Following a march through downtown Lima of hundreds of people and 11 faith group leaders, who delivered 40,000 letters to congressional leaders, the Peruvian congress approved an amendment to the national constitution that recognizes all faiths.
Following a march through downtown Lima of hundreds of people and 11 faith group leaders, who delivered 40,000 letters to congressional leaders, the Peruvian congress approved an amendment to the national constitution that recognizes all faiths.
The change to the amendment acknowledges all creeds as equal, while maintaining the historical, cultural and moral importance of the Roman Catholic Church to the nation. Originally, the plan was only to recognize the historical role of the Catholic Church in Peru.
The amendment, which is part of a constitutional reform project, is considered a positive step towards the equality of all religious groups in a predominantly Catholic country, according to Adventist Church officials.
Eusebio Barreda, secretary of the Peru Religious Liberty Association in Lima, an organization founded by the Adventist Church, was one of the 11 representatives who delivered the letters to a congressional delegation. He said that the constitution still does not eliminate the position in society held by the Catholic Church, which does not pay taxes, receives tax-free donations and salaries that the government pays to its clergy.
“The literal modifications are few, but they represent a step forward in the pursuit of equal treatment of non-Catholic faiths by the state,” says Barreda, who is an Adventist professor.
Although church leaders consider the amendment only a partial victory, they say it is still an important step for the Adventist Church and all others who continue to work for religious equality and liberty for all faiths.
“We have given all our heart, all our energy so that others can enjoy religious liberty in our country,” says Melchor Ferreyra, president of the Adventist Church in Peru.
“Thank God we can say that this [amendment] is one more step for religious liberty in Peru,” he adds.
Previously the constitutional article said, “The State respects other faiths and can establish forms of collaboration with them,” but it did not acknowledge or require cooperation with non-Catholic faiths.
“We believe that a constitution should be consistent,” Barreda said at a joint press conference with congressmen who supported the amendment. “If in one part it says there is no discrimination and another says that it supports only the majority church, which we respect, then there is no consistency.”
The newly amended article “recognizes and respects” other religions, and adds that there is an obligatory (no longer optional) establishment of “accords of collaboration with them through their representative [institutions], with a criterion of equality.”
The Peruvian constitution does state that it is independent and autonomous from the Catholic Church. Some government officials and church leaders hope that the accords the government will establish with non-Catholic groups will lead to complete equality.
The Adventist Church joined representatives from various evangelical churches as well as Muslim, Jewish, Bahá’í and Hare Krishna leaders, all of which belong to the National Council of Religious Liberty, whose president, Pastor Julio Rosas, is also president of the PeruyReligious Liberty Association.
The Adventist Church in Peru has been very active in promoting religious liberty through the Peru Religious Liberty Association, which was organized at the Second International Congress on Religious Liberty held in Lima in November 2001.