The city of Luanda, Angola, was the site of the largest combined Congress and Festival of Religious Freedom ever organized in the world.  These two historic events were held June 24 to 28, 2008, and were considered the largest cross-cultural efforts to celebrate religious freedom on planet earth.

It is estimated that 45,000 attendees were present for the Mega Festival—a public event scheduled for the final day of the dual celebration in the largest stadium of Angola.  The Festival was preceded by the Congress on Religious Freedom that gathered more than 350 delegates including experts, specialists, civil and religious authorities, and outstanding supporters of the cause of religious liberty. 

Organizing and promoting these huge events has created awareness and strengthened the positive image of religiousfreedom in Angola .“All attention was turned to those events held in the Talatona Convention Centre and the Stadium ‘Citadel Deportiva’ of Luanda,” says the Honorable Benjamin Fausto Paiva, Vice President of the National Congress [Assembly] of Angola, coordinator of the event for the Angola Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, who is a beloved lay leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Angola.

“The combined theme for those events was ‘Combating Religious Hatred through Freedom to Believe,’” says Paiva. John Graz, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) Director of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Secretary General of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA); Hensley Moorooven, PARL Director for the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean region; Eugene Hsu, Vice President of the General Conference; Paul S. Ratsara, President of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division; Teodoro Elias, President of the Angola Union Conference; other regional and local authorities, and many musical groups participated in these important events. As part of the program of that memorable festival various leaders were honored with the new Medal of Religious Freedom—recently designed by the General Conference PARL Department for three categories of outstanding achievement: National, International, and World Awards.

Angola government leaders celebrate Angola's religious freedom with church officials.

Graz has launched to the entire world the new concept of Festivals of Religious Freedom with the intent to cover all the continents with great celebrations during the years 2008-2010. The main idea behind the Festivals is to give thanks for religious freedom and to create an environment of freedom and peace.  The Festivals of Religious Freedom being held around the world embrace the following central concepts:

• Gratitude to God
• Gratitude to country
• Gratitude to public authorities
• Gratitude in memory of those who suffered or died in defense of religious freedom

“Religious freedom is a conquest of man, a basic human right, and a God-given gift that we must preserve and defend for all believers and non-believers. The only alternative to religious freedom is religious intolerance or persecution. The forty-five thousand people who participated in the Luanda Festival made a choice between freedom and persecution. They chose freedom,” says Graz.

Alfredo Garcia-Marenko , Assistant to the Director for Special Projects
General Conference Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty