Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Buenos Aires (Agenzia Fides) - Today, Thursday, 25 November, the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom (CALIR), under the auspices of the Directorate General for Religious Affairs of the City of Buenos Aires' Government celebrates “Religious Freedom Day” at a ceremony in St Martín square at 12.30 pm, to which all the citizens of Buenos Aires were invited. CALIR was established in May 2000 when the Department of Worship convened an advisory group of lawyers and persons of recognized experience in matters of religious freedom and belonging to different faiths and religious traditions, but without giving them an institutional setting. They decided unanimously to establish the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom, in order to continue working with the same spirit, dedication and interest on such important issues for the country. The first objective of the Council is very clear: to promote freedom of religion and conscience in all its forms, individual and collective.
Since then CALIR has promoted a wealth of series of activities, at a communal level and at many universities. On 3 November, in the context of the celebrations of the Bicentennial, an academic session was organized on “The historical path of religious diversity in Buenos Aires” which was attended by a large number of students and professors of various universities. The celebration of Religious Freedom Day in Argentina began in 2004 in memory of 25 November 1981 when the United Nations approved the “Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on religion or belief”. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 25/11/2010)
