November 2007

Dear IRLA Board Members and Experts:

Before I say anything else, I would like to thank you very much for your support and wish you, on behalf of our staff and officers, a great and happy New Year in 2008.

Let me list the main events since my last letter in June.

1. June 6: Special Luncheon for Denton and Janice Lotz. It was a good opportunity to thank Denton for his leadership as President of the IRLA. Denton has retired as Secretary General of the Baptist World Alliance, and a special issue of the Baptist World was published in his honor. Denton will continue as IRLA President and will have more time to work with us.
   
   
2. June 14: Visit of the Ambassador of Cyprus, His Excellency Andreas S Kakouris to our headquarters and a special luncheon in his honor.
   
   
3. August 30: Visit of the Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines, His Excellency Willy Gaa, and his wife. It was a good opportunity to thank his country and his President for hosting the 5th IRLA World Congress in 2002.
   
   
4. September 10-13: IRLA Meeting of Experts in Richmond, Virginia USA. Our international group of experts was hosted by the Council of America’s First Freedom. Ambassador Robert Seiple, the President of the CAFF, and his team organized the program which included a visit to the first British settlement in Jamestown. We also visited Williamsburg. It was a great meeting. The IRLA Meeting of Experts in 2008 will be held in Bucharest, Romania, September 8-12. The theme will be “Hate Speech.” Professor Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes will coordinate the program.
   
   
5. September 21: Sao Paulo, Brazil visit to ABLRIC. It was a dinner between two plane trips and it opened my South American tour with the South American Secretary General of the IRLA, Edson Rosa. A meeting with members and officers of the Brazilian Association for Religious Liberty (ABLRIC) was organized. ABLRIC is a young association, but it has already done great work in promoting religious freedom in state legislation. They organized several Symposiums and Festivals of Religious Freedom.
   
   
6. September 21-25: Visit to Lima, Peru to prepare for a big event. It was a very useful and interesting visit. In a few days I met religious leaders, the Senate Vice President, and the President of the government Commission on Religious Affairs. We plan to hold the first Festival of Religious Freedom in Lima on November 21, 2009. The event will be supported by a large consensus of officials and religious leaders. It will be a massive celebration. We visited Monumental Stadium in Lima, which is a possible venue with its 50,000 to 60,000 seats. The manager of this event will be Jonny Pastor Espino.
   
   
7. September 26-30: Visit to Santiago de Chile. I had a great visit to Santiago where we met with religious leaders and the President of the Commission on Religious Affairs. In Chile, as in Peru, the commission is working on new legislation which will confirm the religious freedom option of the governments. A decision was made to have the 3rd South American Congress on Religious Freedom on November 19-20, 2008. I was invited to give a public lecture about Religious Freedom in the 21st Century.
   
   
8. October 24-28: Mexico City and the 7th IRLA World Congress. I had a very positive tour with Robert Herrera, the IRLA Secretary General for Inter-America. A delegation of religious leaders welcomed us, along with Attorney Jose Hayasaka. Our first step was Mexico City, having in view the 7th IRLA World Congress in 2012. We have a very positive feeling after visiting the possible auditorium and getting so much support. We were 600 at the Cape Town Congress; we could have 1,000 participants in Mexico City. Roberto wants to plan a big Festival just after the Congress. A report will be given to our next meeting of the IRLA Board of Directors on April 1.
   
   
9. October 27: 1st Festival and Symposium in Tijuana. It was the first regional symposium on religious freedom organized in Baja California, Mexico. It was a successful meeting. About 500 participants and a group of religious leaders attended. Lectures were given by officials, experts, and religious representatives. The mayor opened the symposium. The Director of Religious Affairs of the Mexican government came from Mexico City. We also had the regional Religious Affairs Director. Both of them were very interested in such a meeting. It was a top event, well publicized, and very well organized. It is an example of what can be done by our Mexican IRLA members.
   
   
10. November 3: Lugano, Switzerland, Dr Gianfranco Rossi was honored. On my way to Nairobi, I stopped in Lugano with Karel Nowak, AIDLR Secretary General, and Pierre Hess, Secretary General for Switzerland, to honor Dr Gianfranco Rossi for his outstanding work in the field of religious freedom. I gave him a plaque for his work over several years as IRLA representative at the United Nations in Geneva.
    
    
11. November 5-9: Limura, Kenya, participation in the 1st Global Christian Forum, followed by the 51st Conference of Secretaries of the Christian World Communions in Nairobi. These are both excellent meetings to promote religious freedom. Denton Lotz attended also.
    
    
12. November 14-18: Moscow, Russia, meeting with Metropolite Kirill. Going to Moscow after Nairobi is an experience—from summer to winter in a few hours. It was snowing in Moscow, but Victor Vitko, the IRLA Secretary General for Euro-Asia, organized a great program. On November 15 we were received by His Eminence, Metropolite Kirill, the head of the External Relations Department of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was an excellent meeting. On Monday, Victor organized the second religious liberty symposium of the year in Moscow. It was attended by 80 experts and officials and religious leaders. The Euro-Asia Religious Liberty Association has taken the lead in Russia for such meetings. Books are published regularly. A delegation of 14 came to the Cape Town Congress, which shows the vitality of the association.
    
    
13. Looking forward to 2008:

June 12 – Liberty Dinner, Washington DC
July 4 – Religious Liberty Symposium, Hotel Octyabzskaya, St Petersburg, Russia
September 8-12 – 9th IRLA Meeting of Experts, Bucharest, Romania
November 19-20 – 3rd South American Congress, Santiago de Chile


14. Festivals of Religious Freedom:

April 19 – El Palacio de los Deportes, Dominican Republic (12,000 expected)
June 28 – Luanda Stadium, Luanda, Angola (60,000 expected)
July 5 – Hotel Sovetskaya, St Petersburg, Russia
July 12 – Honolulu, Hawaii (1st USA Festival)
August 17-23 – Multiple Festivals in Mexico

It was a great pleasure for me to share a few events in the life of our IRLA. I did not mention our Board of Directors meeting, October 2, but you will find those minutes attached. Thank you very much for your support, and may religious freedom be a reality in more and more countries in 2008.

Sincerely,

John Graz
Secretary-General