Towards A More Comprehensive Interfaith Dialogue

A Christian woman prays inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, on November 29, 2018. (Photo credit: THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

In an age where religious persecution is spreading at speed, it is crucial to consider steps which need to be taken to prevent further acts of religiously motivated violence. Engaging in political dialogue and stressing the need to adhere to international legal standards and states’ international law obligations is not nearly enough.

Interfaith dialogue, which refers to an exchange among religious communities on issues of mutual concern, explores the “engagement of the world’s religious traditions around theological questions and in their efforts to collaborate on questions of peace, human rights, and economic and social development.”

The annual G20 Interfaith Forum aims to build a network of faith and interfaith leaders from around the world, together with non-governmental organizations and other policy leaders, to discuss the role that religious communities can play in promoting the goals of successive G20 Economic Summits. The G20 Interfaith Forum identifies the policy and societal contributions of faith traditions and philosophies on leading global issues. The aim is to develop recommendations on priority issues that draw on interfaith insight and experience. The 2018 G20 Interfaith Forum discussed such urgent issues as equality and gender perspective, the migration and refugee crisis, modern-day slavery, environmental issues, hunger and violent extremism. 

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