“Discerning Respect and Diversity”

Speeches and prayers from all participating religions and nations were an important part of the conference. Photo by: UEM

The 3rd International Interfaith Conference which was collaboratively held by PGI* and UEM finally officially closed on November 23 2023. The meeting, which was attended by about 50 participants representing 4 religions and several NGOs from various parts of the world, closed with a Public Action in the form of tree planting mangroves in North Jakarta. This mangrove tree planting activity is a symbol of the real commitment of the participants to respond in real terms to one of the biggest problems currently threatening the earth, namely the climate crisis.

Apart from the climate crisis, this conference also discussed various other common problems such as religious intolerance or extremism, and human rights violations against minority groups. Participants listened to perspectives from several regions which might be an inspiration in resolving conflicts in their respective places of origin. It is hoped that discussions in small groups will be able to raise local wisdom in a wider context so that it can be used by those from other regions.

The joint message the participants wanted to convey to the community and government after the conference is online now for you to read here.

Andar Parlindungan, UEM Executive Secretary Training & Empowerment, says about the conference:

“The special feature of this conference was that almost all speakers emphasized the role of religions in climate justice. When we talked about peace from the perspective of interfaith dialogue in the past, the topics were always interfaith conflicts, violence and the closure of places of worship. But this time, apart from the issues of peace between people, every speaker emphasized the importance of saving the earth and creation together as a global community of faith.”

*PGI = Persekutuan Gereja-Gereja di Indonesia (Communion of Churches in Indonesia, umbrella association of protestant churches on a national level)