Judith Hahn

Judith Hahn is Professor of Canon Law and Vice Dean for Research and International Affairs at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, Bonn University (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn). Hahn has been a Visiting Scholar at Thomas More Law School, Australian Catholic University, the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, and a Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Center for Advanced Study of “Law as Culture” in Bonn. She has published on the theory and sociology of canon law and on the status of religious law in modern society. Her work in the area of law and religion also extends to a variety of topics that examine both legal aspects and theological problems of law and religion from a cultural and social studies perspective.

(more…)

Continue Reading Judith Hahn

Registering Faith: Recognition, Legal Personality, and Religious Freedom in the Caribbean

Brandon Reece Taylorian is a research fellow at the University of Lancashire (UK).

Introduction

Caribbean states have inherited—and reshaped—colonial approaches to governing religion. Since gaining independence, governments across the region have had to decide what it means to be “secular,” which communities the state treats as legitimate, and what legal steps religious groups must take to operate in public life. Those choices matter for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) because recognition and registration rules shape who can manifest their beliefs and how, for example, by building places of worship or providing pastoral care in public institutions like hospitals, prisons, and the military.

(more…)

Continue Reading Registering Faith: Recognition, Legal Personality, and Religious Freedom in the Caribbean

Voicing Sharp Religious Opposition to the War in Iran: A Case Study from the Roman Catholic Community

Thomas Massaro, S.J., is McGinley Endowed Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University

As this essay is being written, it has been more than a month since the February 28 outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the U.S. (on one hand) and Iran (on the other hand). Public criticism of the war has been widespread. Political opponents (and even some normally supportive voices) have complained about the evident lack of planning, unclear objectives, and seeming disregard for the consequences of launching this “war of choice.” The shifting justifications for launching the war (including incoherent gestures toward the urgency of regime change and terminating Iran’s looming nuclear capability) have proven broadly unconvincing. The April 1 White House address of President Trump, broadcast in prime TV time, added little clarity.

(more…)

Continue Reading Voicing Sharp Religious Opposition to the War in Iran: A Case Study from the Roman Catholic Community