On July 27, a meteoric criminal trial took place in a makeshift courtroom inside the Vatican Museum. More than ten clergymen, and laypeople, went on trial for alleged corruption and massive fraud unfolding within the walls of the holy city. Amongst the indicted individuals is Cardinal Angelo Becciu. This trial is the first-ever in the church’s history, where a cardinal is investigated for financial crimes.
On July 20, the leader of the sex cult NXIVM, Keith Raniere, was ordered by the court to pay for the removal of his initials branded into his female members. The total cost of the restitution is $3.5 million for the 21 victims. The cost includes the surgery for removing the brands, mental health therapies, and unpaid labor rendered by NXIVM's members and employees.
On July 22, 2021, the Atheist Republic received a letter containing a legal complaint filed by Akhilesh Vyas, a lawyer based in Punjab, India. The legal complaint named Nirmal Sharma, a law student and a resident of Nawanshahr in the Punjab State, as the complainant. Vyas issued the notice on June 22, 2021.
A 46-year old mother from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for child endangerment after claiming God would protect her child. The mother, whose name was withheld by the Toowoomba District Court, was charged with gross negligence in 2019 and was sentenced on July 15, 2021. The jury took just over an hour to reach a verdict.
John Kluge, a former orchestra teacher in Brownsburg Community School from 2014 to 2018, sued the school over the transgender name policy. According to Kluge, he was “forced to resign,” citing the steep differences in the school’s policy and his religious beliefs. The Brownsburg Board of School Trustees accepted Kluge’s resignation on June 11, 2018. In the following year, he decided to sue the school.
On July 15, Rev. Michael Cote, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich, announced that the diocese filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The announcement was made amidst the string of lawsuits related to alleged sexual abuse at the Academy at Mount Saint John School.
A County District Judge in Texas ordered a woman seeking a divorce to adhere to the prenuptial agreement she signed. The agreement dictates that a divorce can only be mediated by a Fiqh panel. Judge Andrea Thompson passed the decision in March 2021, ordering Mariam Ayad to divorce her husband, Ayad Hashim Latif, arbitrated by Sharia law.
According to a recent survey by the Pew Research group, every 2 in 3 Indians express strong opinions on interfaith marriages and would actively like to stop them. The survey result indicates that most Indians like to believe that India is tolerant of other religions while they themselves oppose interfaith relationships.
