December 2008

Dear IRLA Board Members and Experts:

It is already the end of 2008, and I would like to share with you a report of the IRLA activities that I have been personally involved with. I would also like to send all of you my best wishes for 2009 and my thanks for your support and encouragement. The interest in the Festivals of Religious Freedom is increasing now that the IRLA is involved as a partner.

1. July 15-18: Promotion of religious freedom in interfaith dialogue at Loma Linda California. On the way home from Honolulu where we had the first Religious Liberty Festival in North America, I spent a few days at Loma Linda University in California. We had the third meeting of the dialogue between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). My lecture was, of course, about religious freedom. The
   main outcome was an invitation to speak at the Presbyterian Church in Washington DC about the same topic.
2. August 18-24: Religious Liberty Festival in five cities in Mexico. What a great tour! We drove more than 1,000 miles in five days and had a Festival of Religious Freedom in five cities, from Cuautla to Vera Cruz, from Oaxaca to Cardenas. Roberto Herrera, IRLA Secretary General for Inter-America was with me. The master of this tour was Pastor Max Oviedo Calles. In every city the program got full attendance. Regional government and city officials came. In Oaxaca the representatives of 24 native Indian families who had been expelled from their village in 2005 because of religious discrimination gave their testimony. Artists participated too. The program was excellent and the support of the people fabulous.
3. August 25-27: Training Seminar, Miami, Florida. Organized by Roberto Herrera, the regional training seminary involved religious liberty leaders from Inter-America and the Caribbean Islands. Decisions were made to hold congresses, symposiums, and festivals in Venezuela, Colombia, Jamaica, French Antilles, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Surinam, and Guatemala in 2009. What a program it will be! Pastor Cesario Acevedo will organize the largest Festival in Inter-America with an expectation of 17,000 to 40,000 in attendance and the presence of the Head of State. It will be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
4. September 2-4: Tour to Riga, Latvia and Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a short trip, but useful. Religious liberty leader in the Baltic region, Valdis Zilgalvis, was our guide. Dr Eugene Hsu, IRLA Vice President, and his wife were with me. We drove from Riga to Vilnius to meet officials, then we drove back to Riga. We made the same trip 10 years ago. The IRLA was involved in several symposiums organized by Valdis Zilgalvis with the contribution of Prof Cole Durham and Attorney Lee Boothby. According to the authorities we met, these meetings played an important and positive role in both countries.
5. September 8-11: 10th IRLA Meeting of Experts in Bucharest, Romania. For our 10th IRLA meeting of Experts, we decided to go to Romania. The theme was Hate Speech and Defamation of Religion. Viorel Dima, the Secretary General of the Conscience and Liberty Association, organized the event, and Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes, with the help of Carol Rasmussen, worked on the program. It was an excellent meeting. (See news item here.) Viorel Dima organized a public symposium with the experts, September 10-11. Both meetings were held in the beautiful Human Rights room in the Palace of the Parliament. The public meeting was attended by the Senate President, the National Assembly President, the Nuncio, the Orthodox Archbishop, several ministers, senators, religious leaders, and many TV and radio reporters. Thank you to all of you and thank you to Viorel Dima for his outstanding work!
6. October 5-15: Administrative Meeting in Manila, Philippines. This was an opportunity to meet several religious freedom leaders. I had the pleasure to spend some time with Ambassador Bienvenido Tejano who was so helpful in 2002 when we had our 5th IRLA World Congress in Manila. Plans were made for a Festival in the Central Philippines and in Djakarta and a visit to East Timor. I also met Adventist leaders from India who gave me a report about persecution in Orissa.
7. October 19-23: Conference of Secretaries of the Christian World Communions in Geneva, Switzerland. I had the opportunity to speak about persecution in Orissa and the negative trends about religious freedom in the world. Some Christian leaders are very supportive of religious freedom; others have mixed feelings. This prestigious group of leaders represents about two billion Christians.
8. October 24-November 2: Romania. I went back to Romania for an excellent program prepared by Viorel Dima.
   1. October 24-25: Regional Festival of Religious Freedom in the cultural center of Bacau. The auditorium was full on Saturday for an all-day program. About 700 people attended. The concert was very good.
   2. October 28: Regional Symposium in Ploiesti.
   3. October 29: TV interview in Bucharest.
   4. October 30: Regional Symposium in Alexandria.
   5. October 31-November 1: Training Seminar in Brasov.
9. November 10: 60th Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and launching of the Brazilian Chapter of Religious Liberty in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The event was organized by our Brazilian partner association (ABLIRC). The city of Sao Paulo supported this event and the city parliament room was full. Attorney Aldir Soriano read the Brazilian Charter, ABLIRC President, Attorney Samuel Luz, and Secretary General, Attorney Alcides Coimbra, have to be commended for this event. I spoke about The New Challenges of the UDHR.
10. November 11-13: Promotion of Festival of Religious Freedom, Brasilia, Brazil. I was given the opportunity to promote the concept of Festivals of Religious Freedom before Adventist leaders from South American countries. The feedback was excellent and several decided to take such an opportunity to thank God and the country for religious freedom.
11. November 14-20: Lima and Trujillo, Peru. It was a very useful and intense program, including meetings in churches and at universities, and meetings with religious leaders from various churches and government officials. In spite of the world financial crisis, the Festival planned for Lima next year will be maintained. The date has changed. Instead of November 21, the largest Religious Liberty Festival to date will take place in Lima, Peru on June 13, 2009. We may have regional festivals the same day. We hope as many as one million people will participate—with 45,000 in the Lima National Stadium, possibly 20-25,000 in Trujillo, and many others in cities through the country. A symposium will be held in Lima, June 10-11, 2009.
12. December 10-16: French Antilles. I haven’t been there for a long time, but interest for a Festival was expressed and the event will be held next year. December 11 there will be meetings in Guadeloupe and December 12-14 in Martinique.
13. Welcome to Attorney Barry Bussey and congratulations to Attorney James Standish. In a few months I lost my two associates. I want to thank both of them for their contribution to the IRLA. James Standish is the new Executive Director of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. We are very proud and wish him great success. Attorney Barry Bussey from Toronto will replace James. All of you will appreciate him. He will lead our office in Washington DC and be in charge of Fides et Libertas. In February, when we know better how the financial crisis will affect our resources, we hope to elect our new United Nations expert.
14. A very active year 2009. The year 2008 has been very busy for me with more trips around the world than ever. The new year will also be busy. About 15 Festivals are planned—at least four of them with more than 10,000 people; two congresses in Mongolia and the Dominican Republic; several symposiums, etc.

To Defend and Promote Religious Freedom is so important as more and more countries openly challenge the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and as freedom of expression is under attack. We have to do our best to make sure people understand religious freedom as a fundamental freedom.

Happy New Year 2009 and May God bless all of you.

Sincerely,

John Graz,
Secretary-General