July 2008

Dear IRLA Board Members and Experts:

Before summer goes by, it is time to share with you a few events and activities we have organized or been directly involved in. You will see that the IRLA is alive and well.

1. January 17: Council of America’s First Freedom Award. Every year the Council organizes a dinner in Richmond, Virginia and honors three people who have made a great contribution in the field of religious freedom. Each year there are State, National, and International Awards. Three IRLA members have now received the International Award: Alberto de la Hera, Robert Seiple, and Abdelfattah Amor. The dinner was a success. The Executive president of CAFF, Ambassador Robert Seiple, did a great work. James Standish, Jeremy Gunn, and I sat at the table close to the governor.
2. February 3-9: Babcock University in Nigeria. I spent six days on the campus of one of the best universities in Nigeria to make plans for a Religious Liberty Congress and Festival. They will be held in the first quarter of 2010. The Third African Congress on Religious Freedom will be held at Babcock University. The Festival, which could attract 20,000 to 30,000 people, will be in Lagos.
3. February 13-15: Meetings in Geneva. On my way back to Washington from Nigeria, I attended the Steering Committee of the Conference of Secretaries of the Christian World Communions. There we also met for two days with the Joint Committee of the CS/CWC and the WCC. It is a great place to promote religious freedom.
4. February 24-28: Dialogue in Washington DC. I was in charge of logistics for the dialogue between the Salvation Army and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This was our third and final meeting.
5. March 6: Meeting with government leaders in Rome. I was part of a delegation led by Pastor Benini, Dora Bognandi, and Pastor Mazza, representing the religious liberty organization in Italy (ADLR). We met the former President, Mr Franco Marini, and the President of the Italian government, Romano Prodi. He was very kind and asked questions about our work and the state of religious freedom. The Italian association has excellent contacts and does a great work. The idea of holding a religious liberty festival in Rome is still on the table. We had a great meeting with the former President of the republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.
6. March 13: Washington National Cathedral. I met with Canon John Peterson, former Secretary General of the Anglican Communion to discuss holding a Religious Liberty Festival at the National Cathedral.
7. April 1: Board meeting at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. I met with the Board of the International Institute of Religious Freedom. We worked with the Institute and its Director, Nick Miller, to prepare the Religious Freedom World Report 2006-2007.
8. April 10-15: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with Roberto Herrera, IRLA Secretary General for Inter-America. This was a very useful visit in which we met with some members of the Religious Law Commission, and gave lectures, seminars, and radio and TV interviews. On Saturday, April 12, there was a Festival for the leaders of religious freedom. About 700 attended. The decision was made to have a Congress April 28-30, 2009 and a Festival May 1, 2009. They expect an attendance of 15,000.
9. April 17-20: Promotion of religious freedom in Puerto Rico. Roberto Herrera did great work in preparing for our visit. We had meetings in crowded churches, radio interviews, lectures to pastors and students, and a full program on Saturday. A Festival is planned for next year. Pastor Rodriguez, the leader of the religious liberty work in Puerto Rico, was very helpful.
10. May 1: National Prayer Breakfast at the White House. James Standish introduced me to Dr and Mrs James Dobson and to the new United States Attorney General. President Bush gave a speech and several guests were invited to pray. It was an interesting experience. I was able to see the fruitfulness of James’ work in Washington.
11. May 7-19: Visit to Tubingen and Geneva. I visited Prof Rolf Hille of the World Evangelical Alliance in Tubingen and then met with the Christian World Communions in Geneva. We had a seminar on Christian-Muslim Relations.
12. May 26-June 1: First Religious Liberty Symposium in Mongolia. Paul Kotanko organized the first symposium in cooperation with the government Director of Religious Affairs. In attendance were 40 experts and religious leaders, including several Buddhist monks. The papers were excellent. Dr Hsu came to Mongolia, following a trip to China, and an associate of Dr Cole Durham, Dr Brett Scharffs, presented a paper. Pastor Glenn Mitchell, our regional Secretary General accompanied me. As a follow-up to the Symposium, a Congress is being planned with the support of the Religious Affairs Department for September 8-10, 2009. It will be a very interesting one. Please put it on your calendar.
13. June 9-10: Geneva, United Nations Council on Human Rights. It was very interesting for me to be there and to listen to the reports about some countries and to understand how the council is working and how we can be involved.
14. June 12: Washington DC, Liberty Dinner. Instead of meeting in the Senate building, James Standish and Deborah Knott chose the Capital Hilton Hotel near the White House as the site for the annual Liberty Dinner. The dinner was better than ever and it became a more formal event this year. The four sponsors are Liberty magazine, IRLA, NARLA, and the General Conference. I had the privilege of giving the international award to Pastor Mikhail Kulakov as a life achievement award. Pastor Kulakov gave a moving testimony, and the two speakers were excellent. Just over 300 people attended—including ambassadors and representatives from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and the US State Department. We had the pleasure of having Ambassador Hanford and the Ambassador of Nepal with us. Congressman Trent Franks gave an excellent speech. For many this dinner has become one of the best in Washington. We had the pleasure of having Jeremy Gunn with us.
15. June 12-14: Washington DC, NARLA weekend. The attendance of NARLA (North American Religious Liberty Association) members was better than ever. Groups were formed by state so they could meet their Congressional representatives and Senators in Washington. I gave a speech about the state of religious freedom and the Religious Liberty Festivals. James and his team did a great work.
16. June 18: Silver Spring, meeting with Islamic Society of North America. I was involved in a meeting with representatives of the Islamic Society of North America. Religious freedom was discussed. Other meetings will be organized.
17. June 19: Washington DC, Round-table/Consultation with Ambassador Hanford and the Undersecretary of State. We had a good discussion about religious freedom in Russia.
18. June 26-28: Luanda, Angola, Religious Freedom Congress and Festival. Both the Congress and the Festival were organized by the third Secretary of the Angolan Parliament, Dr Benjamin Paiva, with the support of Pastor Teodoro Elias and our regional Secretary General Hensley Moorooven. Pastor Paul Ratsara, the IRLA Regional President, attended. Dr Eugene Hsu and I were invited as speakers. There were more than 300 participants at the Congress on Thursday and 600 on Friday. It was a well done event.
19. June 28: Luanda, Angola, Religious Freedom Festival. The largest gathering for religious freedom ever organized was attended by more than 40,000 people. This is a dream come true. Now we can plan for a gather of 50,000-60,000 in Lima, Peru next year.
20. July 4-5: St Petersburg, Russia, Symposium and Festival. Eugene Hsu and I flew to St Petersburg on our way back from Angola. Victor Vitko and his team did an excellent job. The Symposium attracted 80 experts and religious leaders. The papers were excellent. Among the speakers were Dr Oleg Mironov, the former Ombudsman, Prof Odinstov, Dr Sebentsov, Prof Anatoly Krasikov. On Saturday the celebration of Religious Freedom included choirs and singers alternated with testimonies about the time of persecution. Religious freedom defenders expressed their concern about the increasing number of restrictions for religious minorities.
21. July 12-13: Honolulu, Hawaii, Festival of Religious Freedom. Organized by Alan Reinach, and cosponsored by Libertymagazine, NARLA, and IRLA, it was the first Festival in the United States. It was not easy to arrange, since Alan lives in Los Angeles. It was a two-day program—Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, the beautiful Central Church was not full on Saturday and there were even fewer people on Sunday. On the contrary, nine members of the state congress attended and the Mayor of Honolulu gave excellent support to the Festival. A large number of experts from various faiths participated and there were several choirs of young people. In spite of our disappointment about the attendance, this was a good and useful Festival. As a follow up to the Festival and a bit of good news, a member of the state congress has proposed to dedicate a Saturday of July as a day of religious freedom for the state of Hawaii.

Sincerely,

John Graz
Secretary-General