Press Release

05/30/2018 Washington, D.C. (Religious Freedom Institute) — The Religious Freedom Institute welcomes the State Department’s 20th Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback.

Like its predecessors, the Report makes for grim reading. It details the vicious religious persecution taking place in countries around the world, including (but not limited to) North Korea, Burma, China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Nigeria. The Report portrays a global crisis in which innocent people are brutalized for their religious beliefs and practices.

None of this is new. But Ambassador Brownback appears to be leading the United States to address the crisis in new ways. In an unexpected move, Secretary Mike Pompeo announced yesterday that he would hold his first ministerial on the subject of religious freedom. On July 25-26 he will host in Washington a “Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.”

Such a high-level U.S. gathering has never been held, including in the twenty years since the creation of the Ambassador’s position and the legislative mandate that the State Department advance religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy.

The Secretary said invitees would include his counterparts from “like-minded governments,” plus representatives from international organizations, religious communities, and civil society. He stressed that “where fundamental freedoms of religion, expression, peace and peaceful assembly are under attack, we find conflict, instability, and terrorism. On the other hand, governments and societies that champion these freedoms are more secure, stable, and peaceful.”

Brownback said the ministerial will focus on how religious freedom can reduce terrorism and increase economic development: “The intent is really to drive the issue of religious freedom more aggressively globally, and the outcomes are really twofold that we intend to get out of it: less terrorism, more economic growth.”

RFI President Tom Farr praised the Secretary and the Ambassador for holding a ministerial that ties religious freedom to terrorism and economic development: “Religious freedom is the God-given right of every person. But that truth alone has not stopped religious persecution. Convincing nations that more religious freedom can help them undermine terrorism and increase economic growth is a bold new approach that has great promise in actually reducing the global scourge of religious persecution.”

Media Contact:
Jeremy P. Barker
media@religiousfreedominstitute.org
202-838-7734
www.religiousfreedominstitute.org

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The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) works to secure religious freedom for everyone, everywhere. The RFI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C.