Protecting Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion: Ensuring a Future of Peace and Shared, Sacred Flourishing for All

Dr. Francis Kuria is secretary general of Religions for Peace International and its African affiliate, the African Council of Religious Leaders-Religions for Peace. He also serves as administrative chair of the international steering group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. This post is based on his keynote address at the ICLRS 32nd International Law and Religion Symposium, 6 October 2025.

Introduction

Now more than ever, we are confronted with internal divisions and heightened tensions, calling for a timely and necessary conversation on the protection of religious freedom. The tragic attack on 28 September on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, serves as a devastating reminder of the urgent need to persist in promoting religious freedom for all—a responsibility that we must not only address in theory but that requires our collective action on community, judicial, and legislative fronts.

(more…)

Continue Reading Protecting Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion: Ensuring a Future of Peace and Shared, Sacred Flourishing for All

Religious Freedom, Realism, and Constitution-Making

Andrea Pin is full professor of comparative public law, University of Padua, and senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University.

Syria, Constitution-Making, and Frustration in the Middle East and North Africa

The debate over Syria’s new constitution is the latest iteration of several efforts to pacify the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region while securing the rule of law and human rights. The twenty-first century is marked by an impressively long series of constitutional documents that have attempted to pursue these goals, with precarious or even disappointing results.

(more…)

Continue Reading Religious Freedom, Realism, and Constitution-Making

Religious Freedom: Toward a Pluralist Understanding

Jaclyn Neo is an associate professor and the director of the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at University at the National University of Singapore. The following post is based on her remarks during the panel “Understanding Religious Freedom: Why Does It Matter?” at the ICLRS 31st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 7 October 2024.

Despite the long-established provenance and reach of religious freedom discourse, religious freedom remains an under-fulfilled promise in many contexts and has been under siege in others. Reports by international organizations, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations point to continuing violations of religious freedom worldwide. As a result, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Heiner Bielefeldt has called religious freedom a “human right under pressure.”[1]

(more…)

Continue Reading Religious Freedom: Toward a Pluralist Understanding