Religious Freedom Awards 2020 recognizes 3 Spanish Professors
Religious Freedom Awards 2020 recognizes 3 Spanish Professors

“Mejora Foundation awards three prestigious teachers in the 7th Edition of the Religious Freedom Awards”

The Church of Scientology Foundation for the Improvement of Life, Culture and Society, in consultative status with the United Nations since 2019, presented the Religious Freedom Awards, in the form of a Tizona sword, to Prof. Dr. Alejandro Torres, Prof. Dr. Rafael Valencia and Prof. Dr. Catalina Pons-Estel, in an online ceremony attended by Prof. Dr. Mercedes Murillo, Director of Religious Freedom of the Spain‘s Ministry of Presidency (Prime Minister’s Office).

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The ceremony, inaugurated by Ivan Arjona, President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights, and Isabel Ayuso, Secretary General of the Mejora Foundation, began with the viewing of two videos regarding the right to freedom of thought, religion and conscience (one of them based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard‘s book “The Way to Happiness”), as well as a music video by international artists such as Chick Corea with a message of “Spread a Smile and not something else”, very suitable for the times of health crisis that are being experienced worldwide.

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Prof. Dr. Mercedes Murillo – Religious Freedom Director at the Spain’s Prime Minister’s Office.

Following this, Mercedes Murillo, Director of Religious Liberty for the Ministry of the Presidency, addressed the award winners and attendees at this online ceremony, saying, “Once again this year the Church of Scientology Foundation is presenting its Religious Freedom Awards, a pioneering initiative, and so it is also appropriate for another year to recognize and appreciate this opportunity to bring together people concerned about this right around the world

Murillo continued by saying we are meeting this afternoon to present some well-deserved awards to three recognized specialists in this field whom I would like to congratulate” words after which the master of ceremonies went on to present the winners, who personally thanked the Fundación Mejora, of the Church of Scientology, for the award received and for the initiative that seeks to encourage people to promote and defend freedom of conscience .

Isabel Ayuso, Secretary General of Foundation, in her presentation said of these awardees that “they are the heroes of our times”…”they have changed the battleground for the classroom, the swords for the quill… on a real battle for freedom”

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Prof. Dr. Alejandro Torres, Universidad Pública de Navarra

The first winner of the celebration was Prof. Dr. Alejandro Torres Gutiérrez, Full Professor of Law at the Public University of Navarra with an incredible production of publications and professor in the field of religious freedom. His publications are focused on the study of the financing and tax system of religious denominations, models of Church-State relations in Spain, Austria, Portugal and France, the status of minorities and multiculturalism in the United States, Canada and Austria. In his acceptance speech he left, among other messages, messages such as the study of freedom of conscience is still relevant because we should not have fewer rights as a result of being less”… “in a society like ours in which there is still much violence for religious reasons I understand that the study of tolerance is important”… “the protection of diversity is key in a state like ours in which all possible interpretations of the universe have a place as long as they respect the ethical minimum of which we all participate in a democratic society”.

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Prof. Rafael Valencia, Universidad de Sevilla

After which, Arjona gave the following Tizona to Prof. Dr. Rafael Valencia Candalija, currently Professor of Ecclesiastical Law at the University of Seville and that in addition to having opened religious diversity in Spain in a practical way to thousands of law students, will soon be publishing a book on Religious Freedom in Football, a pioneering prism in the field. Prof. Valencia said at the ceremony that “there is no prize today for an professor of religious freedom law giving a greater hope and joy as a recognition for protecting religious freedom” … ” we must continue to fight, therefore we must continue to work in defense of religious freedom … for those situations that violate this great right that occupies us and above all, we must continue to seek and continue to establish proposals for a better protection of the good, that is our work, and that should be our mission.

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Prof. Dr. Catalina Pons-Estel, Universtitat Illes Balears

And in this 2020, 40th Anniversary of the Law of Religious Freedom, could not miss an award for Prof. Dr. Catalina Pons-Estel Tugores, from the University of the Balearic Islands, who in addition to teaching this subject since 1997, this year has completed a series of lectures reviewing and commenting on the current Spanish law with the vision of both minor and major religious entities, as well as professionals in the field both scholars and government officials, which she has brought to the general public in addition to classrooms. In her acceptance speech, Prof. Pons-Estel explained that religious freedom is a very current subject, a subject that is very much alive and close to all citizens” … “although we have all taken for granted the importance of the fundamental right of religious freedom, in these times in which everything seems to be in crisis, it never hurts to remember the importance of these rights that have cost us so much to achieve and guarantee”.

The ceremony was recorded online and can be accessed on the Foundation’s social networks and HERE.

The event also had space for a statement by the Director of Religious Freedom of the Ministry of the Presidency, to remind citizens about the current health situation: “I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the responsibility that all religious entities have had in this situation to limit their various forms of worship and replace them with other ways of providing spiritual care to their faithful … Therefore, I appreciate this task that they have been developing and that has not only maintained the possibility of meeting those who share their beliefs, but also in a difficult situation I know that all have maintained their solidarity activities towards the most vulnerable”.

First undocumented National Book Awards finalist says 2016 election ‘ignited a fire in my belly’
First undocumented National Book Awards finalist says 2016 election ‘ignited a fire in my belly’
The National Book Awards’ first undocumented finalist has said that the 2016 election put a “fire in [her] belly” and spurred her to write about her experience as an immigrant in America.

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, one of the first undocumented students to be accepted into Harvard University, was shortlisted in October in the non-fiction category for her book The Undocumented Americans, which was published in March.

In the book, Ms Cornejo Villavicencio details her own family’s story and profiles the lives of different undocumented immigrants across the United States.

She writes that the work is “for everybody who wants to step away from the buzzwords in immigration, the talking heads, the kids in graduation caps and gowns, and read about the people underground.”

“Not heroes. Randoms. People. Characters.”

Speaking to CNN about why she decided to write the book, the 31-year-old said the 2016 election ignited “a fire in [her] belly.”

“I had read a lot of books that I felt did not do a good job of representing migrants in an interesting way. It was mostly bad writing. It relied a lot on caricatures and cliches,” she said.

“And I always thought I could do better, but I just never felt like I had a fire in my belly until the night of the election.”

Those profiled for the book range from labourers on Staten Island to people who were on the front lines cleaning up wreckage after 9/11, families facing the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and women who are forced to turn to herbalists and healers in Miami.

Ms Cornejo Villavicencio explained to the broadcaster that it was important for her to give a “full picture” of those she talked to for the book because she did not choose “to write for a White audience.”

“I chose to write for children of immigrants. I chose to write for immigrants. I chose to write for people of colour. And, you know, that’s why it’s a book that has base notes in it. It’s not a simple fragrance,” she said.

She added: “I chose to not talk about reasons why people chose to come here, because that enables the readers to judge for themselves whether the reasons are worthy or not. And it’s none of their f****** business.

“If people cross deserts or oceans and risk their lives and then have a hell of a time here, who are you to say that this is a worthy enough decision to come here? We just don’t owe that to each other.”

She said she was “offended” that literary agents suddenly began showing intertest after she published an anonymous essay for The Daily Beast about life as an undocumented harvard student.

“It wasn’t about my writing. I knew that’s not why they were reaching out,” she said.

The book finalist told CNN that she would be taking a break from writing about immigration following the book’s publication as it took an “extreme toll on [her] mental health” and said that her next work will be a novel.

“I feel like I did what I set out to, and I stopped thinking that it’s a requirement of good writing to end the day shaken and to be immobilised by trauma the day after,” she said.

Ms Cornejo Villavicencio is no longer undocumented as she recently received her green card and became a legal permanent resident, according to CNN, but she told the outlet that this doesn’t simply fix everything.

“It gives me some amount of safety,” she told the broadcaster.

“But like people who understand the system know, it’s complicated. And it’s not like everything is OK now. My parents, my family, people I love are still undocumented and I could literally be deported for any small thing.”

Speaking of releasing her experiences and such intimate stories into the world Ms Cornejo Villavicencio said: “I hope people love them. I hope immigrants and children of immigrants are inspired by them to create their own art.”

EU support for Italian biotech’s red blood cell technology to treat rare diseases
EU support for Italian biotech’s red blood cell technology to treat rare diseases
    • EIB awards €30 million loan to EryDel for development of novel RBC treatment of rare diseases.
    • EryDel’s treatment platform under development for use in treating rare childhood diseases such as Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT).
    • Financing supported under the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the main component of the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Italian biotech company EryDel SpA have signed a contract to provide a loan of €30 million to EryDel. This late-stage biotech company aims to develop and commercialise therapies based on its proprietary RBC technology for the treatment of rare diseases. The EU bank’s loan is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe under which the EIB and the European Commission are working together as strategic partners, with the EIB’s financing operations boosting the competitiveness of the European economy.

EryDel’s proprietary platform technology is an easy-to-use, fast and automatic bedside procedure for encapsulating small and large molecules including therapeutic enzymes in patients’ own red blood cells. The cells are immediately re-infused into patients, providing prolonged half-life in circulation, reduced immunogenicity, better tolerability and predictable vascular distribution. EryDel’s most advanced product is being developed to treat AT, a rare neurodegenerative childhood disease that causes severe disability. EryDel’s platform RBC technology will be applied to treat other rare diseases as well. The financing will support ongoing R&D by the company and its network of partners, which encompasses research institutes, clinical centres and patient associations.

EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco commented: “The fact that EryDel is developing therapies for very rare diseases is all the more reason for us to be proud to support this initiative. With the backing of the EFSI, the EIB is happy to finance EryDel’s development of their autologous RBC encapsulation therapy to treat very serious childhood diseases. As the bank of the European Union, we have to ensure that new innovative EU-based companies continue to have access to finance, so that they can bring their technologies to market to help improve people’s lives.”

European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “The Investment Plan for Europe has a very strong track record in identifying and supporting innovative technology companies. With the financing of the Italian company EryDel and its pioneering RBC technology, we will help push the boundaries of what is possible in the treatment of rare diseases to the benefit of patients in Europe and across the world.”

EryDel CEO Luca Benatti said: “We’re delighted to receive this financing from the EIB, which supports our vision of becoming a fully integrated company that can bring innovative therapies to patients. The EIB clearly recognises the unmet medical need for effective therapies for rare diseases and the potential to help patients in Europe and around the world, and supports our belief that in the future there will be effective therapies developed by EryDel for a wide range of rare diseases. The funds will be used for planned expenditures for research and development and capital expenditure activities. Now that we have completed enrolment for our Phase 3 clinical trial ATTeST, the largest clinical study ever conducted in Ataxia Telangiectasia, the support and collaboration we are receiving from the EIB is significant.”

EryDel CCO Ronan Gannon said: “We’re honoured to have the EIB as a partner who shares our market view and technology vision and trusts EryDel to play a leading role in the global rare disease market. It also demonstrates that Europe plays an important role in leading-edge innovations.”

EryDel SpA is a global, late-stage biotech company aiming to use its proprietary red blood cell (RBC) technology to develop and commercialise therapies for the treatment of rare diseases. Its most advanced product EryDex is under late-stage development for the treatment of Ataxia Telangiectasia, a rare autosomal recessive disorder for which no therapy is currently available. A completed Phase II trial in AT patients demonstrated statistically significant efficacy of EryDex on both the primary and secondary endpoints. An international multi-centre Phase III pivotal study, ATTeST, is currently being conducted. EryDel has a pipeline of pre-clinical programmes that are working with its proprietary RBC delivery technology in treating other rare diseases, which includes the use of enzyme replacement therapies.