Standing Up for Everyone, Standing by the Vulnerable: An Interview with Brett Scharffs and Elizabeth Clark

ICLRS Director Brett G. Scharffs and Associate Director Elizabeth A. Clark discuss the concept behind and mission of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. They share personal memories of the Center’s beginnings; recount the work of its founding director, W. Cole Durham, Jr.; and explain the Center’s activities, the sensitivities of cross-cultural dialogue, the value of patience, and the best compliment ever paid to the Center. The interview is in honor of and dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the ICLRS, which was founded 1 January 2000.

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The Naming of Religious Groups: A Human Rights Analysis

A logo of the Mount Sinai Health System, an example of “denominational trademarks” / Shutterstock

In this series, contributors discuss the naming of religious entities as a religious freedom issue. Focusing on Australia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Ukraine, they analyze regulations implemented or considered in these states to restrict the autonomy of religious groups in choosing a name. From the perspective of human rights law, this autonomy, as an aspect of freedom of religion or belief, is not absolute. States are allowed to proportionally interfere in the naming of religious organizations to balance religious autonomy against the rights of others or other legitimate values, such as protection of intellectual property.

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Pope Francis and His Legacy in Theology, Canon Law, Interreligious Dialogue, and Religious Leadership

Pope Francis greets believers in Vatican City / Shutterstock

The series brings together a group of Catholic thinkers to reflect on Pope Francis’s pontificate and legacy. The authors discuss the late Pope’s contribution to peacebuilding, human dignity, social justice, and environmentalism in addition to his reforms, often revolutionary, of Catholic theology, canon law, and the Church’s internal life. Pointing to peaks and valleys of the first Jesuit pope’s rule, they depict him as an extraordinary religious leader, tireless promoter of peace across the globe, and persistent defender of the vulnerable.

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