July 1998
Dear Members of the Board:
This past quarter was very interesting and rich in events. I will share some of these events with you, hoping that everyone of you are well and enjoying your summer.
- IRLA Visitors March
30, the Chief of the Cuban Interest Section, His Excellency Mr. Fernando
Remirez de Estenoz, and his Third Secretary Mr. Rafael Noriega, visited
us. During the luncheon with IRLA officers and President R. S. Folkenberg,
we talked about the possibility of having a congress on religious freedom
in Cuba. His Excellency said that he saw no objection to such a project.
April 7, we had a visit from His Excellency Ambassador Kozminski from the Republic of Poland, with his Second Secretary, Mr. Artur Harazim. We had a luncheon with IRLA officers and representatives from ADRA and the Seventh-day Adventist world headquarters. We thanked the Polish government for the religious freedom their government supported and for the earlier medal given to our Vice-president Bert Beach.
April 27, we received a visit from the Ambassador of Barbados and Ms. Jasmine Hewitt, also from the embassy. The Ambassador gave a very nice talk after our luncheon and everyone enjoyed the pleasant experience of having them as our guests.
April 23, we received a visit from Karen Lord of the Counsel for Freedom of Religion, Helsinki Commission in Washington. We had a good meeting with Karen who is an expert on religious freedom in Europe and works with the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
- IRLA Welcomed
in Spain From
May 5-10, Bert Beach and I spent a few days in Madrid, invited by the
Director of Religious Affairs, Professor Alberto de la Hera and his Vice-director,
Professor Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes. It was great! We were treated
like kings. On Thursday, we visited Toledo. The provincial and local authorities
welcomed us and the media interviewed us several times. Our visit was
a few days after the Spanish government honored the "Association
Internationale pour la Defense de le liberté religieuse" by giving
a medal to Maurice Verfaillie, its General Secretary.
- May
9, I attended the consultations between the World Lutheran Federation
and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Bert Beach was the co-chairman.
- China Tour From
May 29 to June 6, a delegation of IRLA members (Bert Beach, Eugene Hsu,
Tad Shinmyo, and I) visited several churches in China. We spent the first
weekend in Shanghai, then went to Wuxi, Nanjing, Beijing. We met many
religious leaders and authorities. We had a very good meeting with the
President of the Chinese Christian Council (CCC), and with the President
and Secretary General of the Theological Seminary. We will meet them again
in December in Harare, Zimbabwe during the 50th Anniversary
of the World Council of Churches. Dr.
Eugene Hsu met with the Director of Religious Affairs in Beijing. We hope
to have him in one of our next congresses on religious liberty. Maybe
in India?
- Symposium
on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Our
Secretary-Generals from IRLA-Asia and IRLA-Korea, Tad Shinmyo and Hyun-Suh,
Koo have been doing a great work. Their symposium was a great success.
About 400 people attended the meeting Friday, June 12 at the University
of Sahmyook, and Saturday, June 13, about 700 people attended the Festival
of Religious Freedom. This Festival had an excellent program with short
speeches, music, and a play on persecution. The Press Conference brought
ten reporters. Sunday, June 13, I attended a worship service in the biggest
church in the world. This huge church has 700,000 members with seven services
every Sunday--great!
- Two Words
About Japan In
Japan, we visited the President and General Secretary of the National
Christian Council of Japan, and then we had a very good meeting with the
Lutheran President and Executive Secretary, along with several members
of the board. We also met with Professor Kiyoshige, President of the Japan
Lutheran Theological Seminary. We hope our visit in Japan will help the
IRLA national chapter to grow. Bert Beach spent an additional week at
the university teaching a Master’s class on ecumenism and interchurch
relations.
- Invitation
to the U. S. Presidential Briefing Returning
from Asia, we received a telephone call from the White House inviting
me for a briefing with President Clinton and Madeleine Albright. About
50 religious leaders and religious freedom activists were invited. I had
a short talk with President Clinton and shook his hand after. This meeting
was followed by a second meeting with Under Secretary John Shattuck and
the White House Advisory Committee on Religious Persecution Abroad. I
met with and spoke to the President’s new advisor and other leaders.
- Professor
de la Hera in Washington Finishing
up with the conference on Religious Freedom in Peru, Professor de la Hera,
Director of Religious Affairs in the Spanish government, and Professor
Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes, visited us in Washington. Along with many
others from around the world, they attended a seminar at the Catholic
University of America in the Washington, D.C. area. When the seminar ended,
we had the privilege of hosting them for three days. We had a luncheon
for them at our world headquarters along with Gloria Moran, Cole Durham,
Silvio Ferrari, and Lee Boothby.
- Visit of
Christian Leaders from Syria From
July 1-19, a delegation of four people from Syria led by Metropolitan
Gregorios Ibrahim visited us. During the meeting with IRLA members, we
talked about the next IRLA congress in Aman, Jordan. Metropolitan Ibrahim,
who is in charge of Foreign Affairs for the Syrian Orthodox Church and
is a member of the WCC Committee, will help us have Christian and Muslim
experts in the Middle East.
- In Brief... November
20, 1998 there will be a special program at our headquarters with several
NGO’s commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the UDHR. You
can get documents and information on the 50th Anniversary of
the UDHR on the website: http://www.udhr50.org/history/udhr.htm.
December 10, 1998 is the official date for the 50th Anniversary of the UDHR.
December 12, 1998 will be a special commemoration day for Seventh-day Adventist Churches around the world. There will be special Saturday programs emphasizing the 50th Anniversary of UDHR and especially the importance of religious freedom.
IRLA has a website. You can visit us on www.IRLA.org.
We are making good progress on our Journal of Religious Liberty. The first issue will be out this November.
I will attend the Oslo Conference with a good delegation of IRLA members, followed by the UN meeting in Geneva of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
Richard Fenn is working as liaison in New York and has attended several meetings there. Richard has also attended many meetings at the State Department in Washington, DC.
Our application for recognition as an NGO in consultative status with the United Nations will be brought to the UN Committee this fall.
- We
need your support for our next challenges:
The 50th Anniversary celebration of the UDHR.
The Congress at Aman, Jordan organized by IRLA-Europe.
The Congress of New Delhi, organized by IRLA-India.
A meeting of IRLA experts in 1999 or 2000.
May God bless you.
Sincerely yours,
John
Graz
Secretary-General