US EditionHouse Hearing Examines Rising Global Religious Freedom Threats, Policy Challenges
The summit gathered over 90 organizations from 30 faiths to address rising global religious persecution, noting nearly 80% of the world faces high restrictions, organizers said.
- The sixth annual International Religious Freedom Summit opened Feb. 2, 2026 at the Washington Hilton with co-chairs Katrina Lantos Swett and Sam Brownback urging intensified global advocacy.
- Organizers say nearly 80% of the world’s population lives in countries with high religious restrictions, a trend rising in recent years, while the charter adopted in 2021 affirms religious freedom as a universal right.
- The two-day summit, running through Tuesday, brings together more than 90 organizations representing over 30 faith traditions and features plenary sessions, spotlight presentations and breakout tracks.
- Speakers urged governments, civil society and faith communities to defend conscience rights, with Brownback framing the movement as a moral and geopolitical struggle, describing 'our greatest ally' as people of faith under repression.
- More people than ever now live in places where conscience rights are restricted, organizers said; speakers warned 'They actually fear religious freedom more than they do aircraft carriers or even nuclear weapons'.
13 Articles
13 Articles
International Religious Freedom Summit Calls for Action Against Rising Religious Persecution
The sixth annual International Religious Freedom Summit opened Monday with a call to intensify global advocacy for freedom of belief, as co-chairs warned that religious restrictions and persecution are rising worldwide even as the movement to defend conscience rights gains strength. Addressing hundreds of advocates, faith leaders and policy experts at the Washington Hilton, IRF Summit Co-Chair Katrina Lantos Swett, president of the Lantos Founda…
LIVE NOW: IRF Summit Discusses Protecting Freedom of Belief, How Authoritarian Regimes Target Religion Abroad
The International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit 2026 is held from Feb. 1 to 3 in Washington. Schedule of plenary session on Feb. 3: Fleeing for Faith: Protecting Freedom of Belief for People on the Move This panel begins at 9:15 a.m. ET on Feb. 3. It explores the double challenge faced by victims of religious persecution: being forced to flee their homelands and then facing additional challenges to exercising their faith in exile. Moderator HIA…
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