Freedom of religion and belief is something we fight for. The UK, where I come from, takes this right particularly seriously, and perhaps that is why it has become one of the most religiously diverse countries on earth. It is also among the least religious.

Britain’s High Court today ruled that local councils cannot include public prayer in their formal meetings. IHEU member organizations the National Secular Society and the British Humanist Association welcomed the court’s decision that "The saying of prayers as part of the formal meeting of a Council is not lawful under s111 of the Local Government Act 1972, and there is no statutory power permitting the practice to continue".

Public prayer will no longer be part of local authority council meetings in England and Wales, if the National Secular Society (NSS) wins a case that began at the High Court on Friday, 2 December. About half of local government councils in England say prayers as part of their meetings.

The National Secular Society (NSS), an IHEU member organization, has submitted an intervention with the European Court of Human Rights to argue that Britain’s equality laws should be upheld and not compromised by religious exemptions. The NSS is thought to be the only intervener arguing that the controversial employment cases of Eweida, Chaplin, Ladele and McFarlane were correctly dismissed by the UK courts.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has gained an unexpected ally in its criticism of the Roman Catholic Church’s abuse of children: the prime minister of Ireland. Condemning the Catholic Church’s “frankly brazen disregard” for child protection, Enda Kenny, Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister), said: “The rape and torture of children were downplayed or ‘managed’ to uphold instead, the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and ‘reputation’.”

With the recent discovery of new evidence that the Vatican ordered Catholic bishops not to cooperate with the civil authorities in Ireland and the United States,  IHEU representative Keith Porteous Wood called upon the Human Rights Council to take action against the Holy See. In a powerfully-delivered speech on Tuesday, 15 March 2011, Keith also attacked the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for its failure to insist that the Holy See deliver its report on children, now 13 years overdue.

‘The present Pope and his predecessor were well aware of the scale of the priestly child sex abuse crisis. Despite claims to the contrary, there is strong evidence in two recently uncovered letters from the Vatican.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has submitted a Paper to a recent Council of Europe conference called to discuss “the role of the media in fostering intercultural dialogue, tolerance and mutual understanding: freedom of expression of the media and respect towards cultural and religious diversity.” This is the latest of the Council’s inter-religious dialogue conferences, which are held annually. It was held in Ohrid, in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on 13-14 September 2010.

Speech delivered by Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, to those present at the annual commemoration of the execution of Chevalier de la Barre in Abbeville, northern France. Chevalier de la Barre was the last man in France to be executed for blasphemy.