International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF)

🇿🇦 Foundations for the Protection of the Autonomy of Religious Associations ➡️ A Response to Regulatory Ambitions in South Africa 📂 Download IIRF Reports Vol. 15 – 2026/11: https://lnkd.in/e7AfW_z7 The South African branch of the International Institute for Religious Freedom opposes the proposal to regulate religion in South Africa through a legislative framework. The Cape Town based branch engaged in the regulatory debate with a submission anchored in the philosophical foundations of freedom of as­sociation and religion.

Dr. Dennis Petri, IIRF International Director, tackles the challenging subject of what the data really says about violence against Christians in Nigeria. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/etT29Pz4

Does Canada have a hate problem? Canada has hit the international news for recent legislation limiting religious expression in relation to public expression and to hate speech. Janet Epp Buckingham, Editor of IIRF's International Journal for Religious Freedom, and Canadian lawyer, unpacks what is going on in Canada on Five4Faith, the IIRF Substack. https://lnkd.in/emJ7d3SU

Dr. Dennis P. Petri, International Director of the IIRF, published a new blog on Five4Faith that gets at something that frustrates me as a researcher. Nigeria has millions of internally displaced persons. UNHCR, IOM, and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre track them carefully. But none of these agencies disaggregate displacement data by religious affiliation — for IDPs or for refugees. This is a problem. When religious communities are disproportionately vulnerable to violence and displacement, and we have no data to show it, we lose the policy argument before it starts. In a recent paper published in Frontiers in Sociology (co-authored with John Bainbridge), we developed a proxy-based methodology to estimate the religious composition of Nigeria's displaced population — because we had to. Workarounds should not be necessary. The Five4Faith post unpacks why this data gap exists, why the excuses don't all hold up, and why it matters for protection, advocacy, and humanitarian response. https://lnkd.in/ebnStCsb

📙 BQ 914 – 19/2026: Anthology on theological perspectives on religious persecution launched at FIUC in Oslo (Bonn, 24.03.2026) The launch of the anthology took place during the symposium “Religious Persecution and Theological/Missiological Education” at Fjellhaug Internasjonale Høgskole/ Fjellhaug International University College (FIUC) in Oslo, co‑organized with the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF). The event grew out of FIUC’s research project “Religious Freedom and Religious Persecution” and was one of three major research conferences feeding into a new anthology, which explores theological doctrine of persecution and missional practice. The anthology was presented by the two editors Prof. Dr. Robert Lilleaasen and Prof. Dr. Christof Sauer in the presence of the German publisher Prof. Dr. mult. Thomas Paul Schirrmacher from Culture and Science Publ. (Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft (VKW)) and most of the authors. The anthology examins the theological and missiological dimensions of religious persecution. “Religious Persecution: Perspectives from Theology and Missiology” is available in print and available for free download. ➡️ Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eg-avTE2 🇩🇪 Read this BQ in German: https://lnkd.in/eeJJTvDK

🇿🇦 BQ 913 – 18/2026: The IIRF mourns the recent passing of Prof. Pieter Coertzen (Bonn, 20.03.2026) The International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) mourns the loss of Prof. Dr. Pieter Coertzen, a distinguished South African theologian and church law expert from Stellenbosch, who passed away on 11 March 2026. Pieter Coertzen was one of the vital members of the Academic Board of the International Institute for Religious Freedom, as well as of the Editorial Board of the International Journal for Religious Freedom (IJRF). ➡️ Read more: https://lnkd.in/eitxSWJW 🇩🇪 Read this BQ in German: https://lnkd.in/e_Sgaj6f

🇿🇦 BQ 912 – 17/2026: IIRF presents to South African Parliament as it listens to faith communities complaining about attempts to regulate religion State commission seeks to curb abuse in churches by legislation, calling it “self-regulation” (Bonn, 18.03.2026) 11 February 2026 marked a significant moment in the ongoing dispute between the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission, or CRL) established by the South African Constitution and South Africa’s faith communities. ➡️ Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eiu3BqEM 🇩🇪 Read this BQ in German: https://lnkd.in/epvz7qPN

📕 From China to India to Islam: Top Scholars Address Religious Freedom in a Changing World Religious Freedom in a Changing World, co-edited by IIRF international director Dennis P. Petri along with Volker Kauder and Carsten Polanz, brings together insightful analyses by 14 of the world’s top experts on religious freedom, including IJRF Editor Janet Epp Buckingham. ➡️ Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e-cBSG7B

Are you interested in writing a book review for a current book on religious freedom for the International Journal for Religious Freedom? You can send a proposal or check the books listed in the comments. Email editor@iirf.global if you are interested.