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Reports and Statements

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
Iguacu Falls, Brazil
October 2, 1998

This year, 1998, the United Nations is commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 of the UDHR provides humankind with the finest definition of religious freedom:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

It is interesting to note that 105 years ago the International Religious Liberty Association was founded for this purpose: to promote, defend, and protect religious liberty for everyone everywhere. That was 55 years before the Universal Declaration! Established by Adventist leaders and supported by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the International Religious Liberty Association is nevertheless an open organization—open to all who believe in the principle of religious freedom. Truly, the IRLA is a special gift of this Church to the world because freedom is a gift of God to the people of the world.

This year of 1998 has been a year of reinforcement of our association.

First, we are now better represented at the United Nations in New York and Geneva: at important conferences and meetings; in frequent and direct contact with the UN’s special rapporteur for religious intolerance, Professor Abdelfattah Amor, in improving our New York office located at UN Plaza.

We have taken a place at the White House as a recognized association. We are at the U.S. Department of State for international briefings. We count members of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor as our friends.

This growing presence gives IRLA credibility to dialogue with governments and other international organizations as this year IRLA members were invited to attend several important conferences. These included the lecture in the University of Buenos Aires, the Oslo Conference on Religious Freedom, and the large inter-religious conference for peace in Bucharest. Four individuals represented the IRLA in Oslo. I am pleased to report to you that two of three presiding officers of the Oslo meeting belong to the IRLA.

Since March, we have developed new tools of communication. The Secretary General regularly sends a letter to IRLA personnel around the world. We publish a periodic newsletter called IRLA Information. On the internet, you can visit our website at www.irla.org. Later this fall we will publish the inaugural issue of our journal which will contain more than 20 scholarly articles on religious liberty. One document comes from the president of Argentina, Carlos Saul Menem, and Brazil’s former Minister of Justice, Senator Iris Rezende.

During the period from November 1997 through September 1998, IRLA and the General Conference Protocol have welcomed more than 35 VIPS to our world office including ambassadors, governors, parliamentarians, human rights advocates, clergy personnel and religious and academic leaders. Such visits often change in a radical way the perceptions they have regarding the IRLA and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

I congratulate the Northern Asia-Pacific Chapter and its Secretary General, Elder Tadoami Shinmyo for the success of the International Symposium on Religious Freedom conducted in Seoul last June.

And all of us salute our Secretary General Emeritus, Bert Beach, who this year received from the President of Poland one of that nation’s highest honors. The award was presented to Dr. Beach both at a ceremony conducted by the Polish ambassador to the U.S. and later in Warsaw by the President of Poland.

We also congratulate Maurice Verfaillie from Bern Switzerland who was decorated by the government of Spain for his work in behalf of religious freedom.

I wonder who will be next?

All the experts in world affairs state that in the next century religion will be one of the most important issues: religious competition, religious extremism, and religious conflicts will break out and spread in many places. To protect, defend, and promote religious liberty, we must continue to build a strong and credible International Religious Liberty Association. The IRLA needs your support, your involvement, and your prayers.

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