International Religious Liberty Association 14th Meeting of Experts

The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) 14th Meeting of Experts convened at the Multi-Faith Centre of the University of Toronto on 20 August 2012. The IRLA, an international think tank on religious freedom chartered in 1893, is the oldest association dedicated to freedom of conscience for all people. Originally organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, IRLA is served by a panel of experts from many nations and religious denominations.

This year’s two-day meeting of experts focused on Models of Secularity and Religious Freedom: Canada, the United States of America, and Europe. Participants included members of the panel of experts as well as IRLA advisory directors, including John Graz, Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes, Jeremy Gunn, Cole Durham, Blandine Chelini-Pont, Bary Bussey, Natan Lerner, Jaime Contreras, Todd McFarland, Raimundo Barreto, Benjamin Berger, Jaime Rossell, Nicholas Miller, Mitchell Tyner, Delbert Baker, Shauna Van Praagh, Dwayne Leslie, Natasha Bakht, David Little, and Ganoune Diop.

This conference was the second IRLA meeting on the theme of Secularism and Religious Freedom, which was also the theme of the 7th IRLA World Congress held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on 24-26 April 2012. The concluding statement from the 14th meeting, along with several of the papers presented, will be published in the Journal of the International Religious Liberty Association, Fides et Libertas. For titles of papers presented see the Event Program, below.