The cause of religious freedom was given a thumbs-up at the United Nations with a “special consultative status” granted May 1 to the International Religious Liberty Association.

Religious liberty advocates referred to the U.N. decision as an “historic development,” and an affirmation of efforts to keep the cause of religious liberty high on the international agenda. “The granting of this status by the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) opens the way for the IRLA to even further advances in the cause of religious freedom,” said Dr. Denton Lotz, IRLA president and general secretary for the Baptist World Alliance.

Lotz also said that the decision “acknowledges the accomplishments to date on the international scene, for example the large world congress held in the Philippines last year and attended by the U.N. special rapporteur on religious freedom or belief.”

U.N. recognition now means that the IRLA is able to make written and oral statements at such U.N. sessions as the Commission on Human Rights, participate fully in U.N. sponsored conferences, and interface with national representatives from permanent missions in both New York and Geneva.

Chartered in 1893, the association was first predominantly involved in the United States and evolved into an international advocacy organization for freedom of religion around the world in the mid-1940s.

The IRLA was originally organized by leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to “protect, promote and defend” religious freedom, but its purpose, according to IRLA officials, is universal and non-sectarian. Today the Association is a non-denominational international body and it serves as the umbrella organization for over 50 national religious freedom associations throughout the world. Various religious traditions are represented on the Board of Directors of the organization.

“This is a highly significant step in the progress of the Association,” adds Dr. John Graz, IRLA secretary-general. “From our early beginnings in 1893, the IRLA has consistently worked to advance religious freedom as a fundamental human right and now we are able to make greater contributions on the international scene.

“I want to commend Dr. Jonathan Gallagher and his team who worked continuously for the past two and a half years in making contacts at the United Nations and ensuring that our IRLA application met the inquiries of the U.N. Economic and Social Council Committee,” Graz added.