Conference calls for new global platform for religious freedom
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
With the participation of Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, UN officials, and leading world experts the conference 'Religious freedom and integral human development: A new global platform' is taking place in Rome on Wednesday, 5 June.
Organized by the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Holy See, the Freedom and Prosperity Center Advisory Council of the Atlantic Council in the United States, and the Pontifical University Urbaniana in Rome, the one-day conference held at the Order of Malta headquarters on the Aventine Hill, is analysing possible frameworks and strategies for fostering religion-sensitive and inclusive policies and engagements. The event was organized to unfold through a series of panels.
The Order of Malta's Ambassador to the Holy See, Antonio Zanardi Landi, welcomed the guests and highlighted the necessity of speaking about an important and often misunderstood issue. Speaking with Vatican News, he said that the high-level conference, taking place at a dramatic time of war throughout the world, represents a first of its kind.
Wednesday's encounter began with a panel analyzing the global crisis of religious freedom through the prism of integral human development.
The Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Archbishop Gallagher, reflected on the Holy See's view of the "Promotion of Religious Freedom and Integral Human Development".
He recalled that the Second Vatican Council committed the Catholic Church to the promotion of religious freedom, noting the Declaration Dignitatis humanae explains the right of the person and of communities to social and civil freedom in religious matters. "In order for this freedom, willed by God and inscribed in human nature, to be exercised," he reaffirmed, "no obstacle should be placed in its way," while also observing a close connection between human rights and freedom of religion.
"While this is not the only aspect of human rights, it is arguably the most fundamental," he said, noting, "It is the right to freedom of conscience that provides the foundation for all other human rights." Allowing individuals to exercise their conscience without interference, he stated, places a limit on the authority of the State. "This, in turn," he acknowledged, "ensures that fundamental rights are not violated."
Therefore, he argued, it is clear "that the violation of the right to religious freedom has the effect of undermining not just one right, but the entire category of human rights."
4.9 Billion people globally suffer religious freedom violations
Archbishop Gallagher went on to observe that religious freedom in its individual, collective, and institutional dimensions is currently facing significant challenges.
"It is a matter of concern that, according to some estimates, almost 4.9 billion people live in countries with serious or very serious violations of religious freedom," he said, adding that "at least seven out of every ten citizens in the world are currently prevented or harmed in the exercise of their rights in matters of conscience."
Christians, he said, are the most vulnerable in this regard.
"Over 365 million Christians, approximately one in seven, face high levels of persecution for their faith. Attacks on churches and Christian properties have increased significantly in 2023, with more Christians than ever before reporting violent attacks."
He recalled, as did many other speakers, Pope Francis' words to the UN in September 2015, that the “the simplest and best measure and indicator of the implementation of the new Agenda for development will be effective, practical and immediate access, on the part of all, to essential material and spiritual goods: housing, dignified and properly remunerated employment, adequate food and drinking water; religious freedom and, more generally, spiritual freedom and education." Archbishop Gallagher then observed that the 2030 Agenda is incomplete because it addresses only part of human flourishing, leaving out the spiritual dimension.
States should exercise detached neutrality
Reflecting on integral human development as a process "by which the individual attains well-being while contributing to the common good," the Vatican diplomat reasoned that "religious freedom plays a decisive role in achieving integral human development."
Given this, he said, "the State should exercise a detached neutrality and grant religious groups and all individuals an equal right to the public manifestation of their religious convictions," and always pursue the common good. He concluded, "Those who are able to enjoy religious freedom will also be able to achieve their own integral development, and will be agents of development in the wider society."
Integral human development: a guiding principle
Next, Dean Scott Appleby of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame in the United States shed light on integral human development (IHD), which requires global engagement to achieve concrete change.
He recalled that each Pope, and in his opinion, Pope Francis most emphatically, has invoked IHD as a guiding principle, which is a bridging concept which welcomes engagement with other religions, and explained, in an interview with Vatican News, the significant link between religious freedom and integral human development, and its relevance today.
Integral human development contributes to religious freedom
The idea of integral human development, he said, is incompatible with the idea of someone who is isolated from communities, but instead sees humans as relational beings, and adds value to discussions on human rights. The right to religious freedom, he argued, is not as determinative and decisive as it could be, and therefore needs to be better grounded in a more effective framework.
"Integral human development," Dean Appleby said, "promises to add a new depth to the defence of religious freedom and the bolstering of human rights."
Dr. Silvio Ferrari, Emeritus Professor of law and religion at the University of Milan and Honorary President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies in Italy, discussed the contribution of freedom of religion or belief to integral human development.
Dr. Ferrari looked at tools used to measure both development and freedom of religion. Measuring development on the basis of economic factors alone is not the appropriate approach, he argued, suggesting it should instead be measured with other criteria. "I wonder if these indicators should be contemplated by others in some way that promotes religious freedom," he reasoned.
Religious freedom a key to human flourishing
During the conversation following the panel, Archbishop Gallagher acknowledged there are often challenges in communicating these sophisticated ideas "that at times can seem to become a sort of jargon." However, these concepts, especially the idea of human flourishing, are very relevant, as religious and spiritual freedom within the human dimension is particularly important.
Before the first panel, Michael Fisch, Chairman of the Freedom and Prosperity Center Advisory Council of the Atlantic Council in the United States, highlighted the value of ongoing research and indices being used to better understand the concept. He suggested that "protecting the notion that religious freedom is important" is helpful for societies to be free and prosperous.
Safeguard other freedoms
Recalling Pope Francis' insistence on protecting these essential rights, Chairman Fisch discussed how human flourishing can be achieved, as he underscored that "religious freedom and integral human development can help safeguard other freedoms."
The UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, participated through a video link, and expressed her commitment to continue working together on this theme, as she underlined how inspiring and productive conversations on this topic give renewed impetus to sustainability development goals.
She lamented that it is often a struggle to be heard, and to be heard with respect, which requires a desire to listen, learn, and also, reconsider engagement.
Ongoing reflections and conversation
A second panel explored "Religious freedom and global development: evidence, challenges, and opportunities from the perspective of integral human development" which welcomed the participation of Professor Yawovi Jean Attila of canon law at the Pontifical Urbanian University; the President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation in the US, Brian Grim; Joseph Lemoine, Director of the Freedom and Prosperity Center of the Atlantic Council in the US; Katherine Marshall, Executive Director of World Faiths Development Dialogue, Georgetown University in the United States; and Adrian Pabst, Professor of politics at the University of Kent and Deputy Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in the UK.
The lively discussion explored the need at all levels to promote religious freedom and integral human development, especially for those who are discarded, or even forgotten entirely, with reference to the activities of major corporations.
Wednesday afternoon included an interreligious conversation tying together integral human development, human dignity, and religious freedom; another on transforming ideas to policy and how looking at religious freedom through the lens of IHD makes a difference; and a final discussion dedicated to religious freedom and integral human development, and how to change the conversation.
Video of the event will be streamed on Tuesday, 18 June, at 9 am ET.
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