On September 12-14, 2017, the Center co-sponsored the International Scientific Seminar “Social Partnership of the State and Religious Associations in the Modern World: Legal and Practical Aspects.” The conference was held in Vladivostok, Russia at the Institute of the History of Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS. The scientific and practical goal of the event was to study the positive experience of state-confessional relations in relation to social partnership, to analyze well-founded models of social service of confessions and to improve the forms of secular and religious education as an intensively developing aspect of social service. Experts noted the importance of holding this seminar in a region with a rich religious tradition and culture.
Daniel Ortner, Constitutional Law Fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, attended the event and delivered greetings on behalf of Associate Director Elizabeth Clark. Emeritus International Advisory Council Member Dennis B. Neuenschwander also attended the conference as a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The seminar was attended by representatives of religious and public organizations, state and municipal authorities, leading Russian scholars of religious studies, and guests from other countries.