ICSA TODAY 28
Report From France and French-
Speaking Countries
Guillaume Garih
The Collège of Rosemont (Rosemont
College) in Montréal, Quebec
was renting some of its space to
a Muslim school. However, after a report
by journalists of the French-language
TVA network that exposed some radical
and even Salafist links posted on the
Muslim school’s website, the Collège
suspended its rental agreement with
the Muslim school on February 6,
2015. The texts linked with the website
criticize secular schools, naming them
“traps” and “greatest evils.” The Collège
is conducting its own investigation to
decide what it will do next.
Similarly, the imam Hamza Chaoui was
banned from teaching the Qumran after
journalists quoted him in a report. In a
dozen texts published on his Facebook
page, two passages denigrated women
and gays.
In both of these cases, it appears
that there were no calls for terrorist
or heinous acts. Although the Québec
government has shown support of
Montréal’s decision in the matter of
Hamza Chaoui, one could wonder
whether both reflect “knee-jerk”
reactions to stricter forms of Islam,
regardless of whether those forms
actually pose a threat to public safety.
More generally, on the matter of
radicalism, the Premier of Québec,
Philippe Couillard, seems to favor a
legalistic approach—that is, that
extreme forms of religious practices
should be allowed so long as they do
not generate criminal acts, interfere with
other people’s rights, or produce hate
speech. Rima Elkouri, a journalist from
La Presse, criticizes this approach on the
basis that extreme forms of religions are
not the result of a personal choice, but
rather are the consequence of a lack of
personal agency.
Report From Italy
Raffaella Di Marzio
News From the Italian Associations
The Federation of Protestant Churches
in Italy (FCEI) organized a conference
titled Religious Freedom in Italy, a
Multicultural Country, which was held
from June 9 to 11, 2014, in the Senate in
Rome. Speakers included sociologists,
historians, lawyers, politicians, and
representatives of some religious
minorities—The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, Italian Buddhist
Association, Seventh-day Adventist
Church, Federation of Protestant
Churches in Italy, and Union of Islamic
Communities in Italy (UCOII). Politicians
of different parties spoke in a roundtable
about the importance of approving a
new law on freedom of religion in Italy
(a video recording of the conference is
available in Italian at dimarzio.info/
it/articoli/liberta-religiosa/401-
convegno-la-liberta-religiosa-nell-italia-
multiculturale.html).
On February 7, 2014, the Vatican
formally recognized the International
Association of Exorcists, a group of 250
priests who operate in 30 countries to
liberate the faithful from demons. The
Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano
reported that the Vatican’s Congregation
for Clergy had approved the
organization’s statutes and recognized
the group under canon law. The head
of the association, the Rev. Francesco
Bamonte, said the Vatican approval was
cause for joy, and that “Exorcism is a
form of charity that benefits those who
suffer.”
The University of Milan Bicocca, Faculty
of Psychology, established a new course
titled “Social Psychology of Religions,”
led by Prof. Germano Rossi, President of
the Italian Society for the Psychology of
Religion (SIPR).
On May 19, 2014, Raffaella Di Marzio
gave a student lecture on the subject
of her PhD research, Affiliation and
Disaffiliation From New Religious
Movements: A Critical Analysis of the
Rambo and Colleagues’ Integrated Model
of Conversion (an audio recording is
available at dimarzio.info/it/articoli/chi-
sono/115-attivita/lezioni/396-lezione-all-
universita-bicocca-di-milano-2014.html).
On July 28, 2014, Pope Francis addressed
pastor Giovanni Traettino and the rest of
the Evangelical Pentecostal community
in Caserta, continuing a tradition started
by St. John Paul II on the Great Jubilee
of the Year 2000, when he was eager
for the Church to ask forgiveness as a
gesture of penitence for the mistakes
Christians and men of the church had
made during the course of history. Pope
Francis apologized to the Pentecostal
community, especially for the fascist
period when Evangelical pastors were
deported, churches destroyed, and
miniscule Evangelical movements
declared “harmful to the physical and
mental identity of the [Italian] race.”
Many clerics at that time kept silent
and some parish priests reported
Evangelicals to the OVRA, the Italian
fascist regime’s secret police. At the time,
laws and provisions that caused the
persecution of innocent people were
disregarded because they were passed
by baptized Catholics. Francis also wants
the word sect to be used more carefully
when referring to the various new
branches of the Evangelical faith.
Although his friendship with Traettino
was the catalyst for his visit to Caserta
this weekend, Pope Francis wanted to
visit the Pentecostal community to get
to know it and the new charismatic
Christian movements better. These
groups are quickly winning over the
faithful, particularly in Latin American
countries.
During the nongovernmental
organization (NGO) Soteria
International’s Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Human Dimension Implementation
Meeting (HDIM) (September 30, 2014)
side event, “Voluntary Work in Spiritual
Environments and Its Criminalization
Correspondents
,
Reports
Report From France and French-
Speaking Countries
Guillaume Garih
The Collège of Rosemont (Rosemont
College) in Montréal, Quebec
was renting some of its space to
a Muslim school. However, after a report
by journalists of the French-language
TVA network that exposed some radical
and even Salafist links posted on the
Muslim school’s website, the Collège
suspended its rental agreement with
the Muslim school on February 6,
2015. The texts linked with the website
criticize secular schools, naming them
“traps” and “greatest evils.” The Collège
is conducting its own investigation to
decide what it will do next.
Similarly, the imam Hamza Chaoui was
banned from teaching the Qumran after
journalists quoted him in a report. In a
dozen texts published on his Facebook
page, two passages denigrated women
and gays.
In both of these cases, it appears
that there were no calls for terrorist
or heinous acts. Although the Québec
government has shown support of
Montréal’s decision in the matter of
Hamza Chaoui, one could wonder
whether both reflect “knee-jerk”
reactions to stricter forms of Islam,
regardless of whether those forms
actually pose a threat to public safety.
More generally, on the matter of
radicalism, the Premier of Québec,
Philippe Couillard, seems to favor a
legalistic approach—that is, that
extreme forms of religious practices
should be allowed so long as they do
not generate criminal acts, interfere with
other people’s rights, or produce hate
speech. Rima Elkouri, a journalist from
La Presse, criticizes this approach on the
basis that extreme forms of religions are
not the result of a personal choice, but
rather are the consequence of a lack of
personal agency.
Report From Italy
Raffaella Di Marzio
News From the Italian Associations
The Federation of Protestant Churches
in Italy (FCEI) organized a conference
titled Religious Freedom in Italy, a
Multicultural Country, which was held
from June 9 to 11, 2014, in the Senate in
Rome. Speakers included sociologists,
historians, lawyers, politicians, and
representatives of some religious
minorities—The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, Italian Buddhist
Association, Seventh-day Adventist
Church, Federation of Protestant
Churches in Italy, and Union of Islamic
Communities in Italy (UCOII). Politicians
of different parties spoke in a roundtable
about the importance of approving a
new law on freedom of religion in Italy
(a video recording of the conference is
available in Italian at dimarzio.info/
it/articoli/liberta-religiosa/401-
convegno-la-liberta-religiosa-nell-italia-
multiculturale.html).
On February 7, 2014, the Vatican
formally recognized the International
Association of Exorcists, a group of 250
priests who operate in 30 countries to
liberate the faithful from demons. The
Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano
reported that the Vatican’s Congregation
for Clergy had approved the
organization’s statutes and recognized
the group under canon law. The head
of the association, the Rev. Francesco
Bamonte, said the Vatican approval was
cause for joy, and that “Exorcism is a
form of charity that benefits those who
suffer.”
The University of Milan Bicocca, Faculty
of Psychology, established a new course
titled “Social Psychology of Religions,”
led by Prof. Germano Rossi, President of
the Italian Society for the Psychology of
Religion (SIPR).
On May 19, 2014, Raffaella Di Marzio
gave a student lecture on the subject
of her PhD research, Affiliation and
Disaffiliation From New Religious
Movements: A Critical Analysis of the
Rambo and Colleagues’ Integrated Model
of Conversion (an audio recording is
available at dimarzio.info/it/articoli/chi-
sono/115-attivita/lezioni/396-lezione-all-
universita-bicocca-di-milano-2014.html).
On July 28, 2014, Pope Francis addressed
pastor Giovanni Traettino and the rest of
the Evangelical Pentecostal community
in Caserta, continuing a tradition started
by St. John Paul II on the Great Jubilee
of the Year 2000, when he was eager
for the Church to ask forgiveness as a
gesture of penitence for the mistakes
Christians and men of the church had
made during the course of history. Pope
Francis apologized to the Pentecostal
community, especially for the fascist
period when Evangelical pastors were
deported, churches destroyed, and
miniscule Evangelical movements
declared “harmful to the physical and
mental identity of the [Italian] race.”
Many clerics at that time kept silent
and some parish priests reported
Evangelicals to the OVRA, the Italian
fascist regime’s secret police. At the time,
laws and provisions that caused the
persecution of innocent people were
disregarded because they were passed
by baptized Catholics. Francis also wants
the word sect to be used more carefully
when referring to the various new
branches of the Evangelical faith.
Although his friendship with Traettino
was the catalyst for his visit to Caserta
this weekend, Pope Francis wanted to
visit the Pentecostal community to get
to know it and the new charismatic
Christian movements better. These
groups are quickly winning over the
faithful, particularly in Latin American
countries.
During the nongovernmental
organization (NGO) Soteria
International’s Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Human Dimension Implementation
Meeting (HDIM) (September 30, 2014)
side event, “Voluntary Work in Spiritual
Environments and Its Criminalization
Correspondents
,
Reports
