May 25, 2017
How do Christians respond to persecution and advance religious freedom for everyone? How can the rest of the world exercise solidarity with those especially persecuted?
These questions were at the heart of the one day symposium of the Under Caesar’s Sword project hosted at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2017.
More than 225 attendees gathered for the launch of the public report: In Response to Persecution: Findings of the Under Caesar’s Sword Project on Global Christian Communities.
This report was one of the fruits of the work done by a team of 17 scholars who studied the response to persecution by Christian communities in more than 25 countries across the globe. The results were captured in a report that includes not only the analytical findings of this research, but substantial recommendations for action by a host of actors from international advocacy and assistance organizations, academics, religious communities, government agencies, and even persecuted communities themselves.
The event featured keynote addresses from His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Catholic Archbishop of Washington, D.C. and Ms. Farahnaz Ispahani, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and former member of the Pakistani parliament.
A wide number of speakers including project scholars, advocates for religious freedom, and representative from Christian communities around the globe provided analysis both on the findings of the project and more importantly – and the theme of the symposium – what is to be done.
His Excellency Sebastian Francis Shaw, Archbishop of Lahore, Pakistan provided a powerful testimony from his own life experience of shepherding a church in the context of incredible challenge and opposition.
The event also featured a special screening of the documentary Under Caesar’s Sword, directed by award-winning director Jason Cohen.
The full videos of event are available from the Under Caesar’s Sword website here: http://ucs.nd.edu/public-events/launch/watch/
The symposium was hosted by the Under Caesar’s Sword project and its main partners the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture and the Religious Freedom Institute, in collaboration with Aid to the Church in Need USA.
Co-sponsoring the event were the Program on Church, State & Society at the University of Notre Dame, the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, In Defense of Christians, and the Institute for Global Engagement.
To learn more about the Under Caesar’s Sword project and to access additional resources visit: www.ucs.nd.edu
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