It is with great sadness that we have heard of the passing
of our friend, Richard G. Wilkins and we send our sincere condolences to his wife and family. Richards death is a great loss for the entire pro-life and pro-family movement
globally.
Richard who was only 59, was a former law Professor at
Brigham Young College in Provo Utah before he took up the challenge of
directing the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development,
where he organized many family-strengthening events both in that region and
internationally.
Following attendance at a United Nations Habitat ii meeting in
Istanbul in 1996, Richard became one of the most effective pro-life and pro-family
advocates internationally and was a constant presence at UN conferences for
many years.
Richard founded the very influential World Family Policy
Forum, which was an annual gathering of high-ranking diplomats at Brigham Young
University School of Law where Richard was a professor. Diplomats and NGO’s came
from around the world for thee days of intense lectures, and networking that
translated into a growing and more powerful coalition at the UN.
Following the highly successful Doha Declaration on the
Family, Richard took on the challenge of directing the Doha International
Institute for Family Studies and Development, where he organized many family-strengthening
events both in that region and internationally.
Earlier this year Richard returned to the US and joined
Family Watch International which, has just announced that their annual award to
outstanding champions of family life will be re-named the “Richard G. Wilkins
Stand for the Family Award”. This
award is to be honor of Richard and all that he has done to educate and inspire
millions of people around the world to protect the family.
Among the many tributes to Richard, former negotiator for
the Holy See at the UN in New York John Klink said,
“We have lost Richard the lionhearted. I am personally saddened not only at the loss of a valiant defender of life. Richard’s contributions were large—so large that they constitute a beautiful and lasting gift to humanity and a magnificent example of a life brilliantly lived.”
Slovakian MEP Anna Záborská, former President of the Women's
Rights Committee in the European Parliament said,
“We commemorate Richard Wilkins as an outstanding international legal expert highlighting the possible negative impact of the late EU Constitution, and the today’s EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, on family and life issues. Thanks to Richards’s international experience, we could finally limit the attempts of EU community against the natural family in the European Union [...]
We mourn the loss of Richard, who will be sorely missed but
we take comfort in knowing that the legacy he has left in his writings and
speeches will continue to motivate and educate pro-family activists around the
world.
Other tributes to Richard can be found here
