. They remind the Pope that Najib used “unnecessarily excessive force” in dispersing a democracy walk early...

Colombia: Homophobia, Beyond Religion

  26 July 2011

Homophobia might have religious roots in Colombia, writes Javier Moreno in Rango Finito [es], but Javier says that campaigns against homophobia should not focus solely on the Catholic Church, but rather on people that are homophobic because of ‘tradition’ and not necessarily religion.

Argentina: 17 Years After AMIA Attack, Case Remains Unsolved

  23 July 2011

July 18, 2011, commemorates one more year of the attack against the Israelite Argentinean Mutual Aid Association (AMIA) in 1994. Currently the case is open without resolution, yet the families of the victims and the Argentine community are still calling for justice for the 85 people killed.

Haiti: Wikileaks & Fr. Jean-Juste

  22 July 2011

“Father Gerry Jean-Juste, a Haitian priest, was a friend of…mine. For those who follow Haitian politics, the rest of the Father Gerry story is known”: Now, Dying in Haiti republishes Wikileaks cables that “[reveal] how the Haitian Interim Government and the US Embassy were very involved with the fate of...

Cuba: “The Lion of the East” Passes On

  22 July 2011

Cuban bloggers mourn the passing of Archbishop Emeritus Pedro Meurice Estiu, who died in Miami at the age of 79. Uncommon Sense calls him “a Cuban patriot and a true man of God”, while Babalu remembers him as “a fierce and unrelenting critic of the Castro dictatorship”; Generation Y honours...

Cuba: Defending “Las Damas”

  19 July 2011

Cuban bloggers continue to update their posts about the most recent attack on Las Damas de Blanco, in which members of the group were reportedly “attacked and brutally beaten…by agents of Castro State Security upon exiting a church sanctuary.”

Dominican Republic: On Sacredness

  10 July 2011

Blogger Jhonatan Liriano reflects on what he considers is sacred in life [es]: “The working men and women are on my altars, as are the strangers and acquaintances who do not negotiate with justice.”