WEDNESDAY, JULY 10
WELCOME REMARKS
Welcome Remarks from Professor Stephanie Barclay, Dean G. Marcus Cole, and President Fr. Robert Dowd, C.S.C.
Yesterday morning, Professor Stephanie Barclay, Dean G. Marcus Cole, and President Fr. Robert Dowd, C.S.C. delivered welcome remarks at the 2024 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit. Professor Barclay, director of Notre Dame Law School's Religious Liberty Initiative, introduced the theme of this year’s summit, "Depolarizing Religious Liberty."
"As we see a rise in people who aren't attending church, we have a lost opportunity where people can sit on a pew with someone that they disagree with, who sees the world differently, who they can learn from, and be able to hear a perspective where we may have disagreements, but I believe that you're a good person, that you care about this country, and I have something to learn from you."
Stephanie Barclay, Director of Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative
"The challenge for those of us who know the importance of religious freedom is to take religious liberty out of politics. For religious liberty to flourish, it cannot be an issue for the right or for the left. It cannot be the property of conservatives or liberals. It cannot be valued by some, and derided by others. It cannot be wielded as a tool of oppression, or exiled as an object of hate."
Dean G. Marcus Cole, Founder of Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative
"As the leading Catholic research university in the world, the University of Notre Dame, and Notre Dame Law School, is proud to host you, and to facilitate these discussions. It is our mission to work towards a world where everyone is free to worship God, each in his or her own way. It is just as important that every person be free to live their lives according to their beliefs, as a living sacrifice and testimony to the greater glory of God."
Dean G. Marcus Cole, Founder of Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative
"We are proud of the Religious Liberty Initiative. Its work is at the core of our mission here at Notre Dame and deepens the understanding of the conditions that allow for individuals and communities to flourish."
Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., President of the University of Notre Dame
"At their best, religious faith communities require us to make sacrifices for others outside of our affinity groups, and that is crucial to the functioning of any decent society, especially a society that calls itself a democracy. Freedom and flourishing of religious faith — a faith that feeds spiritual hunger and often physical hunger that builds community and bridges social divides — are the key to a just, peaceful, and humane future."
Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., President of the University of Notre Dame
PANEL DISCUSSION
Muslim and Jewish Voices Finding Common Ground After October 7th
"When I think about common ground at this point, I find myself trying to think about core commitments. And I keep coming back to two principles. The first is our shared need to affirmatively protect each person's ability to freely exercise their faith. The second is that a person's faith cannot serve as a justification to exclude them from the opportunities and benefits afforded to others."
Professor Michael Helfand, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
"For those of us feeling a compelling need to work together to find common ground after October 7th, know that you represent a high moral value. We must now lay the foundations for intellectual curiosity, courage, and compassion."
Ms. Soraya Deen, Muslim Women Speakers
"To foster lasting good community relations and mutual understanding between Muslim and Jewish communities and to provide a stable future for both in Europe and North America, we must develop a new concept of Bilateral Strategic Dialogue, making regular interactions between our communities habitual, purpose-driven, and inclusive to a broader circle of participants. This will require civil society, faith actors, government, and intergovernmental organizations to work together in a world where rising nativist and populist movements seek to halt progress."
Rabbi Alex Goldberg, University of Surrey
"No student, staff member, or visitor should have to leave anything core to their identity at the porters’ lodge — including race, religion, gender, orientation, language, cultural identity."
Reverend Dr. Andrew Teal, Pembroke College, University of Oxford
PANEL DISCUSSION
Decreasing Religious Polarization Through International Diplomacy
"Diplomatic efforts often appeal to our shared humanity, with aim to break through ideological divides by broadening these personal and collective identities. The Catholic Church, through its diplomacy, appeals to membership in the human family as the inspiration for action. We all have the same basic needs and wants, and we can and should support each other towards full human flourishing."
Ms. Melinda Davis, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
"In the right hands, hard-headed diplomacy can be a crucial element in championing religious liberty. But, in the wrong hands, diplomacy can too often become a pretext for doing nothing or for appeasement. Diplomats and diplomacy must be part of the arsenal in championing religious liberty and not part of the problem in impeding it."
Lord David Alton, House of Lords, Liverpool Hope University
"My position in diplomacy is not necessarily to assert the superiority of my truth claims over someone else, but simply to lay a foundation that allows us to understand together what religious freedom really is. Even in our strongest efforts to depolarize, we must maintain an emphasis on truth. Truth is your friend in diplomacy and truth is your friend in advocacy. Polarization is expanded by untruth and by acquiescence to untruth."
Mr. David Trimble, Religious Freedom Institute
"International diplomacy, properly deployed, can provide a framework to promote the flourishing of all religions, and a means of holding all nations to global human rights standards. A major contributory factor in the polarization of faith communities is religious literacy in all levels of government. International diplomacy has an invaluable role to play in educating governments as the enduring importance of deeply held tenets of belief, particularly of religious minorities."
Professor Mark Hill KC, FTB Chambers, Notre Dame London Law Programme
"To address increasing religious polarization, international diplomacy must focus on its root causes, promoting a more peaceful and inclusive global society through promoting interfaith dialogue; supporting inclusive policies; neutral mediation in conflicts; countering extremism; addressing socioeconomic disparities; understanding and addressing root causes; raising awareness; and finally, in monitoring and evaluation."
Ms. Julie Jones, The APPG for International Freedom of Religion or Belief
Read the other daily recaps from the 2024 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit: