In May 1942, 80 years ago, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in France sent a leaflet to the entire population about World War II. The leaflet which follows, unearthed by International Association of Freethinkers’ spokesperson Keith Porteous Wood, commanded allegiance to Marshall Pétain, a puppet of Hitler and the Nazis. Read more…
To put an end to Concordats in Europe And the established and official religions And Churches’ properties and earthly advantages The whole world was shocked by the revelations unveiled by a report presented in France by a senior official, M. Sauvé – otherwise known as a true-blue catholic – in Read more…
Dear friends and comrades, It is a great pleasure and joy for the Association International Free Thought to send you this message of support on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Europa Laica Association, member of the IAFT. It is at the hinge of the XXth and XXIth Read more…
By Keith Porteous WOOD* The French bishops have announced, belatedly, that the Church will bear compensation for victims of clerical sexual abuse<https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-catholic-church-abuse-victims-b1954021.html>, and that it will be proportionate, as the French Commission CIASE recommended. It estimated that at least a third of a million minors were victims of abuse in Read more…
By Keith Porteous Wood – October 8, 2021 An inquiry commissioned by the Catholic Church into clerical abuse in France has just concluded that victims of both clerics and laicity (teachers, for example) totalled around a third of a million since 1950. In no country in the world has such Read more…
On August 10, 2021, our South American friends and comrades celebrated the tenth anniversary of the founding of IAFT in Oslo. About fifty free thinkers from Panama, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and other countries participated in this vision-meeting organized by the Center for Social Studies José Mejia Lequericia Read more…
The Grand duchy of Luxembourg has no secular constitution, which means that freedom of practicing religious observances has full power. The Catholic cult has become the standard which must be followed. That is why everything that is religious, especially Catholic is automatically cultural. It is not the pandemic that has Read more…
The IAFT denounces violence in Columbia President Ivan Duque’s tax policy is subject to strong opposition, hundreds of demonstrations are taking place throughout the country. This reform is seen as particularly unfair. It provides for measures that affect the vast majority of the population: Application of IVA (VAT) to many Read more…
Keith Porteous Wood, spokesperson of IAFT and President of the National Secular Society (UK) cites numerous examples of clerics seemingly not being subjected to French law for failing to report suspected clerical abuse of minors, as has been required since 2000. He argues that fundamental changes are needed for victims Read more…
Keith Porteous Wood, spokesperson of IAFT and President of the National Secular Society (UK) considers the contradictions of the French courts’ final ruling on Cardinal Barbarin’s failure to report suspected clerical abuse of minors and its troubling consequences France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, ruled on 14 April that Read more…