June 2007
Dear IRLA Board Members, Experts, & Division Directors:
It has been a long time since I have sent you a report. Of course, you always have the possibility of visiting the IRLA website which my Associate, Dr Jonathan Gallagher, maintains for us.
Many important events have taken place, and I will select just a few of them to share with you. The IRLA has become a major promoter of religious freedom around the world. Its Sixth World Congress, with more than 600 attendees, was the number one forum on religious freedom in 2007. The Festival of Religious Freedom held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in June 2006, attracted about 30,000 people. Only 12,000 were able to find a seat in the gymnasium. It was the largest meeting celebrating religious freedom ever organized.
Let me list the main events since my last letter.
- September 10-14:
IRLA Meeting of Experts, University Aix en Provence in France. The IRLA
Meeting of Experts has become one of the major annual think tanks on religious
freedom. Well-known universities are represented at these meetings. Several
universities published in their academic journals the final statements
on Religious Freedom and Proselytism; Religious Freedom and Security ;
and Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere.
- September 16: Largest
Festival of Religious Freedom in Europe. In Bucharest, Romania, I met
with 4,000 people who attended a full-day program dedicated to religious
freedom. Viorel Dima, Secretary General of the Religious Liberty Association
in Romania, organized the event. There was a great meeting in the afternoon.
The celebration of religious freedom included remembering martyrs who
had died for their faith. It was the largest gathering on religious freedom
ever organized in Europe.
- September 26-28:
Global Faith and Freedom TV Programs. We spent three days recording new
programs under the leadership of James Standish. Global Faith and Freedom
is now watched in many countries around the world every week.
- November 8-12:
Training Seminars in Mexico. Organized by the IRLA Secretary General for
the Inter-America region, Roberto Herrera, a training seminar was held
for religious liberty leaders in Cancun, Mexico on November 8 and 9 and
in several cities in the southern part of Mexico on November 11 and 12.
Ambitious projects were planned for 2007 and 2008.
- November 29: Meeting
with Kofi Annan at the United Nations in New York. At the invitation of
several United Nations NGOs, including the IRLA, Kofi Annan and his wife
spent time with us the evening of November 29. It was a good and very
interesting meeting held in the Methodist Building at 777 UN Plaza.
- January 25: Abdelfattah
Amor was honoree of the 2007 International Award Banquet in Richmond,
Virginia. It was a great event and a great pleasure to see for the third
time one of our IRLA Experts and friends being the recipient of the First
Freedom International Award given by the Council for America’s First
Freedom. In 2004, Professor Alberto de la Hera received the award, and
in 2005 Ambassador Robert A Seiple was among the honorees. We went to
Richmond with Jeremy Gunn and Professor Amor. James Standish and Lincoln
Steed joined us. It was an excellent program with about 500 guests in
the beautiful Jefferson Hotel. Congratulations to our friend, Professor
Abdelfattah Amor. During the ceremony, Madeleine K Albright received the
“Distinguished Service Award.”
- January 29-February
4: Last visit to Cape Town before the World Congress.
- February 27-March
1: Sixth IRLA World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. With 535 participants
registered by February 1, and more than 600 attendees, it was the biggest
IRLA World Congress that we have held. It was also one of the major world
events on religious freedom for 2007. There were 30 speakers, 60 panelists,
28 regional and NGO reports, and a banquet with more than 600 guests.
Among the experts and guests were the Advisor to the former President
of Iran; a member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom;
the Public Defender of Human Rights from the Republic of Georgia; a former
US Ambassador-at-large for Religious Freedom; several top level experts
from European, American, and African universities; representatives from
most of the major religions; and, of course, officials like the Premier
of the Western Cape Province and the Mayor of Cape Town. The Congress was followed
by a Festival of Religious Freedom on March 3 which 4,000 people attended.
- March 23-27: Meetings
in Honolulu, Hawaii. I spent a few days in Hawaii with Attorney Alan Reinach
and Pastor Walter Nelson, meeting officials with the purpose of organizing
a symposium and a Festival of Religious Freedom. Both proposals received
strong support from the authorities.
- April 11: IRLA
Legal Meeting, Silver Spring, Maryland. Every two years the IRLA holds
its legal meeting at which members of the Board of Directors are voted.
A revision of the IRLA Bylaws was also approved. The Legal Meeting was
followed by the Board of Directors meeting which reelected Denton Lotz
as President and me as Secretary General. I want to thank the board for
their confidence.
- April 27-30: Visit
to Bulgaria, meeting with officials and attending various meetings.
- May 17: Annual
Liberty Dinner on Capitol Hill with Senator John Kerry as the keynote
speaker. For the fifth time, IRLA, NARLA, and Liberty magazine co-sponsored
the Liberty Dinner. I had the privilege of giving the International Award
to Attorney Mitchell Tyner and to Attorney Knox Thames from the Helsinki
Commission in Washington DC. Congratulations to James Standish, Lincoln
Steed, and their team for this great event.
- May 24-28: Visit
to Seoul, Korea and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I made a brief visit to Seoul
and to Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, to promote and organize
a Festival of Religious Freedom and a symposium. The Festival will take
place in Seoul in 2009, and the government of Mongolia has indicated that
it will be pleased to be associated with a symposium in 2008 or 2009.
My colleague in the Northern-Asia region, Glenn Mitchell, is working on
these two events.
- May 31: Successful
Symposium in Moscow. The Euro-Asia chapter of IRLA and the Russian State
University organized a symposium on the theme, “Religious Freedom
in the Public Schools.” About 60 university professors, religious
leaders, and government representatives participated in the meetings.
The debate between those who support an Orthodox presence and influence
in the public schools and those who claim that a total neutrality towards
religion is the best choice, was an important moment of the symposium,
according to Victor Vitko, the main organizer of the meeting.
- Upcoming Meetings
September 10-13: IRLA Meeting of Experts in Richmond, Virginia, USA
September 21-30: Visit to Peru and Chile to prepare for the Second South American Congress and the World Festival of Religious Freedom
October 26-27: Festival of Religious Freedom in Mexico
November 15-19: Symposium in Moscow
I would like to thank my Associates, James Standish and Jonathan Gallagher, our Specialist, Deborah Knott, and my Assistant, Carol Rasmussen, for their support and their work. Stay in touch with us and visit our web site at www.irla.org
Sincerely,
John Graz
Secretary-General