International symposium on religious liberty in Mexico and in the Americas

Aug 24, 2009

International Symposium on religious liberty in Mexico and in the Americas:

Symposium will become the religious liberty Facebook of the Americas

24 August 2009. Washington, D.C. & Mexico City - A symposium entitled: "Voices: The Lay State and Religious Liberty" will take place in Mexico City from 25-26 September at El Hotel Presidente InterContinental. At the symposium, religious liberty experts will analyze this fundamental human right as defined in international human rights law and discuss how this right is exercised in Mexico, the rest of Latin America, Canada and the United States.

"The Voices Symposium will create a new network of experts on religious liberty in the Americas and invite those in Mexico who seek to create a new citizenship to join that network. We will become, in effect, the Facebook of religious liberty for the Americas," said Patrick Kelly, Vice President for Public Policy and spokesman for the Knights of Columbus.

Because religious liberty is a fundamental human right for every democracy, the symposium will also seek to inspire nascent voices of religious liberty, particularly in Mexico, and to encourage collaboration between academics, culture creators, and opinion leaders.

"It is exciting that Mexico City is hosting a conference where experts from Canada to Argentina will discuss religious freedom, which is the cornerstone of any healthy democracy", said Kevin "Seamus" Hasson, founder and chairman of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

The Voices Symposium is organized by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Mexico and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The Symposium is free and open to the general public. For the speakers' list and agenda with more information please click here or visit www.voices-symposium.org.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-governmental organization with consultative status before the United Nations and a non-profit public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C.

To arrange an interview, please contact in the U.S. Kristina Arriaga at karriaga@becketfund.org or cell +1.703.582.8962, and in México, Alejandro Alvarado, symposiumvoices.press@gmail.com, Ana Laura Caballero, analaur2001@hotmail.com or Liliana Tinoco, lilies_74@hotmail.com.