2004 Press Releases

The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce the release of the Romanian and Russian translations of excerpts related to Moldova from the U.S. Department of State’s Annual Report on International Religious Freedom

October 18, 2004

The Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom describes the status of religious freedom in each foreign country, government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world. It was submitted by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress on September 15, 2004 in compliance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA).

The 2004 International Religious Freedom Report covers the period of July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004 and includes 191 individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. The Report will be used as a resource for shaping policy, conducting diplomacy, and making assistance, training, and other resource allocations. The Report also will serve as a basis for the U.S. Government's cooperation with private groups to promote the observance of the internationally recognized right to religious freedom.

In the introduction to the report, Ambassador John V. Hanford, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, states:

“America was founded, in significant measure, by persons fleeing religious persecution and seeking a haven where they could live out their faith without fear of government interference or reprisal. Today, religious freedom remains for many Americans the most treasured of human rights, because it represents the very freedom to seek, know, and serve God according to the dictates of one’s own conscience. Our nation’s impulse to protect and champion this freedom is born of our history, is strengthened by our resolve to advance all fundamental human rights, and is enriched by the priority which many Americans continue to place on the importance of religious faith in their own lives.

“The promise of religious freedom stands in stark, enduring contrast to the peril of religious extremism. Religious extremists cling desperately to the idea that religion demands the death of innocents and the destruction of liberty. We hold confidently to the idea that religious freedom respects the life of all and the cultivation of human dignity. While religious terrorism dictates violent intolerance, religious freedom encourages peaceful coexistence. What religious extremism demands as the iron rule of the state, religious freedom reserves for the sanctity of the individual conscience. Where religious terrorism defiles the sacred, religious freedom honors the sacred.

“This is seen in practice as much as in principle. Nations that respect religious freedom rarely pose a security threat to their neighbors. Nations that protect religious pluralism defuse the appeal of religious intolerance and its violent corollary, religious terrorism. Nations that affirm religious liberty also lay a cornerstone of democracy and rule of law. For these reasons alone, promoting religious freedom is as much in our national interest as it is our national ideal. As we continue our efforts to shape a more secure, just, and peaceful world, religious freedom holds a prominent place.

“Our own nation’s history has not been perfect, nor do we claim to be so today. We continue to strive, at home and abroad, to uphold religious freedom as the universal right that it is. The spiritual longings of the human heart have an innate dignity all their own, deserving our respect and demanding our protection.”

Romanian and Russian translations of excerpts of the Annual Report of Religious Freedom related to Moldova can be found on the U.S. Embassy’s website: www.usembassy.md. The complete report in English is on the U.S. Department of State’s website: www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004.