Freedom of Religion and Rights of Religious Minorities

World Council of Churches

Commission of the Churches on International Affairs

International Study Consultation on

Freedom of Religion and Rights of Religious Minorities

Feronya Hotel / Taksim

 

Istanbul, Turkey

27 November to 2 December 2011

27^th  November                 Arrival

28^th  November                

09 :00-09 :30  Opening Session

Opening prayer,

Greetings  , Welcome,  Introductory Remarks, Orientation to the programme, Introductions

9.30 -10.30                           Session I                                                                                                    

Presentation on

Freedom of Religion and Rights of Religious Minorities:

International Parameters

10.30-11.00                          Tea/ Coffee

11:00-12:00    Session II

Situation Analysis-1

Religious Freedom and  Rights of Religious Minorities:

Presentation by: Ecumenical Patriarchate

12.00-13.00    Session III

Situation Analysis -2

Countries : Iraq,  Palestine

13.00-14.30                          Lunch

14:30-16:00    Session IV

Situation Analysis -3

Countries: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon

16.00-16.30                          Tea/ Coffee

16:30 -18:00   Session V

Situation Analysis -4

Countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan

18.00-18.15                          Break

18.15-19.30    Session VI

Discussion

29^th  November                

08:30 – 09:00

Morning  prayer

09:00 – 10:30

Session VII

Situation Analysis -5

Countries: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal

10.30-11.00                          Tea/ Coffee

11:00 – 12:30

Session VIII

Situation Analysis -6

Countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Caucasus region

12 :30 – 14.00                      Lunch

14:00 -15:30

Session IX

Situation Analysis-7

Countries: South Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea

15:30-16:00

Tee/Coffee

16:30 – 18:30

Visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate & Audience with His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch.

18:30 – 19.30  Session X

Discussion

30^th  November

From Morning, till afternoon.       Feast of St. Andrews – Morning service at the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Visit to  Hagia Sophia

15:30 – 16 :30 Session XI

Situation Analysis-8

Countries: Madagascar, France

16:30- 18:00   Session XII

Situation Analysis-9

Countries:  Germany, Sweden, Serbia

18:00 – 18:15                       Break

18:15 -19:30   Session XIII

Discussion

1^st December                     

08:30 – 09:00                        Morning Prayer

09:00 -10:30

Session XIV

Situation Analysis-10

Countries: Albania, Greece, Cyprus

10.30-11.00                          Tea/ Coffee

11:00 – 13:00

Session XV

Situation Analysis-11

Countries: Cuba,  USA, Turkey

13.00 -14.00                         Lunch

14:00 – 15:30

Session XVI

Plenary Discussion on

Identifying Priorities and  Action Plan

15.30-16.00                          Tea/ Coffee

16:00 – 17:30  Session XVII

Plenary Discussion on

Future direction of the Study Project

17.30-18.00                          Closing Session

2^nd December                    Departure

 

Intensive

Intensive Summer Program on World Religions

2010: Globalizing Religions: Conflict or Conflict Resolution?

The Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA) at Boston University conducts an annual summer seminar. It is organized by the well-known sociologist of religion Peter L. Berger, co-sponsored with the School of Theology of Boston University, under the guidance of Dean John Berthrong.  The seminar is generously funded by the Henry Luce Foundation’s Henry R. Initiative on Religion and International Affairs.

The program is an intensive two-week seminar on special topics in religion and world affairs.  The 2010 program will run June 13-25.  It will examine the world’s major religious traditions, in each case asking the following questions: How has each tradition globalized?  Has it contributed to conflict or conflict resolution? The seminar is designed for professional residents of the United States, with some coming from abroad, who are concerned with the international role of religion in politics, economics and social change.  Those particularly encouraged to apply are journalists, policy analysts (in or out of government), and educators.

The program is taught by a combination of faculty from Boston University and other universities, as well as by active or former members of the foreign policy community.  Details of the 2010 summer seminar will be posted here once the program is finalized.

CURA will provide housing and meals for all participants.  Travel fellowships will be available on a competitive basis.

To apply, send a one-page letter of interest, along with a brief CV, and an indication whether assistance with travel is required, to:

Ms. Laurel Whalen, Administrator
Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs
10 Lenox Street
Brookline, MA 02446
Email: cura@bu.edu Fax: (617)-353-6408

Application Deadline: March 31, 2010

 

global!

Mapping the Global Muslim Population

A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population

A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion.

While Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60% of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20% is in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the Middle East-North Africa region has the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries. Indeed, more than half of the 20 countries and territories¹ in that region have populations that are approximately 95% Muslim or greater.

More than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. These minority Muslim populations are often quite large. India, for example, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. China has more Muslims than Syria, while Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined.

Of the total Muslim population, 10-13% are Shia Muslims and 87-90% are Sunni Muslims. Most Shias (between 68% and 80%) live in just four countries: Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq.

These are some of the key findings of Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population, a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. The report offers the most up-to-date and fully sourced estimates of the size and distribution of the worldwide Muslim population, including sectarian identity.

 

COMMUNity

Playing For Change: Song Around the World

 

world congress

WORLD CONGRESS FOR

MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES

 Barcelona, July 19th – 24th 2010

 

 Over 2000 researchers and experts on the Middle East, coming from a large number of universities, research centers and other organizations from all over the world, will gather in Barcelona in 2010 at the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES). The IEMed and the UAB with the support of the Government of Catalonia will organize the Third WOCMES, after the two successful previous editions held in Mainz – Germany in 2002 and in Amman – Jordan in 2006

 

more details and submission