The European Court of Human Rights today announced decisions on several high profile religious freedom cases involving the United Kingdom, including two complaints that British law inadequately protects employees’ right to display symbols of their religion in the workplace.

The court found that there had been a violation of religious freedom in the case involving a British Airways employee who was barred from visibly wearing Christian crosses around her neck while at work. However, in the second case involving a nurse in the geriatric ward of a British hospital, the court found that the protection of health and safety on a hospital ward justified her employer’s prohibition on wearing a visible cross necklace.

A recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life found that regulations on the wearing of religious symbols increased globally between mid-2007 and mid-2010. In mid-2010, religious attire and other symbols were regulated in 57 countries (29%), up from 21 countries (11%) in mid-2007.  Regulations increased in places as diverse as France, where the burqa was banned, and Rwanda, where the government prohibited religious headgear in photos for government documents.

Regulations on religious attire differ widely. Some countries ban religious garb; Turkey, for example, bars women from wearing headscarves in government offices. In other countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, religious coverings are required for women. And in Jordan, the Tourism Ministry recently advised Israeli visitors to avoid wearing Jewish attire while in the country, reportedly out of concern for their safety.

The European Court also announced decisions in a pair of cases involving employees who contend that U.K. laws fail to protect their right to object to homosexuality on religious grounds. The court did not uphold their complaints, finding that the right to manifest religion at work is protected but must be balanced against the rights of others.

The court decision was reported widely in the British and international press.

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• Split ruling on discrimination against UK Christians
• European court rejects three UK faith bias complaints

Brian J. Grim is a senior researcher and director of cross-national data at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Two complaints claim British law inadequately protects employees’ right to display symbols of their religion in the workplace.

The cases involve a British Airways employee and a nurse in the geriatric ward of a British hospital who say their employers barred them from visibly wearing Christian crosses around their necks while at work.

A recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life found that regulations on the wearing of religious symbols increased globally between mid-2007 and mid-2010. In mid-2010, religious attire and other symbols were regulated in 57 countries (29%), up from 21 countries (11%) in mid-2009.  Regulations increased in places as diverse as France, where the burqa was banned, and Rwanda, where the government prohibited religious headgear in photos for government documents.

Regulations on religious attire differ widely. Some countries ban religious garb; Turkey, for example, bars women from wearing headscarves in government offices. In other countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, religious coverings are required for women. And in Jordan, the Tourism Ministry recently advised Israeli visitors to avoid wearing Jewish attire while in the country, reportedly out of concern for their safety.

The European Court also is slated to announce decisions in a pair of cases involving employees who contend that U.K. laws fail to protect their right to object to homosexuality on religious grounds.

–Brian J. Grim, senior researcher and director of cross-national data, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

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The share of countries with high or very high restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose from 31% in the year ending in mid-2009 to 37% in the year ending in mid-2010. Because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, three-quarters of the world’s approximately 7 billion people live in countries with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, up from 70% a year earlier.

Restrictions on religion rose not only in countries that began the year with high or very high restrictions or hostilities, such as Indonesia and Nigeria, but also in many countries that began with low or moderate restrictions or hostilities, such as Switzerland and the United States.

Nearly two-thirds of Catholics (64%) have heard at least a little about the bishops’ protests against a number of government policies, including Obama administration policies requiring religious institutions such as universities and hospitals to provide contraceptive services to their employees. But just 22% of Catholics say they have heard a lot about them. Moreover, only about a third of Catholic churchgoers (32%) say their priest has spoken out on this issue at Mass.

By a 56% to 36% margin, Catholics who are aware of the bishops’ protests about what they believe are infringements of religious liberty say they agree with the bishops’ concerns. Among all Americans who are aware of the protests, there is less support for the bishops’ position: 41% agree with the bishops’ concerns, while 47% disagree.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted June 28-July 9, 2012, among 2,973 adults, including 619 Catholics, finds that most Catholics express satisfaction with the leadership of the bishops and other church officials. Large majorities are very or somewhat satisfied with the leadership provided by Catholic nuns and sisters in the U.S. (83%), their own parish priests (82%), their diocesan bishop (74%), the pope (74%) and American bishops in general (70%).

The percentage of Catholics saying they are satisfied with the leadership of American bishops has increased sharply since 2002, during the height of the church’s child sex abuse scandal. In June 2002, 51% of Catholics said they were satisfied with the leadership of American bishops; today 70% do so. More Catholics also are satisfied with the leadership of their own bishop than was the case a decade ago (65% in 2002, 74% today).

While most Catholics who are aware of the bishops’ protests agree with their concerns, about half of Catholic voters (51%) say Barack Obama best reflects their views on social issues such as abortion and gay rights; 34% say Mitt Romney best reflects their views on these issues. Obama’s lead on social issues among Catholics is about as wide as his lead among all voters (50% to 36%).

The report, Rising Restrictions on Religion, by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, finds that restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%).

Because several countries with increasing restrictions on religion are very populous, however, the increases affect a much larger share of people than of states. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9 billion – live in countries where either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion rose substantially over the three-year period studied

While Europe had the largest proportion of countries in which social hostilities related to religion were on the rise from mid-2006 to mid-2009, the study also found that social hostilities involving religion have been rising in Asia, particularly in China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Read the full report and an explanation of the methodology at pewforum.org