A Catholic priest in Arizona resigned effective February 1 after discovering that the baptisms he had administered were invalid. In his letter addressed to his community, Rev. Andres Arango said he is saddened to learn that he has performed invalid baptisms. According to Arango, he had used an incorrect “formula” when administering baptisms.
On January 19, a 17-year old girl died after consuming an insecticide in a suicide attempt in Thanjavur, a district in the Tamil Nadu state of India. According to local news outlets, Lavanya, a grade 12 student at Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, committed suicide due to an alleged forced conversion to Christianity.
On January 19, 2022, the French Senate voted in favor of banning religious veils in sporting events held by an official sports federation. The bill passed in a 160 to 143 vote with overwhelming support of the French right-wing party, Les Republicains.
On January 18, 2022, a cybercrime court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, sentenced 26-year-old Aneeqa Ateeq to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 200,000 ($1,132 USD), as well as death by hanging.
On January 15, 2022, Yati Narsinghanand, the controversial priest of the Dasna temple in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, and main organizer of the Hindu nationalist events held in Haridwar City, India, between December 17-19, is now under legal custody for two weeks for two different cases. No BJP leader has condemned the speeches nor the event.
On January 17, 2022, Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital, chairman of Virgin Galactic, and minority owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, took to Twitter to apologize for his comments about the plight of the Uyghurs of China during an All-In podcast episode.
If you think life couldn't be any more difficult in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, think again. On December 26, 2021, the Taliban government announced that women can no longer travel farther than 45 miles (72km) without the companionship of a male relative.
A Shiite Muslim from Tyre, Lebanon, posed as a Jewish man and married a Jewish woman from Brooklyn, New York. Eliyah Hawila, a 23-year old Lebanese whose real name is Ali Hassan Hawila, was born and raised as a Muslim, with no Jewish heritage.
On Monday, November 29, a mob of violent Muslim protesters burned a police station, including four police posts in Peshawar, northeast Pakistan. Police officers repelled the mob's attempt to take a mentally unstable man accused of desecrating the Quran.