IARF EME Conference 2025

Held during the 2025 conference of the International Association for Religious Freedom's Europe and Middle East region, this interfaith and multilingual service was a profound exploration of liberal faith in a complex world. Opening with a candle lighting ceremony dedicated to freedom, humanity, and tolerance, the gathering featured a central sermon that challenged attendees to grapple with the "paradox of tolerance" and embrace a faith of active repair, accountability, and honest self-critique. The service beautifully wove together diverse spiritual threads, including readings from Khalil Gibran, a Muslim prayer and a call of radical welcome inspired by Rumi, and reflections drawing from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mystics. Through communal singing of hymns like "Dona Nobis Pacem" (Give Us Peace) and the anthem "Die Gedanken sind frei" (Thoughts Are Free), the service culminated in a powerful call for participants to become the "human hands, human courage and human caring" needed to answer the world's suffering and build a legacy of engaged, compassionate action.

In this presentation, Esther Sutter, President of the International Association of Liberal Religious Women (IALRW), provides a comprehensive overview of the organization's 115-year history and its recent 2024 conference in Sarawak, Malaysia. Centered on the theme "The Power of Dialogue and Partnership," the conference highlighted successful interfaith collaboration among Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Taoist, and indigenous communities. Sutter details key discussions on pressing global issues, including the intersection of indigenous spirituality and climate action, peacebuilding, and the role of education in advancing women's rights. The talk culminates in the presentation of the "Sarawak Declaration," a commitment to fostering justice and environmental stewardship, and connects these grassroots efforts to the IALRW’s ongoing advocacy work at the United Nations, particularly within the Commission on the Status of Women.

Join Gabriela Frey of the Council of Europe for an insightful exploration of Europe's institutional landscape and the vital role of civil society in upholding democratic values. In this lecture, Frey demystifies the crucial differences between the Council of Europe, with its focus on human rights and democracy, and the European Union, centered on economic and political policy. Drawing on her work representing the European Buddhist Union, she highlights the importance of the European Convention on Human Rights in protecting religious freedom and argues for a more inclusive, grassroots approach to interreligious and interconvictional dialogue. Discover the unique opportunities for citizen participation through the Conference of International NGOs (INGOs) and learn about the NIRIC Dialogue network, an initiative designed to collect and share best practices for fostering understanding and social cohesion across Europe.

This panel from the 2025 IARF European and Middle East Conference features a discussion on the challenges of practicing and advocating for religious freedom. Moderated by Pascal Reddig, the session brings together Seyran Ateş (founder, Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque), Renate Bauer (President, Federation of Free Religious Congregations in Germany), Robert Innes (former IARF President), and George Williams (then-current IARF President).

Describing the subject as a "tightrope walk," the panelists explore the balance between upholding religious freedom and confronting harmful dogmas. Drawing on their professional and personal experiences, they discuss strategies for supporting individuals who question their traditions, engaging with intolerance, and advocating for oppressed communities. The conversation touches on key themes such as the role of language in shaping belief, the search for hope in an era of anxiety, and the intergenerational work required to foster a more liberative approach to faith.

At the IARF Europe and Middle East conference on September 12, 2025, lawyer and liberal mosque founder Seyran Ates delivered a keynote address on the "Limits of Tolerance and Religious Freedom." She argued for a progressive, reform-oriented Islam inspired by Enlightenment values, presenting her Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque in Berlin as a model for gender equality and interfaith dialogue.

Ates expressed grave concern over the growing influence of political Islam in Europe, particularly within German schools. She cited examples of religiously motivated bullying, the imposition of rigid doctrines, and the rejection of democratic values and LGBTQ+ rights by some students.

Calling for a "sexual revolution" within Islam through a modern, historical-critical reading of the Quran, Ates critiqued what she sees as misguided tolerance from some liberal circles. She concluded with a firm assertion that a democratic society must be intolerant of intolerance and actively defend its freedoms against all forms of extremism.

Rev. Norbert Racz's presentation outlines the historical journey of religious freedom, from the general tolerance of antiquity to its modern conception. He explains how this tolerance faded when Christianity became a state religion in the Middle Ages, leading to an era of intolerance driven by the fusion of religious and political power.

The talk identifies the Renaissance and Reformation as key turning points, highlighting milestones like the Edict of Torda (1568), which championed individual conscience. Rev. Racz marks the Enlightenment as the critical period when thinkers like Kant prioritized reason over dogma, establishing the philosophical basis for religious liberty.

This evolution culminated in legal frameworks like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Rev. Racz concludes that the essential lesson from history is that true religious freedom requires the separation of power from the pulpit, nurtured by humility, dialogue, and a willingness to learn from others.

This presentation by Dr. Kurt Bangert explores the crucial role liberal theology played in the development of religious freedom, particularly in Europe and Germany. Dr. Bangert challenges the common narrative that Christianity only reluctantly accepted religious liberty after the Enlightenment, pointing to early Christian proponents like Tertullian who first coined the term "freedom of religion."

The talk defines liberal theology as an approach that uses historical-critical methods to understand scripture and seeks to reconcile faith with the modern world. Dr. Bangert argues that this intellectual movement went hand in hand with the practical advancement of religious tolerance.

The core of the presentation examines the contributions of ten key theologians and philosophers who fostered liberal thought and, consequently, religious freedom. These figures include Martin Luther, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Adolf von Harnack, Albert Schweitzer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Dorothee Sölle. By questioning traditional dogmas and promoting reason and individual conscience, these thinkers created an intellectual atmosphere where religious pluralism and freedom could be better understood and appreciated.

Rev. Pascal Schilling from the Free Religious Congregation Offenbach and Gudrun Hahn from the Free Religious Unitarian Congregation in Frankfurt open the conference and welcome participants. 

In his opening address at the 2025 Europe and Middle East IARF Conference, President Prof. George Williams highly commends the EME region as an exemplar, crediting its significant influence and financial support for many of the organization's recent successes, including its vital presence at the United Nations. He reports on IARF's growth with new member groups, such as the Pagan International Federation, and its improved administrative and financial health. The core of his address focuses on the concept of "liberating religion," a shift from merely advocating for religious freedom to exploring the universal, liberative essence within diverse spiritual traditions, a core mission of the new IARF Institute. Prof. Williams powerfully illustrates this concept with the story of Kumu Glen Keela and a persecuted indigenous Hawaiian group, detailing how IARF's direct and indirect support empowered them to break generations of secrecy imposed by American bigotry, share their sacred traditions openly, and ultimately launch a landmark legal case to defend their indigenous worship rights, demonstrating the profound and tangible impact of IARF in combating persecution.

This presentation, titled "Religious Freedom and Other Human Rights: 'The Balancing Act'," examines the inherent tension between religious freedom and other rights in our modern, secular world. It uses two key examples: a state limiting religious expression for public good (Quebec's Bill 21) and a religious group's freedom infringing on individual rights (an adoption agency case).

To analyze these conflicts, the presentation introduces a framework combining philosophy and international law. It draws on the work of Charles Taylor ("buffered self"), John Rawls ("public reason"), and Martha Nussbaum ("capabilities approach"). This ethical framework is integrated with legal standards from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Siracusa Principles.

The presentation concludes by advocating for a principled "non-harm" approach, arguing that freedom should not be used to undermine the fundamental capabilities and rights of others. It calls for the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) to lead an informed and courageous conversation on navigating these difficult balancing acts.

This concert will frame the socializing on the evening of the conference. Look forward to the "In-Contact" concert with the pianist and educator Ekaterine Kintsurashvili, originally from Georgia, and the versatile cellist and composer Christopher Herrmann. The award-winning duo takes you on a musical journey that connects cultures and epochs. The program presents pieces from eight different countries: France, Spain, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Argentina. Ekaterine Kintsurashvili has performed in renowned venues such as the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Oper Stuttgart. She also works as a lecturer for piano and chamber music at the Peter-Cornelius-Konservatorium Mainz. Christopher Herrmann, who plays baroque, modern, and electric cello, consistently crosses stylistic boundaries and is active in the fields of jazz and world music.