AUGUST 23, 2023
Religious Liberty Event Pays Tribute to 130 Years of Advocacy
IRLA 9th World Congress encourages participants to reflect and act for the good of all people.
Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
Attendees of the IRLA’s 9th World Congress follow the proceedings in Silver Spring, Maryland, on August 21. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
Nearly 150 religious liberty leaders, scholars, and advocates from around the world met for the 9th World Congress of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, August 21-23.
The international event invited attendees to discuss “a wholistic understanding of freedom of religion or belief as a pivotal human right,” organizers said.
In his remarks on August 21, Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, welcomed attendees, reminding them of the historical focus of the denomination on the topic.
“Adventist pioneers … saw in religious liberty an incontrovertible value without which our very humanity could be at risk of being diminished and impaired,” thus embracing “the priceless value of religious freedom, and the foundation of freedom itself,” Wilson said.
Wilson shared how Adventist pioneers fought against oppression of others, against slavery, and against early attempts at Sunday laws. “Adventist leaders officially adopted a solidarity with the whole human family through the advocacy of religious liberty,” he reminded attendees.
