International Institute for Religious Freedom

The Quest for Shared Civilizational Values

Presented to the G20 Religion Forum (R20) Bali, Indonesia, 2–3 November 2022

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About the author

Mary Ann Glendon is the Learned Hand Professor of Law emerita at Harvard University and a former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. She writes in the fields of human rights, comparative law, and political theory. Glendon chaired the U.S. State Department Commission on Unalienable Rights (2019–2020) and served as a member of the Commission on International Religious Freedom (2012–2016) and the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics (2001–2004). She received the National Humanities Medal in 2006. In 1991, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences from 2003 to 2013 and a member of the Board of Supervisors of the Institute of Religious Works (Vatican Bank) from 2013 to 2018. She represented the Holy See at various conferences including the 1995 U.N. women’s conference in Beijing, where she headed the Vatican delegation.