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August 2009

Dear IRLA Board Members and Experts:

It is always with great pleasure that I share with you the major events of the past few months.  My last letter, dated December 2008, covered the IRLA events for the last six months of 2008.  This one will cover what we have done since January of 2009.

Thank you again for your support.  Religious freedom appears to be a luxury to some.  The IRLA is one of the rare voices speaking out in its favor.  Promoting and defending religious freedom is the best answer to religious and anti-religious intolerance.

  1. January 21-25:  Symposium and Festival in Suriname.  Clive Dottin and the CARLA team once again did a great work.  For the first time, the annual religious liberty symposium for the Caribbean Islands took place in Suriname.  On Friday, January 23, we visited government officials.  Then on Saturday the First Festival of Religious Freedom was held in the capital city of Paramaribo.  It was a successful celebration in a full auditorium.
  2. February 12:  Interview on the National Swiss Radio (RSR) Geneva, Switzerland.  I participated in a one-hour interview on Espace2, the Swiss National Radio, French speaking, about the United Nations and Religious Freedom.  Professor Abdelfatta Amor was interviewed on the same program about a week later.
  3. February 23-25:  Global Christian Forum meeting in Helsinki, Finland.  As a member of the committee which represents most of the Christian family, I was able to share my concerns about religious freedom.  This kind of meeting gives us great opportunities to get information and support.
  4. March 20-27:  United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.  My associate, Barry Bussey, attended the meeting the previous week and did a good job.  We cooperated with the Becket Fund and Bennett Graham.  The Resolution on Defamation of Religion was the issue we focused on.  A meeting was organized by Bennett Graham and he asked me to be one of the two speakers.  It was a good meeting.  I contacted several representatives of countries, including the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic.  It was interesting to see that most of the sub-Saharan Africa and Latin American countries did not oppose the resolution.  Only the Western bloc and Chile did.  The resolution was voted again, but the number of abstentions increased.  (See Liberty article, July-August 2009, pp 13-15).
  5. April 21:  Seminar at Newbold College near London.  Being in London to meet the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, I also went to Newbold College, near Reading, to give a lecture about the promotion of religious freedom.  It was a nice experience.  The college campus is beautiful and we had a good meeting.
  6. April 28-30:  First IRLA Inter-American Congress, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  It was a good congress, well organized under the leadership of Roberto Herrera.  Professors Jaime Contreras and Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes came from Spain.  From Washington, I brought Dr Eugene Hsu and Attorney Barry Bussey.  We had a good representation from Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, and Jews.  
  7. May 2:  First Inter-American Festival of Religious Freedom.  This was a fabulous celebration of religious freedom with 13,000 people filling the indoor Palacio des Sportes in Santo Domingo.  The program lasted four hours and involved singers, musicians, and young people.  It was really excellent.  Pastor Cesario Acevedo and his team deserve our congratulations for this historical event.
  8. May 11:  Voice of America TV Interview in Silver Spring.  The French office of the Voice of American came to our headquarters and interviewed me about the trip of Pope Benedict XVI in Africa.
  9. May 20:  Meeting with Paul Monteiro, one of President Obama’s advisors on inter-religious relations.  The meeting was very useful.
  10. May 27:  Special Luncheon for Ambassador John Hanford in Silver Spring.  Ambassador John Hanford came with his wife and their baby.  It was a good opportunity to get his input about the state of religious freedom around the world and the United States policy.  Ambassador Hanford was the second US Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom.
  11. June 4-7:  Lecture and Symposium in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  I arrived in the late morning at the Sao Paulo airport, and Edson Rosa immediately took charge of me.  My first lecture was three hours from Sao Paulo.  I was invited to speak at the launching of the new journal on religious freedom, Libertas.  On Friday evening I was invited by the Brazilian Association of Lawyers (OBA) to their auditorium in Sao Paulo.  Saturday and Sunday the program was full, and Sunday evening we had a dinner with the members of Brazilian Association for Religious Freedom (ABLIRC) and officials.  It was very good.
  12. June 9-12:  A week of national promotion of religious freedom in Lima, Peru.  I arrived in Lima on the 9th and departed very early the next morning for Trujillo where I gave a lecture in an auditorium full of officials.  After a short night, we flew back to Lima where a Forum was organized following a march for religious equality.  More than 10,000 people participated in the march.  The Forum in the evening was excellent with about 400 in attendance.  Two government ministers, the President of the Supreme Court, and religious leaders attended.  Edson Rosa spoke at the Senate auditorium and Dr Ella Simmons was the main speaker at the Forum at Cuzco.
  13. June 13:  The First World Festival of Religious Freedom was attended by more than 40,000 people in Lima, Peru.  Eugene Hsu, Roberto Herrera, Edson Rosa, and our IRLA Treasurer, Daisy Orion, were part of the program.  The National Stadium was full and the three-hour program was excellent.  Government ministers, ambassadors, and religious leaders attended, and as did the President of the Supreme Court.  The organizers were Pastors Samuel Sandoval and Orlando Ramos.  Along with their team, they did an outstanding work.  President Erton Kohler, who leads the Adventists in South America, gave public support to the work of the IRLA.
  14. June 18:  7th Annual Religious Liberty Dinner in Washington DC.  Several ambassadors, including former Ambassador-at-large John Hanford, attended the dinner.  The US Department of State, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the White House were represented.  About 300 participants listened to the guest speaker, Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver II, who co-chairs the International Religious Freedom Caucus.  The International Religious Freedom Award (presented by the IRLA and Liberty magazine) went to Dr Denton Lotz, our IRLA President.  Rabbi David Saperstein received the National Award, and Attorney Alan Reinach the A T Jones Medal.  On Saturday, June 20, I was invited to preach on religious freedom at the Sligo Church.  It was the conclusion of a weekend program organized by the North American Religious Liberty Association in Washington DC.
  15. June 30:  Radio Interview in Silver Spring.  The interview was about the United Nations Resolution on Defamation of Religion and Religious Freedom in Europe.  I was interviewed by Steve Gallimore and Joy McKey on LifeTalk radio.

This is just a summary of the activities we have participated in on behalf of the IRLA.  This report does not cover what the IRLA affiliated associations have done during the same period.  Our association in Russia organized an excellent symposium in Moscow, and others did similar activities.

Thank you very much again for your support.

Sincerely,

John Graz
Secretary-General