July 2003
Dear Members of the IRLA Boards:
We are already in July and I need to share with you some information about the past six months. I hope you are all well and I want to thank you for your support.
- IRLA Gets the NGO-UN ECOSOC Consultative Status The IRLA received notice in May 2003 that it now has NGO-UN ECOSOC Consultative
Status. This is the result of the work of my associates: Wintley Phipps who began the
research, and Richard Lee Fenn who made the first step in the UN-DPI recognition process.
Jonathan Gallagher and Viola Hughes worked hard to get the status. In order to help the
IRLA obtain recognized status they took several trips to New York, where they made and
maintained many contacts at the UN. I would also like to thank our volunteers in New York
who also worked hard to help the IRLA become recognized: Matt Mills, Samantha Burchard,
and Mindy Rahn. And now it's done! What does it mean? As IRLA representatives we will
be able to speak during the Plenary Session of the Human rights Commission and of course
have better access to the government delegations. It is a great step which will give more credibility
to our work.
- Liberty Tour in USA In January and February all of our team was involved in a tour to promote Liberty Magazine
and religious freedom in the U.S. I was invited to speak in Beaverton (Oregon) January 25th and
in Auburn (Washington) February 1st. February 14-23rd I gave several lectures in California:
Yucaipa on February 15th, Pacific Union College on February 18th, Weimar Institute on February
20th, and Fresno on February 22-23rd for a great rally. My colleagues Brad Newton and Alan
Reinach afforded me the privilege to be introduced at the opening session of the California
Senate by Senator Knight. Religious freedom has a very good team of promoters in California.
-
Training Seminar in Moscow Victor Krushenitsky organized a training seminar, March 3-7th, for IRLA experts from the
countries of the former Soviet Union. As usual, Victor did a great work. I spent three days
with them.
- International Symposium in Bulgaria From Moscow I flew to Sofia to participate in an international symposium organized by the
International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty (IADRL). Secretary General
Maurice Verfaillie and his Bulgarian team did an excellent work. Among the speakers were
Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes, Jean Bauberot, and Rik Torfs. I was interviewed by the
National Radio.
- Romanian Tour We drove to Bucharest from Sofia with Pastor Dumitrescu and Viorel Dima. From March 11-18th
we gave lectures in several cities and participated in three symposiums for regional
authorities. Viorel has organized symposiums in 35 Romanian cities since 2001. In Bucharest
we met with students and gave TV interviews. The special programs in churches made this
tour very interesting. Once more Viorel Dima and his team did a wonderful work. The Union of Adventists and its President, Adrian Bocaneanu, were very
supportive.
- Liberty Dinner on Capital Hill James Standish organized, with the support of the IRLA and
Liberty Magazine, the First Annual Liberty Dinner on April 2,
2003. Keynote speaker Ambassador-at-Large John Hanford
eloquently addressed several pertinent religious liberty issues
in his speech. Six ambassadors attended the dinner and more
than 30 ambassadors were represented. We also had several
legislators present. I had the privilege to give special
IRLA/Liberty Awards to Congressman Christopher Smith,
Attorney Lee Boothby and Victor Krushenitsky. James and
his team did very well.
- Washington Coalition On April 30th, we hosted the 4th Washington Coalition chaired by Ambassador Robert Seiple.
A very interesting analysis about the current situation and the future of China was given by
Professor Carol Hamrin, an expert on China. The
next meeting is planned for November 6, 2003.
- Visit of the Ambassador of Morocco We had the privilege to welcome His Excellency
Azziz Mekouar, the newly appointed Ambassador
of Morocco to the United States at the
IRLA World Headquarters on May 2, 2003.
Ambassador Mekouar is interested in the work
of the IRLA and the challenges to religious freedom in the world.
-
Trip to Cyprus I was in Cyprus May 5-9th to prepare for the annual meeting of the Conference of the
Secretaries of the Christian World Communions. I was the guest of the Orthodox Monastery
of Kikko.
- First International Symposium in Kazakhstan From Cyprus I went to Almaty, Kazakhstan, May
9-15th, with Mitch Tyner. The program was well-
prepared and useful: training seminars on religious
freedom, lectures in churches, meetings with
government officials, and the organization of the
IRLA chapter in Kazakhstan. We held a symposium
on May 14th where most religions were represented.
The symposium was well-covered by the
media and the IRLA received the support of the
Oslo Coalition. We had an opportunity to talk with
the President of the Oslo Coalition and to plan a few common projects. Then Mitch and
Victor went onto Uzbekistan to establish our IRLA chapter there.
- Meeting in Geneva with the Catholic Theologians I was in Geneva May 19-22nd for the working group of the SC/CWC as the new secretary and
for a meeting coordinated by Bert Beach between the Adventists and the Catholic theologians.
Religious freedom was not absent from our conversation.
- IRLA 5th Meeting of Experts Our 5th Meeting of Experts was held June 9-11th at the Catholic University of Leuven in
Belgium. Professor Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes lost her mother the day she would have
come to Leuven, therefore she and Professor de le Hera were unable to attend the meeting.
Professor Jacques Robert joined us and brought his warm presence. Rik Torfs and his team did
a great work and everything was perfect. The final text and the details of the meeting are on
our website www.irla.org along with the pictures and report by Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. The
next Meeting of Experts is planned for June 17-20th in the Castle of Klingenthal near Strasbourg.
- An IRLA Affiliated Association in "Paradise" On the beautiful island of Tahiti, we have an IRLA affiliated association, and I had the privilege
to attend their board meeting. Their main work has been to help students and workers
who have problems due to religious convictions. Fortunately French Polynesia has a culture
of tolerance; the people are religious but they also accept religious pluralism. While there, I
shook the hand of President Gaston Flosse in his "palace".
- Visit of the Ambassador of Bulgaria We had the privilege to welcome Her Excellency Elena Borislavova Poptodorova, the
Ambassador of Bulgaria to the United States, for a special luncheon on July 8th. James met her
in Washington and invited her to visit us. All the guests greatly enjoyed listening to Her
Excellency speaks perfect English with a British accent. She is also fluent in Italian and
French. During her remarks, she expounded intelligently on the Bulgarian legislation and
the progress it has made for religious freedom.
- Visit of Imam Ilgar Allahverdiyev During my trip to Tahiti, IRLA President Denton Lotz and the IRLA team welcomed IRLA
Azerbaijan President Imam Ilgar Allahverdiyev to our World Headquarters. (See www.irla.org). We now have Muslim officers in several of our IRLA chapters.
- Russian Delegation of 35 Civil and Government
Leaders Visits IRLA IRLA board member Professor Cole Durham hosted
a group of 35 experts from Russia in our world headquarters.
This visit was part of the Open World
Program sponsored by the U.S. Library of Congress.
IRLA Vice Presidents Bert B. Beach and Eugene Hsu,
together with Deputy Secretary General Jonathan
Gallagher, welcomed the Russian leaders.
- Here are some of our plans for the next couple of months:
- July 24-27th I will be in Sao Paulo to give lectures during a seminar for 500 pastors. From there I will fly to Winnipeg where I am invited for the Lutheran World Federation World Session.
- At the end of July, Mitch Tyner will travel to Iraq to meet with the new authorities on behalf of the IRLA. We are planning to organize a symposium in Baghdad in October.
- The first part of August I will be in Geneva for holidays and the UN Human Rights Commission.
- From Geneva I will go to Santiago, Chile in the latter part of August for the IRLA International Congress along with Ambassador Seiple, Prof. Cardoso, Prof. Martinez de Codes, Dr. Hsu, and Dr. Gallagher. The theme this year is "Religious Freedom: A Permanent Challenge". The congress is being organized by IRLA Chile.
Please keep your interest strong for religious freedom and visit our website at www.IRLA.org.
May God bless all of you,
John Graz
Secretary-General
Lee Boothby and Victor Krushenitsky received awards from John Graz at the Religious Liberty Awards Banquet in the U.S. Senate building.
Ambassador-at-Large John Hanford, keynote speaker for the Religious Liberty Awards Banquet.
His Excellency Azziz Mekouar, the newly appointed Ambassador of Morocco.
Religious Freedom seminar attendees in Almaty.
Part of the delegation of Russian leaders.