About This Event
Religious freedom is often described as an “orphaned right”. Be it the place of religious faith in the public square, the right to express views informed by religious beliefs, the right to convert or even freedom of worship, there is a growing awareness that this liberty, central to a free society, is under-recognised and frequently trampled on. More needs to be done to stand up for faith and freedom.
While there are widespread concerns that religious freedom is pushed to the margins in the West, in many countries in the world, to act in accordance with your religious beliefs is to put your life on the line, risk arrest, physical violence or worse.
A central finding of the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Religious Freedom in the World 2021 Report is that religious freedom is violated in almost one-third of the world’s countries and that the situation has declined in more than 95 percent of the nations where the problem is most severe.
Now, ACN is joining forces with Catholic Voices (CV) to host a webinar on Wednesday, 19th May at 6pm – a unique opportunity to frame the question of religious freedom in the context of current events which have made the issue increasingly topical – growing religious persecution in countries such as China and Nigeria, international relations, COVID restrictions and digital media.
At the event, which will be chaired by ACN(UK)’s Head of Press & Information John Pontifex, who served on the editorial board of ACN’s ‘Religious Freedom in the World 2021 Report, our line-up of invited speakers are:
• Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark
• Baroness Helena Kennedy QC of the Shaws
• Professor the Lord David Alton of Liverpool
And
• Seminary rector Father Habila Daboh, of Kaduna, northern Nigeria, who will give testimony following the abduction of four of his students, the youngest of whom, Michael Nnadi, 18, was killed.
Please join us for what promises to be a very lively and engaging discussion designed to help empower people to engage in this topic and reframe the debate around the place of religion in the public square and the importance of articulating an informed conscience.
Format
6.00pm | Welcome, Housekeeping, Introductions | Brenden Thompson, CEO of Catholic Voices
6.05pm | Introduction to Webinar | John Pontifex, Head of Press & Information for ACN
6.15pm | Input from John Wilson, Archbishop of Southwark
6.30pm | Testimony from Father Habila Daboh, Rector of the Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna, northern Nigeria
6.45pm | Panel discussion with Baroness Kennedy, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC of the Shaws & Lord Alton, Professor the Lord David Alton of Liverpool
7.20pm | Wrap up and What’s next?
Guest Speakers
John Pontifex (Chair)
John Pontifex has been Head of Press & Information for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in the UK for 18 years, visiting Nigeria, Sudan, India, China, Eritrea, Cuba and Iraq. He went to Syria four years running during the conflict. John is researching the abduction, forced marriage and conversion of girls from minority faith backgrounds in Pakistan.
John is Editor of ACN’s ‘Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith’ and provided research for the 2019 ‘Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the UK Foreign Secretary of Foreign & Commonwealth Office Support for Persecuted Christians’. John has served as Editor-in-Chief of ACN’s ‘Religious Freedom in the World Report’. The latest edition was launched on 20th April.
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC of the Shaws
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC is one of Britain's most distinguished lawyers. She has spent her professional life giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties and promoting human rights. She has conducted many prominent cases of terrorism, official secrets and homicide. She is the founding force behind the establishment of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford. In 1997, she was elevated to the House of Lords where she is a Labour peer. She has published two books on how the justice system is failing women, and has written and broadcasted on many issues over the years. Currently, she has taken on the role of Director to the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. She directs the Institute’s work upholding the rule of law and human rights globally.
© Official portrait of Lord Alton of Liverpool - Roger Harris
Professor the Lord David Alton of Liverpool
For 18 years David Alton was a Member of the House of Commons and today is an Independent Crossbench Life Peer.
He began his career as a teacher and, in 1972, while still a student, he was elected to Liverpool City Council as Britain’s youngest City Councillor. In 1979 he became the youngest member of the House of Commons and, in 1997, and when he stood down from the Commons, he was appointed a Life Peer. His motto on his Coat of Arms is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy: Choose Life.
© RC Southwark
Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark
On 10 June 2019 John Wilson was appointed Archbishop of Southwark by Pope Francis on the retirement of Archbishop Peter Smith. His Installation took place in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, on 25 July 2019, the Feast of St James the Apostle.
Fr Habila Daboh
Father Habila Daboh is Rector of the Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna, in northern Nigeria, where Christians have suffered persecution. Four of his seminarians were kidnapped in January 2020. Three of them were released but the fourth, the youngest, Michael Nnadi, aged 18, was murdered. Ordained priest in 1999, Father Daboh has been a seminary rector for 13 years and is author of spiritual works including ‘Faith in an Age of Despair’ and ‘Similarities in Judaism, Christianity and Islam’.