Panelist: Hindering religious freedom allows all rights to be curbed

Published: 2006-04-28

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- If religious freedom, the most internal of all freedoms, is violated, then all other freedoms can be obstructed, the head of a Washington think tank told participants during an international peace meeting at Georgetown University. Religious freedom is the "centerpiece of democracy" and "the most fundamental right of all because all other rights build on top of it," said Joseph Grieboski, president of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. Religious freedom is larger than a human rights concept -- it is a business, academic and democratization issue, he said. Grieboski was part of an April 27 panel discussion, "Religious Freedom: An Often Denied Right," part of the 2006 International Prayer for Peace assembly. Another panelist, Italian Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Vatican nuncio to the United States, said that freedom of religion not only means the freedom to practice a religion but also includes freedom of conscience.

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