International Interdisciplinary Scientific Conference "Religious Freedom and other Human Rights: Threats and Trends"
when?
31 May - 2 June 2023
where?
Centrum Konferencyjne Hotelu Filmar, ul. Grudziądzka 39-43, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Invitation
We are pleased to invite academics and practitioners to the International Interdisciplinary Scientific Conference "Religious Freedom and other Human Rights: Threats and Trends" scheduled for 31 May — 2 June 2023 in Toruń (Poland). The conference will be organized within the project "Laboratory of Religious Freedom" implemented by the Pro Futuro Theologiae Foundation functioning at the Faculty of Theology of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The conference aims at discussing the main issues related to the protection and promotion of religious freedom at the intersection with other human rights. The conference will take place over the course of three days in an environment conducive to both scholarly reflection and discussion.
The event will feature many legal, philosophical, and theological experts, scholars, educators, researchers, representatives of civil society groups, practitioners, and journalists from around the world in order to provide a better understanding of current threats and trends related to the complex nature of religious liberty in public life, perceived from different perspectives.
ATTEND THE CONFERENCE AS A LISTENER
Register and join the event. Remember, the number of places is limited.
Academics and practitioners are cordially invited to submit proposals for individual papers, addressing issues such as:
- Emerging challenges to freedom of religion or belief in the context of civil society, including human rights defenders
- Threats to presence of religious expression, religious institutions, and religious believers in various contexts of public life and ways of counteracting discrimination and violation based on religion or belief
- Promotion of respect for freedom of religion or belief among other human rights in education
Proposals, consisting of an abstract (no more than 300 words) and a short biography (no more than 400 words), should be submitted to:
The deadline for the registration for the conference, along with the submission of the abstract is April 23, 2023. Information about the acceptance or rejection of the application will be sent to the authors within 15 days from the date of closing the registration of paper submissions. Proposals will be accepted based on their relevance for the topic of the conference and the overall coherence of the conference program.
Please note that the conference will take place in person. There is no participation fee. However, the participants, whose proposal is accepted, are expected to cover their own expenses for travel and accommodation.
Please note that the conference will take place in person. There is no participation fee. However, the participants, whose proposal is accepted, are expected to cover their own expenses for travel and accommodation.
Important Date
Deadline for registration of listeners: 23 May 2023
For further information or inquiries, feel free to reach out the organizing committee at:
conference@laboratoriumwolnosci.pl
More about the project you can find on our website.
Program
The Conference program can be found here: << LINK >>
Speakers
Asher Maoz
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Asher Maoz
Founding Dean of the Peres Academic Center Law School and Head of the Committee on International Relations of the Center. Prof. Maoz taught at leading universities around the world in the United States, Europe, and Australia. He taught Constitutional Law, State and Religion, Freedom of Speech, Family Law, and Succession Law on the Faculty of Law at Tel-Aviv University. Professor Maoz holds the degrees LLB and LLM, both summa cum laude (Hebrew University), M.Comp.L (University of Chicago), JSD (Tel-Aviv University) and Doctor Honoris Causa (Ovidius University, Romania). He served as academic advisor to the Knesset on adopting a constitution for the State of Israel and was Chair of the State Commission on Journalists’ Privilege. He authored several books and published over 100 academic articles and book chapters. He is the VicePresident of the Honorary Committee of AIDLR.
Marcela Szymanski
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Marcela Szymanski
She lives in Brussels, Belgium, where she has been a public affairs consultant and an EU+NATO news correspondent (CNN en Español). She holds a BA in Communications, an MA in Economics and a PhD (abd) in International Politics from Georgia State University. She is the Research Director of the Center of Studies on Religious Freedom (a unit of Aid to the Church in Need), and an affiliate researcher with the University of the Americas in Puebla (UDLAP) writing on political change and democratization. Marcela is a member of the Council of Experts of the UN-based International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) and a member of the Center for Shared Civilizational Values, the entity in charge of organizing the new G20 engagement group on Religion (first meeting in Bali on 2nd November 2022). She is listed among the 250 most influential Catholics of the United States in 2022, by the "Catholic Herald". Her public affairs clients have included not only industrial and financial concerns, but also political prisoners, non-Western countries where substantial human rights violations take place, and Catholic Church foundations supporting the work of the Churches in regions suffering of war or natural disasters. Since 2015 she is the Editor-in-chief of the report "Religious Freedom in the World" for the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (her academic publications can be found online).
Todd Huizinga
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Todd Huizinga
Senior fellow for Europe of the Religious Freedom Institute and a member of the faculty of the Christian Open Academy in Ukraine.
A U.S. diplomat from 1992-2012, Huizinga served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Luxembourg and political counselor at the U.S. Mission to the European Union. He also served in Germany, Ireland, Mexico and Costa Rica. Todd is the author of The New Totalitarian Temptation: Global Governance and the Crisis of Democracy in Europe and Was Europa von Trump lernen kann (What Europe Can Learn from Trump), released in Germany in 2017. Huizinga has been a keynote speaker for Hillsdale College, the Hudson Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, the Ukrainian Catholic University and at other events in the U.S. and Europe. His articles and essays have appeared in leading publications in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Australia. Todd holds a B.A. in Music and German from Calvin College and an M.A. in German Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A U.S. diplomat from 1992-2012, Huizinga served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Luxembourg and political counselor at the U.S. Mission to the European Union. He also served in Germany, Ireland, Mexico and Costa Rica. Todd is the author of The New Totalitarian Temptation: Global Governance and the Crisis of Democracy in Europe and Was Europa von Trump lernen kann (What Europe Can Learn from Trump), released in Germany in 2017. Huizinga has been a keynote speaker for Hillsdale College, the Hudson Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, the Ukrainian Catholic University and at other events in the U.S. and Europe. His articles and essays have appeared in leading publications in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Australia. Todd holds a B.A. in Music and German from Calvin College and an M.A. in German Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Raúl César Cancio Fernández
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Raúl César Cancio Fernández
PhD in Law from the Rey Juan Carlos I University and graduated from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Since 2003, he has worked as a Law Clerk in the Technical Office of the Spanish Supreme Court, being a member of its International Analysis Group, a position that he combines with the functions of analyst in the Jurisprudential Analysis Team of the CENDOJ- CGPJ, as Rapporteur of jurisprudence in the Spanish delegation of the Association of Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the European Union (ACA-Jurifast) and Independent Observer of the European Law Institute (ELI). Corresponding academic of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation, since 2019 he is also Patron of the Pro Real Academia Foundation. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Aranzadi Doctrinal Magazine, of the Scientific Committee of the Anuario magazine of the Faculty of Law of the University of Extremadura and co-director of the Legal Collection of Editorial Sindéresis. He has published fifteen books as a sole author, forty collectives, and almost five hundred articles published in specialized magazines. As for his teaching work, he is a Tutor Professor of the UNED Master's Degree for Admission to the Legal Profession, a visiting professor at the Cardenal Cisneros University Center, and a professor within the framework of the training plans of the Spanish Department of Justice.
Dr Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović
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Dr Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović
Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, Serbia and a Project Coordinator of the Network for Dialogue at KAICIID Europe Region Programme in Lisbon, Portugal. Since 2016, she has been collaborating with the University College of Cork's Department of Religious Studies, where she served as a visiting professor in 2017. Since 2021, she has been a member of the Scientific Committee for Religious Freedom in Barcelona at the Ramon Llull University. From 2022 she joined European funded project COREnet COST action – Connecting Theory and Practical Issues of Migration and Religious Diversity. She has participated in numerous scientific conferences, published three monographs and one manual, edited an international collection of papers, and published - as an author or co-author - several papers in journals and collections. Her research interests include religious minorities, religion and migration, interreligious dialogue and social inclusion of refugees and migrants. Recently, she co-edited the volume Orthodox Christian Renewal Movements in Eastern and Southeastern Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).
Madeleine Enzlberger
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Madeleine Enzlberger
Currently functions as the executive director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe. Before joining the Observatory Ms. Enzlberger was active as an entrepreneur in Vienna. She obtained an MA in International Administration and Conflict Management from the University of Konstanz (Germany) and spent an academic year at the University of Warwick (England) specializing in International Security. Enzlberger also conducted field research in Iraq where she focused on international religious freedom policy and the persecution of Christians.
Profesor Mark Hill KC
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Profesor Mark Hill KC
Professor Mark Hill KC practises at the Bar in London specializing in ecclesiastical law and religious liberty. He has represented clients in the UK Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, and has contributed to amicus briefs in the Supreme Court of the USA and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He is Visiting Professor of Law and Distinguished Fellow at the University of Notre Dame London Law Program. In addition, he is Visiting Professor at Cardiff University’s Centre for Law and Religion, at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, at Notre Dame University, Sydney and at the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College, London. He has undertaken training for judges in Nigeria, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kenya. He will deliver the Annual Religious Liberty Lecture at the University of Notre Dame, Australia in February 2023 at its Law School in Sydney.
His recent publications include: Religious Confession and Evidential Privilege in the Twenty-first Century (2022); Religion and Law in the United Kingdom (3rd edn, 2021); The Routledge Handbook on Freedom of Religion or Belief (2020); Christianity and Criminal Law (2020); Religion, Law and Security in Africa (2018); Ecclesiastical Law (4th edn, 2018); Great Christian Jurists in English History (2017); Magna Carta, Religion and the Rule of Law (2015); Religion and Discrimination Law in the European Union (2012). He is Vice-President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS), a founding member of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS), and a former President of the European Consortium for Church and State Research.
His recent publications include: Religious Confession and Evidential Privilege in the Twenty-first Century (2022); Religion and Law in the United Kingdom (3rd edn, 2021); The Routledge Handbook on Freedom of Religion or Belief (2020); Christianity and Criminal Law (2020); Religion, Law and Security in Africa (2018); Ecclesiastical Law (4th edn, 2018); Great Christian Jurists in English History (2017); Magna Carta, Religion and the Rule of Law (2015); Religion and Discrimination Law in the European Union (2012). He is Vice-President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS), a founding member of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS), and a former President of the European Consortium for Church and State Research.
Archimandryta Cyryl Hovorun
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Archimandryta Cyryl Hovorun
Professor in Ecclesiology, International Relations and Ecumenism at the Sankt Ignatios College, University College Stockholm, and a director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. A graduate of the Theological Academy in Kyiv and National University in Athens, he accomplished his doctoral studies at Durham University under the supervision of Fr Andrew Louth. He was a chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, first deputy chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, and later research fellow at Yale and Columbia Universities, visiting professor at the University of Münster in Germany. He is an international fellow at Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life at the University of Alberta in Canada and an invited professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
He has published several books in different languages, including Eastern Christianity in Its Texts (London: T&T Clark, 2022); La riconciliazione delle memorie: Ricordare le separazioni tra le Chiese e la ricerca dell'unità (Roma: San Paolo, 2021, in co-authorship with Lothar Vogel and Stefano Cavallotto); Sacred Architecture in East and West (edited, Los Angeles: Tsehai, 2019), Political Orthodoxies: The Unorthodoxies of the Church Coerced (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018; Ukrainian translation published in 2018); Ukrainian Public Theology (Kyiv: Dukh і Litera, 2017, in Ukrainian), Scaffolds of the Church: Towards Poststructural Ecclesiology (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017; Ukrainian translation published in 2018); Wonders of the Panorthodox Council, (Moscow: Christian Book Club, 2016, in Russian); Meta-Ecclesiology, Chronicles on Church Awareness, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015; Ukrainian translation published in 2017); From Antioch to Xi'an: an Evolution of 'Nestorianism' (Hong Kong: Chinese Orthodox Press, 2014, in Chinese); Will, Action and Freedom. Christological Controversies in the Seventh Century (Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2008).
He has published several books in different languages, including Eastern Christianity in Its Texts (London: T&T Clark, 2022); La riconciliazione delle memorie: Ricordare le separazioni tra le Chiese e la ricerca dell'unità (Roma: San Paolo, 2021, in co-authorship with Lothar Vogel and Stefano Cavallotto); Sacred Architecture in East and West (edited, Los Angeles: Tsehai, 2019), Political Orthodoxies: The Unorthodoxies of the Church Coerced (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018; Ukrainian translation published in 2018); Ukrainian Public Theology (Kyiv: Dukh і Litera, 2017, in Ukrainian), Scaffolds of the Church: Towards Poststructural Ecclesiology (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017; Ukrainian translation published in 2018); Wonders of the Panorthodox Council, (Moscow: Christian Book Club, 2016, in Russian); Meta-Ecclesiology, Chronicles on Church Awareness, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015; Ukrainian translation published in 2017); From Antioch to Xi'an: an Evolution of 'Nestorianism' (Hong Kong: Chinese Orthodox Press, 2014, in Chinese); Will, Action and Freedom. Christological Controversies in the Seventh Century (Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2008).
Manuel Lázaro Pulido
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Manuel Lázaro Pulido
Professor of the Faculty of Law at the International University of La Rioja, Academic Director of the Master's Degree in Human Rights. He is also Professor of Philosophy of Law at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Professor of Philosophy at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Professor of Philosophy at the Instituto Teológico de Sevilla (Facultad de Teología San Isidoro de Sevilla), Professor of Philosophy and Theology at the Religious Science Institute in Extremadura (UPSA) and Professor at the Doctorate of the Faculty of Philosophy at the National University on Distance Education (UNED).
Associate Researcher of the Department of Legal Sciences of the Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile. Main Researcher of the Research Group: Human Rights: Foundation and legal-political protection at UNED. Researcher in several Spanish and international centers. Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Extremadura and Founding Member of the Ibero-American Institute of Justice, Quito (Ecuador). Member of the Advisory Board of the Observatory of Religious Freedom, Madrid.
Associate Researcher of the Department of Legal Sciences of the Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile. Main Researcher of the Research Group: Human Rights: Foundation and legal-political protection at UNED. Researcher in several Spanish and international centers. Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Extremadura and Founding Member of the Ibero-American Institute of Justice, Quito (Ecuador). Member of the Advisory Board of the Observatory of Religious Freedom, Madrid.
Franciszek Longchamps de Bérier
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Franciszek Longchamps de Bérier
Catholic priest, professor of law, LL.M. Georgetown '92, head of the Department of Roman Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University, head of postgraduate studies "Contract law in consumer and professional trade" at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University, lectures at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw, elected for the fourth term to the Committee of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, member of the Team of experts on bioethics of the Polish Episcopal Conference. He is a member of the Team of Experts on Bioethics of the Polish Episcopal Conference, represents the Polish Episcopal Conference in the Legal Commission of the Conference of Bishops of the European Union (COMECE); thematic editor of "Legal Forum", belongs to the editorial board of "Fundamina. A Journal of Legal History" (South Africa) and "Studia et documenta historiae et iuris" (Pontifical Lateran University in Rome), is a member-correspondent of the international editorial board of "Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu" (Croatia); elected to the Joint Management Committee (term 2017-2021) of the China-EU School of Law at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing.
Javier Martínez-Torrón
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Javier Martínez-Torrón
Professor of Law at Complutense University (Madrid), Vice-President of the Section of Canon Law and Church-State Relations of the Spanish Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation, Titular Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, and Honorary Foreign Member of the National Academy of Law and Social Sciences of Cordoba, Argentina. He is also President of ICLARS (International Consortium on Law and Religion Studies). He has done consultancy for national governments as well as for international institutions, especially while being in the Spanish Advisory Commission for Religious Freedom in the Ministry of Justice (2002-2014) and in the OSCE/ODIHR Advisory Council for Freedom of Religion or Belief (2005-2013). He is president and co-founder of LIRCE, an institute focused on the analysis of religious, cultural and ethical freedom and identity. He is also co-founder and co- editor of Revista General de Derecho Canónico y Derecho Eclesiástico del Estado (2003), the first Spanish online academic journal specialized in issues relating to law and religion. His academic work —published in about thirty countries and in fourteen different languages— focuses on the legal analysis of human rights, especially freedom of religion or belief, from a comparative and international perspective. He has lectured and done research at numerous universities and institutions in the five continents. His latest books include Religion and Law in Spain (2d ed., 2018); Eutanasia y objeción de conciencia (coauthored with Rafael Navarro-Valls and María José Valero-Estarellas, 2022); COVID-19 y libertad religiosa (ed., with Belén Rodrigo, 2021); Law, Religion, and Freedom: Conceptualizing a Common Right (ed., with Cole Durham and Donlu Thayer, 2021); Libertad religiosa, neutralidad del Estado y educación: una perspectiva europea y latinoamericana (ed., with Santiago Cañamares, 2019); Great Christian Jurists in Spanish History (ed., with Rafael Domingo, 2018); Religion and the Secular State (ed., with W. Cole Durham, 2015); Tensiones entre libertad de expresión y libertad religiosa (ed., with Santiago Cañamares, 2014); and Conflictos entre conciencia y ley (2d ed., co-authored with Rafael Navarro-Valls, 2012).
Hans-Martien ten Napel
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Hans-Martien ten Napel
Ph.D. (Herwen en Aerdt, 1963), is an Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University. Before transferring to the law school, he taught at the Institute for Political Science of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Leiden University. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA). During the 2014-2015 academic year, he served as a ‘Research Fellow in Legal Studies’ at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, NJ. He participated in an interdisciplinary research project entitled ‘Law and Religious Freedom.’ As a fruit of the fellowship, he published the monograph Constitutionalism, Democracy and Religious Freedom. To Be Fully Human published by Routledge (2017; paperback edition, 2019). In addition, he recently co-edited and co-authored the volumes Een nieuwe politieke formule. Ideeën voor staat en samenleving geïnspireerd door Alexis de Tocqueville (A New Political Formula. Ideas for State and Society Inspired by Alexis de Tocqueville) (with Sophie van Bijsterveld) (2021) and Het radicale midden overzee. Verkenningen van het postliberalisme (The Radical Middle Overseas. Explorations of Postliberalism) (2021). In preparation are two international follow-up volumes on these same topics and a new monograph on ‘Re-connecting constitutional law and natural law’ (working title). Since 2015 he has been a member of the editorial board of the Tijdschrift voor Religie, Recht en Beleid (Journal of Religion, Law and Policy). Since 2021, he has also been a Senior Fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy in Plano, TX. He serves on the Executive Editorial Council of the Journal of Religion, Culture & Democracy.
Andrea Pin
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Andrea Pin
(University of Padua, JD; University of Turin, PhD) Associate Professor of Comparative Law and Director of the Program on Law and Technology at the University of Padua. He is also Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.
A former judicial clerk at the Italian Constitutional Court and a former visiting fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies (Notre Dame), Andrea Pin has taught in the United States (Emory and the University of Notre Dame), Israel (Bar Ilan and Reichman Universities), and Russia (Lomonosov State University of Moscow). He has authored five books, including The Legal Treatment of Muslim Minorities in Italy (Ashgate, 2016), an edited volume, and several law articles. His scholarship has also appeared in the Yale Journal of International Law, Emory Law Review, Texas Journal of International Law, George Washington International Law Review, Brooklyn Journal of International Law, Brigham Young University Law Review, St. John's Law Review, Notre Dame Online Law Review, Notre Dame Journal of International and Comparative Law, Emory International Law Review, German Law Journal, Ecclesiastical Law Journal, and the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion.
Marijana Petir
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Marijana Petir
Croatian Parliament, MP
Born in 1975 in Kutina, Croatia. Graduated in biology and ecology at the University Of Zagreb Faculty Of Science and in theology with master's degree at the University Of Zagreb Catholic Faculty Of Theology.
Marijana Petir (independent) is a member of the Croatian Parliament. She is the chair of the Committee on Agriculture, the head of the Croatia-Israel Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group and a member of the Committee on European Affairs and the Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation.
Croatian scholarships for young persecuted Christians from Asia, Africa and Middle East are the result of an amendment by Marijana Petir, to the state budget. At the initiative of Marijana Petir, the Government of the Republic of Croatia, through Croatian Caritas, sent financial aid to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack on the Catholic Church in the diocese of Ondo in Nigeria, as well as aid to the church in Aleppo that cares for the victims of the terrible earthquake in Syria.
Marijana Petir served two mandates as the Member of the Croatian Parliament (2002-2003, 2007-2011), as an external member of the Croatian Parliament Committee on Human and National Minority Rights as a representative of the Croatian Catholic Bishops Conference (2012-2014) and one mandate (2014-2019) as the Croatian member of the European Parliament.
As a member of the Group of the European People's Party and Working Group on Intercultural and Religious Dialogue in the European Parliament she organized several conferences and launched initiatives to help the most persecuted religious group in the world.
Marijana Petir is the recipient of MEP Award (EU Oscar) for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, presented by The Parliament Magazine. She received Award for her dedicated work aimed at protecting Pakistani Christians presented by Christian Democratic Party (Pakistan). As the first Member of the European Parliament, Marijana Petir received in Washington the UMD Macedonia Friendship Award by United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD).
She was leader and spokesperson of the anti-nuclear campaign in Croatia which prevented construction of the nuclear waste disposal in the Moslavina region and of the campaign which resulted in declaring Croatia as GMO free country.
In her political and public work she is committed to development of rural areas and of family farms as well as to protection of traditional, Christian and universal human values.
She is a volunteer firefighter, hikes in her free time, loves to cook and walked the 900 km long road of St. James – Camino, from Irun to Santiago de Compostela..
Social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Petir.Marijana
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marijana_petir/
Twiter: https://twitter.com/marijana_petir
LinkedIn: https://hr.linkedin.com/in/marijana-petir-156577152
Born in 1975 in Kutina, Croatia. Graduated in biology and ecology at the University Of Zagreb Faculty Of Science and in theology with master's degree at the University Of Zagreb Catholic Faculty Of Theology.
Marijana Petir (independent) is a member of the Croatian Parliament. She is the chair of the Committee on Agriculture, the head of the Croatia-Israel Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group and a member of the Committee on European Affairs and the Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation.
Croatian scholarships for young persecuted Christians from Asia, Africa and Middle East are the result of an amendment by Marijana Petir, to the state budget. At the initiative of Marijana Petir, the Government of the Republic of Croatia, through Croatian Caritas, sent financial aid to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack on the Catholic Church in the diocese of Ondo in Nigeria, as well as aid to the church in Aleppo that cares for the victims of the terrible earthquake in Syria.
Marijana Petir served two mandates as the Member of the Croatian Parliament (2002-2003, 2007-2011), as an external member of the Croatian Parliament Committee on Human and National Minority Rights as a representative of the Croatian Catholic Bishops Conference (2012-2014) and one mandate (2014-2019) as the Croatian member of the European Parliament.
As a member of the Group of the European People's Party and Working Group on Intercultural and Religious Dialogue in the European Parliament she organized several conferences and launched initiatives to help the most persecuted religious group in the world.
Marijana Petir is the recipient of MEP Award (EU Oscar) for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, presented by The Parliament Magazine. She received Award for her dedicated work aimed at protecting Pakistani Christians presented by Christian Democratic Party (Pakistan). As the first Member of the European Parliament, Marijana Petir received in Washington the UMD Macedonia Friendship Award by United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD).
She was leader and spokesperson of the anti-nuclear campaign in Croatia which prevented construction of the nuclear waste disposal in the Moslavina region and of the campaign which resulted in declaring Croatia as GMO free country.
In her political and public work she is committed to development of rural areas and of family farms as well as to protection of traditional, Christian and universal human values.
She is a volunteer firefighter, hikes in her free time, loves to cook and walked the 900 km long road of St. James – Camino, from Irun to Santiago de Compostela..
Social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Petir.Marijana
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marijana_petir/
Twiter: https://twitter.com/marijana_petir
LinkedIn: https://hr.linkedin.com/in/marijana-petir-156577152
Paweł Skibiński
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Paweł Skibiński
Professor UW. Born in 1973, master's degree at the University of Warsaw in 1997, Ph.D. at the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw in 2001, habilitation there in 2014. Since 2021, he has been a professor at the University of Warsaw. 1997-2001 doctoral student at the Institute of History of the University of Warsaw. Since 2001 assistant professor at the Institute of History, University of Warsaw. Internship at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona (1999). From 2006 to 2008 headed the Research Department of the Museum of Polish History. From 2010 to 2015 he was director of the Museum of John Paul II and Primate Wyszynski. Since 2015 an expert at the John Paul II Thought Center. From 2020, deputy director for research at Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski Institute for the Legacy of Polish National Thought. Since 2015 Head of the editorial team of the edition of the daily notes of Primate Stefan Wyszynski Pro memoria.
Łukasz Wilczyński
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Łukasz Wilczyński
Graduated with an Executive MBA from the Wrocław University of Economics. He has been working with the Open Doors organisation since 2019. He is responsible for advocacy, building strategic relationships on behalf of persecuted Christians and conducting information meetings. As part of his work, he also visits countries from the World Persecution Index, where he meets with Open Doors Association Partners and with leaders and members of the churches the organisation helps. As an interdenominational Christian aid organisation, Open Doors has been working on behalf of persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries for more than 67 years. The organisation's projects include socio-economic support, training of Christian leaders, engagement with prisoners, emergency relief and work with people who have experienced trauma, the supply of Bibles and Christian literature, as well as support for families of murdered Christians. Open Doors has been publishing the World Persecution Index for 30 years.
Iwona Zamkowska
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Iwona Zamkowska
She is affiliated with the Kazimierz Pulaski University of Technology and Humanities in Radom. Her primary research area is the problem of religious liberty in public education in the United States of America. She is a board member of the Voice of the Martyrs Poland. Her most important publication is a monograph Religious Liberty in the Educational System of the United States (Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang D, 2020).
Marek Bielecki
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Marek Bielecki
Marek Bielecki - a Polish lawyer, canonist, DSc [dr hab.] of legal sciences, Associate Professor at the War Studies University in Warsaw, an expert of the Institute of Justice, a specialist in the field of religious law, canon law, history of law and road traffic law. In 2000 he completed his studies in the field of canon law and in 2001in law at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin at the Department of Law, Canon Law and Administration. In 2005, on the basis of the dissertation entitled A child's religious freedom in Polish law written, he obtained the PhD degree in the field of law. Consequently, in 2016, on the basis of his scientific achievements and the post-doctoral dissertation entitled Stan prawny nieruchomości Archieparchii Przemysko-Warszawskiej w latach 1944–2014 he received the postdoctoral degree - DSc [dr. hab] in the field of law. He is the author of numerous scientific publications, glosses on the judiciary judgments, legal opinions and expert opinions commissioned by public administration.
Selected publications:
- Kwestie majątkowe w prawie wyznaniowym (ed.), Lublin 2018.
- Stan prawny nieruchomości Archieparchii Przemysko-Warszawskiej w latach 1944–2014, Lublin 2015.
- Prawo ukraińskie. Wybrane zagadnienia (co-ed. with: M. Bartnik, J. Nikołajew), Lublin 2013.
- Bilateralizm w stosunkach państwowo-kościelnych (ed.), Lublin 2011.
Christine Mengès-Le Pape
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Christine Mengès-Le Pape
Professor in Toulouse Capitole University, author of works relating to the relationships between politics and religion in France and Europe. Her fields of research is the institutional, political and social history: justice, finance and economy of the modern period. She organizes international symposia, conferences, publications of books on the themes of Teaching religions (2009) and Religious transmission (2011), of a Lawless Economy (2011) and Debt, religion and law (2013). Then there are conferences devoted to Justice, between Theology and Law (2015), Reciprocity (2017), Solidarity (2019), Freedom (2022). These seminars dedicated to the fundamental principles may encourage a dialogue -rooted in tradition- between the academic community and religious dignitaries.
Agnieszka Gilewska
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Agnieszka Gilewska
Doctor of humanities (thesis "The image of the United States and its inhabitants seen through the eyes of young Poles: a case study of the school environment in Ełk", defended in 2022 at the SWPS University), philologist. She is interested in language teaching methodology, works with the Mazurian Teacher Training Center in Ełk and the University of Finances and Management in Białystok . She is a notary as well the head of the office of the Bishop's Court of the Diocese of Ełk. Assistant at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. In addition, she postgraduated from studies in journalism and postgraduate studies in English language teaching methodology. Author of national and foreign publications. Participant of both national and international conferences.
Felix Boellmann
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Felix Boellmann
Serves as Director of European Advocacy for ADF International. In this capacity, he overseas teams in Vienna, Brussels and Strasbourg, advocating for religious liberty, sanctity of life, and the family, including marriage with international organizations as well as through national and international litigation across Europe.Prior to joining ADF International, Boellmann engaged in private legal practice as an attorney at law in Leipzig and he served as in-house legal counsel to the EurAsia Group, an international energy and natural resources investment company.Boellmann earned his law degree in 1999, followed by his PhD in 2006, from Leipzig University. While in law school, he interned with commercial, governmental, and legal organizations in Germany, Belarus and Russia. He has published articles on comparative law, economics, international human rights, and culture. Aside from his native German, he is fluent in English and Russian. Boellmann is married and the father of three children.
Ibrahem Sabra
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Ibrahem Sabra
From Syria, at the beginning of the war in 2011, he was victim of religious persecution in Homs, from which he was forced to flee with his family to the province of Hamma, then to the city of Sydnaya, and then to Damascus. In Syria, he worked as an accountant in the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate. While working in the patriarchate, he provided support in charity work in churches, distribution of aid and discernment of the needs of society. A graduate of engineering and economic studies. Currently a student at the Budapest Business School in the field of trade and marketing and a scholarship holder of the Hungary Helps program to support victims of religious persecution.
Yusuf Elisha Karu
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Yusuf Elisha Karu
He is a Registered Nurse, an author and keynote speaker. Over the past 10years, he has engaged over 10,000 youths, teenagers, religious group leaders, NGOs, startups and grassroots politicians in seminar presentations, trainings, conferences and religious events. In March 2018, he was among the student delegates/attendees at the EU parliament in Brussels sponsored by Mr. Görgy Hölvenyi, member of EU parliament to share experiences about Christian persecution in Nigeria.He is one of the Directors for Leadtots and Human Development services, one of the fastest growing leadership organisations in Northern Nigeria. He also represents the Nurses for Future platform as a Brand Ambassadors, a platform known to be one of the first communication platforms exclusively for Nurses all around the world.He holds a bachelor’s degree of Nursing from the University of Pécs, and currently is an MSc of Public Health candidate at the University of Debrecen in Hungary.
Illia Djadi
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Illia Djadi
Senior Analyst for Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Illia is a published writer, radio journalist and researcher. He has been covering news and human rights issues in Africa for more than 2 decades. Before joining Open Doors, he worked for various international organisations including BBC World Service in London.
In recent years, Illia has developed into a widely respected Africa Analyst, making regular appearances in international media such as BBC, Deutsche Welle, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, La Tribune de Genève, Radio France Internationale, TV5 Monde, etc.
Illia has attended some of the world’s most high-profile assemblies and made presentations at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the EU parliament in Brussels, the UK parliament’s House of Commons in London, etc. Last December he met with His Majesty King Charles III of England to advocate about the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel region.
He graduated from the University of Niamey (Niger), and holds a master’s degree (Portsmouth University, UK) which focused on the history, politics, and international relations of Francophone countries in Africa.
Illia is from Niger Republic (West-Africa). He lives in London, with his wife and 2 children.
Eszter Józsa
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Eszter Józsa
She is an analyst at the State Secretariat for the Aid of Persecuted Christians from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, with over 5 years of experience in central government, focusing on humanitarian policy and the aid of persecuted Christians. She studied Public Administration and Politics at the University of Public Service in Budapest and completed specialised postgraduate training course for Radicalism and Religious Extremism. She published studies in Budapest Report on Christian Persecution 2020 and 2021.
