June’s edition of the Schuman Talks touches on the subject of “Defending religious freedom”, with our special guest, dr. Ján Figeľ, former EU Special Envoy for promotion of freedom of religion (2016 – 2019).
Category: English
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Defending Faith from Fear
During COVID, Western nations did the unthinkable by banning religious gatherings and services. Many states deemed ‘inessential’ what all believers consider most essential: the act of gathering together to worship God. Ludwig Graf von Brühl
I can still vividly remember how determined my 94-year-old grandma was to find a Sunday church service. She traveled across the city, climbed a seemingly endless flight of stairs, and arrived faint with exertion to a hidden chapel where a small congregation gathered to worship away from the prying eyes of the state.
Legally, the act of communal worship was in a gray area. This was back in 2021 when across Europe governments banned religious services. The state deemed ‘inessential’ what all believers consider most essential: the act of gathering together to worship God. For the first time in recent Western European history, governments did the unthinkable by banning religious gatherings and services, thereby violating a core aspect of the fundamental right to religious freedom.
Ján Figel’, former EU special envoy for freedom of religion and belief outside the EU, knows exactly what he’s talking about when he calls the ban “illiberal and undemocratic.” This respected politician has held various positions in the Slovak government and the EU-commission. He never imagined that his freedom-fighting efforts would end up pivoting toward the defense of the freedom of worship in the heart of Europe. But in 2021, it became clear that the erosion of fundamental rights in response to COVID was happening with alarming rapidity. The Slovak government extended its existing worship ban, only allowing weddings and funerals to take place with up to 6 people, including religious staff.
Figel’ decided to take a stand for freedom by challenging the ban in court. With Alliance Defending Freedom International as co-counsel, he sued the Slovak state at Europe’s top human-rights court.
Figel’ argues that the worship bans lacked legal foundation. They were neither legal nor necessary to curb the pandemic. The government was at fault for failing to rely on data and avoiding scientific consultation. Big churches and outdoors spaces provided smart and safe ways to continue worshiping together, even through the pandemic’s darkest days. Arguably, this is when coming together to pray is most needed.
Both the Slovak constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights guarantee freedom of religion. This explicitly includes the “freedom … to manifest [one’s] religion … in worship” (Article 9, ECHR). For people of faith, worshiping together can be as important as food and water.
The right to religious services becomes tokenistic when it can so easily be violated in times of crisis. It is precisely for this reason that people of faith and religious leaders across Europe, such as the Slovak bishop’s conference, welcome the case as a much-needed defense of the human rights we hold most dear.
Worldwide, the pandemic brought a number of absurd cases of religious-freedom violations because of COVID restrictions. In Switzerland, choir practices were allowed, but religious gatherings banned. Uganda opened shopping malls while locking up religious buildings. In Scotland, bike shops were deemed more essential than churches. The list can continue on with examples from countries around the world.
For now, it’s over, but what does this episode portend for the future? Figel’ doesn’t want to wait to find out. This case is a key opportunity and one of the first to examine this kind of human-rights violation in the European Court of Human Rights.
Given the nature of the court’s processes, the ruling likely will take many months, if not years. But we hope and pray this is an opportunity to re-establish religious liberty in its rightful place in a just and democratic Europe—at the core of the human-rights framework. Hopefully, when we look back at the days when we could not gather for the simple act of prayer, we will be reminded of how precious our rights really are and never fail to defend them anew.
Ludwig Graf von Brühl
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On Roots of Freedom and Peace, Schumann Centre – Amsterdam, 5/2023
Ján Figeľ speaking about the roots of freedom and peace.
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On Freedom of Conscience – Vilnius Academic Conference, 4/2023
Ján Figeľ, the former Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Outside the EU, speaking on the topic of freedom of conscience.
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Complaint to European court over ban on church services amid pandemic
Photo TASR, Martin Baumann
Former EU religious freedom envoy Jan Figel has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over the ban on church services during the corona pandemic.
This was announced by ADF International, an organisation that advocates for religious freedom, on Wednesday. The agency supports Figel in the case.
The ban on holding worship services is a “disproportionate infringement of the right to religious freedom”, Figel argues in his lawsuit aimed at the government in Slovakia. ADF International argues that this is the first time corona restrictions on churches have been reviewed by the ECHR.
In February 2021, the Slovak government ruled that cultural events, sports events and religious services could not be held. Exceptions were made for baptismal services and weddings, with a maximum of six people.
This ban on church services was not in line with the Slovak constitution and fundamental rights, Figel claims. “Religious freedom as a fundamental human right should be given the highest form of protection. Everyone has the right to live according to their beliefs. Banning people from doing so is very illiberal and undemocratic.” Figel argues that elsewhere in Europe, there was more room to hold church services.
Rulings by national judges in countries like Germany and France have shown that banning the holding of worship services is a violation of religious freedom, Figel argues.
Figel also believes that the EU cannot credibly promote religious freedom elsewhere in the world if EU member states themselves “do not respect fundamental freedoms at home”.
Figel is joined by ADF International. “Fundamental freedoms apply to everyone, and especially in times of crisis, they must be protected rather than weakened,” argues Dr Adina Portaru, senior adviser at the organisation. According to her, this certainly applies to church services as well. “It is unfair to pit religious freedom against security when both can work harmoniously.
Communal worship services are, for many people, an essential part of staying the course in times of crisis. And this can be done safely and carefully, in accordance with necessary and well-considered restrictions,” said Portaru.
Figel receives support from churches and various organisations in Slovakia. Roman Catholic Figel was a special envoy for religious freedom for the European Union from 2016 to 2019.
https://cne.news/article/2884-complaint-to-european-court-over-ban-on-church-services-amid-pandemic
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Rights advocate Figel’ says ‘human dignity’ at root of freedoms
Says he is ‘determined,’ not optimistic or pessimistic in campaign
Ján Figeľ lives between two epochs: the first, in which communist forces in what was then Czechoslovakia killed the uncle for whom he is named, and the second, in which Mr. Figel’ carried on the struggle for religious freedom as a European Union envoy.
That uncle “disappeared in the time of Stalin,” the Slovakian human rights campaigner said in an interview with The Washington Times. “It was the elimination of opponents. Stalin used to say, ‘If there is a man, there is a problem. If there is no man, there is no problem.’”
He added, “My uncle, a university student, was eliminated because he had different opinions than the ideological totalitarian regime.”
To this day, the family does not know where that Ján Figel’ is buried, his namesake said.
A former Christian Democratic Movement member of Slovakia’s parliament and a state secretary in the country’s ministry of foreign affairs, Mr. Figel’ led the country’s accession negotiations with the European Union until 2003. He later served as Slovakia’s deputy prime minister and minister for transport, construction and regional development.
His subsequent work as a European Union representative for religious freedom brought him to Washington last week as a speaker at the 2023 International Religious Freedom Summit.
At the summit, Mr. Figel’ said human dignity is foundational to human rights.
“Aggressors, namely even [Russian Federation President Vladimir] Putin, do not speak about dignity, which is a pity, because this deeper reflection would prevent [them] from some barbaric decisions,” he said.
Mr. Figel’ lamented a world in which the lessons of the Second World War and the promise of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights — which turns 75 in December — are largely forgotten.
“We hoped to have a century without wars, but evidently, repetition is part of our journey,” he said.
He said the “moral awakening” that followed the horrors of the Second World War, including the systematic murder of six million Jews and countless others by the Nazis, sparked the UDHR and anti-genocide conventions. Yet genocide continues, in part because “there is not much attention to deeper roots of our values, to reflecting ethical or moral rules, which are important for business, for coexistence, for living together in diversity.”
Mr. Figel’ said “peace in society, basically, is the fruit of justice. And when justice is neglected, and missing or oppressed, then we all have a problem.”
He said change is possible: “Actions of like-minded politicians who care about freedom of religion or belief, and dignity for all, can turn the tide. The 21st century I believe can be more humane if we care more about dignity for all.”
Mr. Figel’ said his belief in human dignity as a cornerstone of freedom led him to help create the 2018 Punta Del Este Declaration supporting “human dignity for everyone, everywhere,” and marking the UDHR’s 70th anniversary.
He also spoke at the IRF Summit about a “Declaration in Support of Fundamental Human Rights and Human Dignity” that was signed by event co-chairs Ambassador Sam Brownback, former envoy for the State Department’s office of international religious freedom, and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett as well as many of the guests at the event.
“The more we have like-minded people, personalities, authorities, organizations, the more chance there is for the culture of human dignity to prevail,” Mr. Figel’ said.
He said he is neither optimistic nor pessimistic in his work.
“I stay determined,” Mr. Figel’ said. “I think that for free people, for mature citizens, a strong will means the best answer. So [it is] not so much about feelings of optimism or pessimism, but commitment.”
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/feb/6/rights-advocate-jan-fige-says-human-dignity-root-f
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FoRB is an Issue of Life and Death – Assassination of Former PM Abe in Japan
Presentation of Jan Figel at the UNHRC Geneva on January 31, 2023. The Global Human Rights Institution starts its Universal Periodic Review of commitments and their implementation in Japan.
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Ján Figeľ’s Speech for the Rally of Hope organized by the Universal Peace Federation
Former European Commission’s Special Envoy for the 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 outside the EU, Hon. 𝐉𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐥 shares about the importance of the Freedom of Religion for all at the last “Conference of Hope” under the theme “𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀”.
Rally of Hope, 2022
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Ján Figeľ’s Address at the 2nd Conference of Hope
2nd Conference of Hope – Overcoming Threats to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion December 17, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea
The whole event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DcvPB2vD0g&t=3883s&ab_channel=THINKTANK2022
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International Conference Urges Support for Religious Freedom and Human Rights
“Religious freedom is a hallmark of an open society” November 14, 2022 11:31 ET | Source: The Washington Times Foundation
International Conference Urges Support for Religious Freedom and Human Rights
“Religious freedom is a hallmark of an open society”
The greatest difference between open, free societies and authoritarian regimes is respect for human rights and religious freedom, speakers told the Conference of Hope for Universal Human Rights and Religious Freedom, sponsored by The Washington Times Foundation and Think Tank 2022.
The conference, held Nov. 12 in South Korea and livestreamed to millions of viewers globally, concluded with a call to action for people worldwide to sign a Declaration on the Universal Value of Religious Freedom. “We call upon all people throughout the world to stand firmly against all forms of intolerance, prejudice, slander, and hate toward believers of our world’s religions,” says the statement.
“When we speak of human rights, the most basic, fundamental right would be religious freedom,” said Dr. Yun Young Ho, Chairman of the Steering Committee for Think Tank 2022. This right is well-known, he said, noting that freedom of religion was included in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly.
At a time when many religious groups face persecution, intolerance, discrimination, and violence in many countries, this is “a critical moment in which we must unite, we face the truth, and we move forward courageously based on the principles expressed in the Declaration on the Universal Value of Religious Freedom,” said Conference of Hope co-host Thomas P. McDevitt, Chairman of The Washington Times and board member of The Washington Times Foundation.
Speakers pointed to persecution of religious groups including Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Ahmadis, Bahais, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Yazidis, Falun Gong, and, more recently, the Family Federation of World Peace and Unification, formerly the Unification Church, in Japan.
The Chinese Communist Party is “at war with all faiths,” said Ambassador Sam Brownback, former US senator who served as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom (2018-2021).
In contrast, “religious freedom is a hallmark of an open society in a democracy” and democracies “must stand for religious freedom for everybody, everywhere, all the time,” he said.
“Why is evil so influential in today’s world? Because it has many allies. Three siblings are the most spread and efficient: Indifference, ignorance and fear (when we don´t care, when we do not know, or when we are scared to say or do something),” said Hon. Jan Figel, First Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion, European Union (2016-2019). “To overcome these siblings, we must invest more into active engagement, lifelong education, and civil courage. Then a century of hope may come, and a culture of human dignity may prevail over extreme violence, aggressive wars and a century of genocides.”
Several speakers addressed the persecution of the Family Federation in Japan that has intensified since the tragic and senseless assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Paris-based CAP Freedom of Conscience, a respected UN NGO, filed a formal complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, saying that Japan’s “national tragedy” has been turned “into a bizarre narrative that makes the alleged assassin into a victim.”
“Religious liberty has been defined by the Holy See as the most violated human right in the 21st century,” said Mr. Massimo Introvigne, Founder and Managing Director, Center for Studies on New Religions in Italy. “The events in Japan prove that the use of the word ‘cult’ to discriminate against and persecute peaceful religious movements has now reached intolerable levels and should be stopped. Those who do not publicly reject and denounce the campaigns against ‘cults’ are not real friends of religious freedom.”
“After World War II, the Soviet Union was aggressively working to bring Japan into the Communist sphere of influence,” said Hon. Newt Gingrich, US House Speaker (1995-1999). Japanese leaders, including Mr. Abe’s grandfather Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, met with Rev. Sun Myung Moon during the Cold War, he said, and “a natural relationship formed between the victory-over-communism movement, Mr. Kishi and many members of the Diet, especially the Liberal Democratic Party.”
Today, “we are seeing that many in the [Japanese] media are trying to dissolve the movement in Japan without any legal due process,” Mr. Gingrich said.
“We are not surprised that so many current and former members of the Liberal Democratic Party and other parties in Japan understood that work with the Universal Peace Federation, co-founded by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, was so important and collaborated with it,” said Pastor Paula White-Cain, former advisor to US President Donald Trump and director of the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. She added, “it is good for Japan, good for the Republic of Korea and for America and good for peace in Northeast Asia and the world.”
Former BBC Correspondent Humphrey Hawksley, who spoke live from London, recalled how the Family Federation and other NGOs helped him lead a BBC crew into North Korea. “The work the church did in the 1990s helped bring about a peace deal that took the prospect of war off the table on the Korean Peninsula, and it has been doing similar work since,” he said.
Cardinal Kelvin Felix, Archbishop emeritus of Castries, Saint Lucia, recalled meeting Japanese volunteers with the Women’s Federation for World Peace in the island nation of Dominica. “For 26 years, they have been conducting art classes at our Teachers’ Training College and in many schools around the country,” while also holding programs to strengthen family unions,” he said.
The Family Federation has had 4,300 of its members in Japan kidnapped and held in forced confinement by highly paid professional “faith breakers” during the last 45 years, said Norishige Kondo, an attorney in Japan who has been serving as legal counsel to the Association of Victims of Kidnappings, Forced Confinement and Conversions. Kidnapped victims have also suffered sexual assault, violence, and threats, he said. In one case, a medical doctor—who had critically ill patients under his care—was held for more than a year by kidnappers. Another man, Toro Goto, was held for more than 12 years. “Mr. Goto was able to maintain his faith,” Mr. Kondo added, “but 70 to 80 percent of the victims of forced conversions and kidnappings lose their faith due to these inhuman and illegal detentions.”
“Religious freedom has long been called the first freedom, like the famed ‘canary in the mine,’ the violation of which warns us of impending danger elsewhere,” said Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow at Cato Institute, who specializes in foreign policy and civil liberty.
A group called Open Doors lists 50 of the top persecutors of Christians and other faiths, starting with Afghanistan’s Taliban and North Korea’s regime, said Mr. Bandow. “Governments which refuse to protect us as we seek God—or otherwise address the transcendent—are unlikely to protect us as we exercise our conscience in other ways,” he added, noting that eroding of religious freedom leads to denials of free speech, debate, and elections, and breeds terrible conflicts, including terrorism and genocide.
Prof. W. Cole Durham Jr., who directs the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, recalled how leaders and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) endured decades of persecution, brutal rejection, and bloodshed. Today, the LDS Church is a major denomination, and its members are widely accepted. “Standing up under persecution builds a kind of strength, which is its own reward,” he said. Moreover, surviving persecution leads to “an intensified appreciation of the practical importance of the freedom of religion” and “empathy for the suffering of others,” he said.
The Washington Times Foundation, founded in 1984 in Washington, D.C., hosts numerous programs, including its monthly webcast “The Washington Brief,” to gather expert commentary on issues relating to peace and security in the world. Think Tank 2022, a project of the Universal Peace Federation, regularly mobilizes its worldwide network to promote dialogue, reconciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The Washington Times Foundation and Think Tank 2022 plan to continue sponsoring the Conference of Hope programs to promote peace and security globally—and especially on the Korean Peninsula and the Pacific Rim.
Related links:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/11/prime-minister-abes-assassination-and-japanese-com
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/12/conference-promotes-religious-freedom-as-human-rig