EINPRESSWIRE. – MADRID. The Foundation for the Improvement (Mejora) of Life, Culture and Society, having consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2019, and founded by the Church of Scientology in 2015, presented this pioneering award for Religious Freedom and Conscience on Friday 23 September, at an event that also celebrated the 42nd anniversary of Scientology in Spain.
The ceremony was held in the chapel of the church (inaugurated in 2004 and recognised as a religious entity since 2007) and included a speech by Professor Mercedes Murillo, Director of Religious Freedom at the Ministry of the President, who said:
To begin the ceremony, and after reviewing how Spain went from being a confessional state to a non-confessional one, Isabel Ayuso (Secretary General of the Fundación Mejora) recalled that there is still work to be done around the world: “In Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses are persecuted and condemned every day for meeting; in Tibet, Buddhists are persecuted; in many parts of the world, Christians are severely persecuted. In other words, freedom of religion is a goal that we have not yet reached.
That is why, Ayuso continues, “it is so important that it is always in our activities, we should always defend it every day… because it is so essential to the human being, religion is so, so important, that it becomes a target for anyone who wants to enslave people“.
After a few words of reflection, Isabel Ayuso gave the floor to the president of the Foundation, who is also the president of the European Office of the Church of Scientology of Spain, Ivan Arjona, who thanked all the volunteers and sponsors of the Foundation for their constant support, while also congratulating the attendees on the 42nd anniversary of the establishment of the first Church of Scientology in Spain.
As a prelude to the awards, Arjona introduced Jetmira Cremonesi, currently responsible in Europe for representing the life and image of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, as a philosopher, writer, founder, and even as a person.
Cremonesi told the overflowing chapel, that “it was in 1953 that L. Ron Hubbard toured the European continent presenting Scientology to religious and academic communities in France, Germany and Spain” … and when he visited “Catalonia, Seville and surrounding cities” explaining in an open letter to Scientologists on June 18, 1953 from his room in the Hotel Miramar in Sitges that ” After a fast and violent passage across most of the countries of Europe, we are catching our breath in Spain. We will be here for quite a while“. Hubbard related that he came “on a motorcycle, we crossed Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, France and part of Spain… I came down to Spain for a rest […] Living is better here than in many other places and it is certainly beautiful enough to encourage anybody.
The first to receive the award, presented in the form of a Tizona sword, was the Fundación La Merced Migraciones. “Among other beautiful things, it has above all, the people who work there” began Isabel Cano, Professor of State Ecclesiastical Law at the University of Alcalá de Henares, highlighting that these award winners “have courses to prevent Islamophobia and other phobias that sadly, there are more and more of concerning religion“.
La Merced Migraciones Foundation, said Ermes Liriano, on behalf of its director Luis Callejas:
The next laureate is Ana Leturia Navaroa, professor of State Ecclesiastical Law at the University of the Basque Country. Leturia holds a degree in Law, a Diploma in Advanced Studies and Research Proficiency. She obtained her PhD from the UPV/EHU with the qualification of Excellent Cum Laude and Extraordinary Prize. She obtained the Diploma of Excellence in the Teaching Programme in 2016, was Secretary of the Department and Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Law, and is a member of several Committees, as well as Course Coordinator for the Bachelor’s Law Degree. She also coordinates the LEGEAK-LEYES collection of translations of legal texts into Basque. She collaborates in University Debate activities and with the Clínica Jurídica por la Justicia Social (Legal Clinic for Social Justice). Her main lines of research are: (1) Freedom of conscience law, religious pluralism and secularism (2) Right to education, freedom of teaching and education in values (3) Participation and freedom of conscience (4) Public management of cultural diversity, minorities and intercultural dialogue.
Professor Leturia said in her acceptance speech:
The final award of the evening was presented by Professor Zoila Combalía, 2021 laureate. Professor Ana María Vega Gutiérrez is Professor of Law at the University of La Rioja. She holds a PhD in law and a degree in canon law from the University of Navarra. She is a university specialist in bioethics from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Valladolid. Director of the UNESCO Chair in democratic citizenship and cultural freedom. She is the representative of the Women’s Education Board, and for years she has directed international summer courses on human rights organised at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
Professor Vega said:
Present at the awards ceremony were people from public administrations, professors, the Ambassador of Armenia, the deacon of the Orthodox Church of Getafe, the president of the Church of the Ministerial God of Jesus Christ International, as well as Ms. Inés Mazarrasa, director of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, attached to the Ministry of the President.