What is To Be Done? Responding to the Global Persecution of Christians

April 20, 2017
8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. EDT
Location: National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20045

How do Christians respond to persecution? How can the rest of the world exercise solidarity with them? This day-long public symposium proposed concrete recommendations for action in response to these questions. It featured prominent speakers on religious freedom and leading scholars of global Christianity. A highlight was the launch of the report, In Response to Persecution. It conveys the results of the "Under Caesar’s Sword" project, the world’s first systematic global investigation of Christian responses to persecution, and features findings from over 25 of the world’s most repressive countries. In attendance at the symposium were government officials, business leaders, academics, and religious leaders, as well as representatives of non-governmental, human rights, and news organizations.

The symposium was hosted by the Under Caesar's Sword project and its primary partners, the Religious Freedom Institute and the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, in close collaboration with Aid to the Church in Need. The Religious Freedom Research Project is co-sponsoring a scholarly volume that will address the findings presented at this conference. 

Schedule

8:30-9:00 a.m. | Registration and Coffee 

9:00-9:15 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Thomas Farr, Religious Freedom Research Project

9:15-10:15 a.m. | Keynote Address
His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Catholic Archbishop of Washington, D.C.

10:15-11:30 a.m. | Presentation of Public Report: In Response to Christian Persecution
Daniel Philpott, University of Notre Dame

11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | Screening of "Under Caesar's Sword" Documentary
Jason Cohen, Filmmaker

12:00-1:15 p.m. | Lunch & Keynote Address
Farahnaz Ispahani, Author and Human Rights Advocate

1:15-2:30 p.m. | Panel: What is to be Done by Leading Sectors?
Timothy Shah (moderator), Religious Freedom Research Project
Brian Grim, Religious Freedom and Business Foundation
George Marlin, Aid to the Church in Need, U.S.A.
Hon. David Saperstein, Former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Nina Shea, Hudson Institute 

2:45-4:00 p.m. | Panel: Responding to the Persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Central Asia
Paul Marshall (moderator), Hudson Institute
Mariz Tadros, Sussex University
Kent Hill, Religious Freedom Institute
His Excellency Sebastian Francis Shaw, Archbishop of Lahore, Pakistan

4:15-5:15 p.m. | Panel: Responding to the Persecution of Christians in South and Southeast Asia

Kathleen Collins (moderator), University of Minnesota
Fenggang Yang, Purdue University (China)
Robert Hefner, Boston University (Indonesia)
Chad Bauman, Butler University (India)

5:15-6:00 p.m. | Reception

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