TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese must not take their religious freedom for granted, International Religious Freedom (IRF) Secretariat President Nadine Maenza told Taiwan News on Monday (Nov. 14).
Maenza, who is currently visiting Taiwan, praised the nation’s religious freedom as “terrific,” urging citizens to educate the younger generation about it and emphasizing the importance of it to politicians.
The president said her trip here was an opportunity to see Taiwan’s “vibrant democracy and really remarkable religious freedom conditions” firsthand. She also shared her plans to set up an IRF roundtable event here, in order to bring different religious communities together “to continue to ensure there’s religious freedom here and also so that they can take actions to advocate for those in China and those around the world who don’t get to experience religious freedom.”
Maenza said her organization is planning to hold an IRF summit in Taiwan in May where global religious leaders, academics, and experts can “share information and better document the conditions (in Taiwan) and talk about how we can improve religious freedom conditions around the world.”
The president said she was amazed by “the ease in which the religious communities interact with each other here, they support one another.” “I think there’s so much the world can learn from Taiwan,” she added.
She said religious freedom around the world has been deteriorating in the last four years but pointed out Taiwan has been a “bright spot.” One important takeaway she said she picked up is that Taiwan proves “you actually have better citizens, have more prosperity, and have more peace,” by allowing people to practice their faith.
When asked about the key tenets of religious freedom, Maenza said people must have the right to choose and change their faith. “Legally, it’s about setting up a structure where there are no winners or losers,” so that every house of worship which seeks recognition is approved by a country’s government.
Conversely, people should also have the right not to follow a faith and not be forced to believe in a certain religion, she said.
The president said she wants the Taiwanese to know that there are many observers around the world that “are in awe of” and “deeply respect” what they have created. There are a lot of religious freedom advocates in Washington, D.C., and globally that “have so much respect for Taiwan and will continue to speak up for Taiwan,” she said.
So far during her visit, Maenza has met with former Taiwan Vice President Chien-Jen Chen (陳建仁), Tibetan government-in-exile Ambassador to Taiwan Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, and Legislative Speaker You Si-kun ((游錫堃). She previously served as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom chair.