Remarks on the Punta del Este Declaration on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere

Ana María Celis Brunet is a Professor of Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Director of the UC Center for Law and Religion

In October 2021, thanks to the leadership of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), we gathered four countries from the Southern Cone—Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile—in a Forum on Human Dignity and Religious Freedom. It seems particularly important to devote time to reflect on human dignity for everyone everywhere, which corresponds to the title of the 2018 Punta del Este Declaration.

The Declaration reflects the combined work of a group of people motivated by discussions initiated by Jan Figel, the former Envoy for Freedom of Religion for the non-European countries of the European Union, with the support of the ICLRS. This group seized the opportunity to build on and further develop religious freedom as a fundamental human right on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasizing the perspective of human dignity.

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Comentario: La Declaración del Punta del Este sobre Dignidad Humana para todos en todo lugar

Ana María Celis Brunet is una Profesora Permanente de la Facultad de Derecho de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile y dirige el Centro UC Derecho y Religión.

En octubre de 2021, gracias al liderzago de ICLRS, nos reunimos cuatro países del Cono Sur— Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay y Chile—en un Foro acerca de dignidad humana y libertad religiosa. Parece particularmente importante dedicar un tiempo a la reflexión sobre la dignidad humana para todos y en todo lugar que corresponde al título de la Declaración del Punta del Este del año 2018.

La Declaración constituye la consolidación de la reflexión de un grupo de personas, gracias a las conversaciones motivadas por Jan Figel—anterior representante de libertad religiosa para los países no europeos de la Unión Europea—con el apoyo del ICLRS.  En ella, se aprovechó de fundamentar y desarrollar mejor la libertad religiosa como un derecho humano fundamental, a propósito de los setenta años de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos enfatizando la perspectiva de la dignidad humana.

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Our “Kairos” Moment: The G20 and the Challenge of Immunizing the World

Brett G. ScharffsBrett G. Scharffs is Rex E. Lee Chair, Professor of Law, and Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University

This post is adapted from a presentation at the G20 Interfaith Forum held in Bologna, Italy on September 13, 2021. The Panel, “A ‘Kairos’ Moment: Accountability to Address Inequalities” was co-chaired by Stefano Fassino, a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University. The other speakers were Rajeev Bhargava, Director of the Parekh Institute of Indian Thought at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi; Arntraud Hartman, Professor of Development Economics, SAIS Europe John Hopkins University in Bologna; Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network; and Jonatas Machado, Faculty of Law at the University of Coimbra.

I’m grateful for the framing of today’s discussion, a “Kairos” moment addressing inequalities. As Stefano Fassina explained, Kairos is a Greek term that refers to a unique and unusual opportunity. Our Kairos moment is shaped by the coronavirus crisis. And I believe it is a unique opportunity as illustrated by Professor Katherine Marshall’s framing this with the assignment she gave her students at Georgetown University. She asked them to write a letter to their grandchildren describing what they experienced and how they responded to the pandemic.

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