Advances and Setbacks in the Legal Protection of Religious Freedom, Mexico City, May 2015

The 15th Annual Colloquium of the Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty was held May 21-23, 2015 at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Mexico. Sponsored by the Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty, the Universidad Iberoamericana, and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU, the conference focused on the theme “Advances and Setbacks in the Legal Protection of Religious Freedom”. The inaugural session was chaired by the principal host and organizer of the colloquium, Prof. Dr. Alberto Patiño Reyes of Universidad Iberoamericana.  Other participants included Prof. Dra. Maria Concepción Medina González, acting as the “Relatora General” of the colloquium. Prof. Dr. Raul Gonzalez Schmal, who delivered the inaugural address, and Prof. Dra. Carmen Asiaín Pereira, President of the Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty. Some 40 experts presented at the conference representing Latin American, the United States, and Europe. Presentations included national reports addressing religious freedom developments in each country of those who participated as well as presentations on the general topic of religion and the law.

Scott Isaacson and Patrick Thurston of Kirton McConkie Law Firm, and Prof. Gary Doxey from the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, along with James Heilpern, a recent BYU Law graduate, each gave papers at the colloquium. Various papers from the colloquium will be published and distributed through Consortium channels. A full summary of the conference is available in Spanish at the website of the Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty at http://www.libertadreligiosa.org.