Religion & Belief in the 21st century

73 sourced entries, 2000 CE to 2025 CE, oldest first. Also see Religion & Belief across every century or everything else in the 21st century.

• 2000March 12 – Pope John Paul II apologizes for the wrongdoings by members of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the ages.source
• 2000April 30 – Canonization of Polish Catholic sister Faustina Kowalska in the presence of 200,000 people and the first Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated worldwide.source
• 2000August 14 – Tsar Nicholas II and his family are canonized by the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.source
• 2000December 7 – Kadisoka temple is discovered in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.source
• 2001January 21 – Pope John Paul II names 37 cardinals in one day for a total of 128.source
• 2001January 25 – Armenia and Azerbaijan join the Council of Europe.source
• 2002January 6 – The Boston Globe publishes results of an investigation leading to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and bringing widespread attention to the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.source
• 2002February 11 – The Catholic Church establishes four new dioceses in Russia, prompting backlash from the Russian Orthodox Church.source
• 2002July 9 – The Church of England allows divorcees to remarry.source
• 2002October 15 – The Somali Reconciliation Conference begins, initiating peace talks between two factions of the Somali Civil War: the Transitional National Government and the government of Puntland.source
• 2002December 31 – The United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina ends.source
• 2003February 27 – Rowan Williams becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.source
• 2003March 6 – SCO Group files a lawsuit against IBM as part of an ongoing dispute regarding the use of Unix in the development of Linux.source
• 2003April 7 – The Archaeological Survey of India orders that Hindus be allowed to worship in the Kamal Maula Mosque.source
• 2003May 6 – John Paul II visits Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, becoming the first pope ever to enter a mosque.source
• 2003September 19 – The United Nations establishes the United Nations Mission in Liberia with Resolution 1509.source
• 2003October 16 – Pope John Paul II holds mass to celebrate his 25th anniversary as pope, becoming the fourth pope to reach the milestone.source
• 2003October 19 – Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.source
• 2004April 30 – Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople breaks Eucharistic communion with Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens.source
• 2004September 11 – Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria is killed in a helicopter crash.source
• 2007May 17 – The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate re-unite after 80 years of schism.source
• 2007May 20 – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai makes the largest single charitable donation in modern history, committing €7.41 billion to an educational foundation in the Middle East.source
• 2007September 12 - Daniel Ciobotea is elected as the 6th Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church since the Church was elevated to this status in 1925.source
• 2011April 29 – An estimated two billion people watch the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.source
• 2013February 28 – Benedict XVI resigns as pope, becoming the first to do so since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294.source
• 2013March 13 – Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected the 266th pope, whereupon he takes the name Francis and becomes the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere.source
• 2014March 16 – 2014 Crimean status referendum: A disputed referendum on the status of the Crimean Peninsula is held.source
• 2014April 27 – The Catholic Church simultaneously canonizes Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.source
• 2014June 29 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declares itself a caliphate.source
• 2014October 19 – The Roman Catholic Church beatifies Pope Paul VI.source
• 2015March 19 – Bishop Richard Williamson consecrates Father Jean-Michel Faure as a Bishop in the Mosteiro da Santa Cruz.source
• 2015June 18 – Pope Francis releases the encyclical letter Laudato si, dated May 24, 2015.source
• 2016February 12 – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their schism in 1054.source
• 2016April 8 – Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia (dated March 19) is published in the Vatican; it appears to amend the Roman Catholic Church's position on the availability of sacraments to Catholics who have divorced and contracted a civil remarriage.source
• 2016November 18 – The remains of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos are buried in a private ceremony at the Libingan ng mga Bayani prompting protests throughout the Philippines.source
• 2017April 25 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) unanimously adopted a call to place Turkey back under monitoring due to setbacks in democracy, human rights, the rule of law, freedom of expression, and judicial independence. Turkey last officially exited the monitoring process in 2004 when it began accession negotiations with the European Union.source
• 2018January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.source
• 2018February 10 – Kay Goldsworthy becomes the first female archbishop in the Anglican Communion on her installation in the Anglican Diocese of Perth, Western Australia.source
• 2018April 20 – The 2018 Bhutanese National Council election is held to elect 20 out of 25 members of the National Council of Bhutan, the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Bhutan.source
• 2018July 1 – Austria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Bulgarian presidency.source
• 2018December 4 – A Spanish institutional crisis surrounding the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) begins.source
• 2019January 1 – Romania takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Austrian presidency.source
• 2019January 5 – Bartholomew I of Constantinople issues a formal decree granting independence to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from the Russian Orthodox Church.source
• 2019February 3 – Pope Francis arrives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, becoming the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula.source
• 2019April 15 – During Holy Week, a major fire engulfs Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, resulting in the roof and main spire collapsing.source
• 2019July 1 – Finland takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Romanian presidency.source
• 2019July 1 – 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests: During the annual July 1 protests that mark the anniversary of the British handover of the city to China, a group of a few hundred protesters stormed the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, defacing various portraits and destroying furniture before being dispersed by police using tear gas.source
• 2019September 24 – The Supreme Court of Spain unanimously rules in favour of the exhumation of the remains of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from the Valle de los Caídos. He is finally exhumed on October 24, being re-inhumed in a private crypt with his wife.source
• 2019October 26 – The Amazon Catholic bishops synod proposes that married men be ordained as priests, which would reverse the Church's centuries-old discipline of celibacy.source
• 2019November 9 – The Supreme Court of India awards a holy site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh to Hindus, rejecting a Muslim claim. The move is likely to spur sectarian disputes.source
• 2019December 16 – Pope Francis abolishes pontifical secrecy in sex abuse cases; the move follows the Vatican's Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church months prior. The Pope also raises the definition of "child pornography" from 14 to 18 years old.source
• 2021February 18 – Porfirije Peric is elected as the 46th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.source
• 2021March 6 – Pope Francis meets with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. It is the first-ever meeting between a pope and a grand ayatollah.source
• 2021April 18 – Twelve football clubs, including three from La Liga and leading clubs from the Premier League and Serie A, agree to join a new breakaway European Super League, prompting international condemnation. Two days later, following major protests from supporters, other clubs and politicians, Manchester City withdraw from the league; this prompts all the remaining Premier League clubs and three others to do the same.source
• 2021May 28 – The New York Times breaks the story on a Canadian Indian Residential School Cemeteries announcement, incorrectly reporting a discovery of "mass graves" of Indigenous children at a former school site. The reporting would help "spawn a new holiday, Truth and Reconciliation Day, prompt an official visit by Pope Francis, and result in Canadian flags being kept at half-mast for a record-breaking five consecutive months."source
• 2022January 1 – France takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Slovenian presidency.source
• 2022January 5 – A nationwide state of emergency is declared in Kazakhstan in response to the 2022 Kazakh unrest. The cabinet of prime minister Askar Mamin resigns, while president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev removes former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, widely regarded as being the real power in the country, from his position as Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan.source
• 2022March 19 – The apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium, reforming the Roman Curia, is promulgated by Pope Francis, coming into force on 5 June.source
• 2022July 1 – the Czech Republic takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the French presidency.source
• 2022September 19 – The state funeral of Elizabeth II is held in Westminster Abbey, London. Her coffin is then taken by procession to Windsor Castle for burial with her husband, parents and sister in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. The funeral is speculated to be the most watched television event in world history.source
• 2023January 5 – The funeral of Pope Benedict XVI is held at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City. The funeral was attended by an estimated 50,000 people.source
• 2023February 16 – Lawmakers in the Russian State Duma vote to withdraw Russia from 21 conventions of the Council of Europe.source
• 2023April 21 – The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, representing a majority of the global Anglican population, reject the leadership of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as the head of global Anglicanism over his support for same-sex marriage.source
• 2023May 6 – The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.source
• 2024June 30 - Daniil Nikolov is elected as the 29th Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.source
• 2024November 12 – Justin Welby announces his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury following the publication of a report critical of his handling of the abuse of children within the Church of England by John Smyth.source
• 2024December 7 – The Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens to the public after previously being damaged by a structural fire in 2019.source
• 2025January 1 – Poland takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Hungarian presidency.source
• 2025April 26 – The funeral of Pope Francis is attended by delegations from 164 countries, including 82 leaders, and 250,000 members of the public.source
• 2025May 7–8 – 2025 conclave: 133 cardinal electors select Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Francis's successor, on the fourth ballot. He takes the name Leo XIV, and becomes the first pope from North America, the first with Peruvian or U.S. citizenship, and the first from the Order of Saint Augustine.source
• 2025May 31 – Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as the new Episcopal Co-Prince of Andorra and Bishop of Urgell after the Vatican accepts the resignation of Joan Enric Vives i Sicília for age limitation reasons.source
• 2025October 3 – Dame Sarah Mullally is named the first female Archbishop of Canterbury.source
• 2025November 27–30 – An ecumenical meeting of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church at Nicaea is held to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.source