UNAOC Press Statement on Continued Attacks on Religious Sites
The High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) strongly condemns all recent terrorist attacks on religious sites and places of worship, including the attack on a Penticostal [sic] church in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo that killed more than ten church-goers and wounded dozens during Sunday mass on January 15.

(United Nations Alliance of Civilizations)

Pope Upholds Ukrainian Interfaith Efforts as Concrete Testimony of Peace
Pope Francis received a delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations and thanked members for their witness of peace and for their efforts to pave the way to the common good of all people in war-torn Ukraine.

(Vatican News)

Harmony in a World in Crisis
As part of Interfaith Harmony Week 2023, this event focused on the theme of working together to achieve peace, gender equality, mental health and well-being, and environmental preservation.

United Nations General Assembly
February 3 | New York, NY

Walking Together in the Light of Fratelli Tutti and Laudato Si’
The International Conference on Fratelli Tutti featured international interfaith leaders, academic representatives, and faith leaders exploring topics like climate change, human solidarity, immigration, and peace. It was an official pre-parliament event as part of the lead-up to the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Global Ministries University (California) & Tangaza University Institute for Interreligious Dialogue and Islamic Studies (Kenya)
February 2 - 4 | Online

International Religious Freedom Summit 2023
The International Religious Freedom Summit 2023 brought together a broad coalition of organizations to increase public awareness and political strength for the international religious freedom movement.

International Religious Freedom Summit
January 31 - February 1 | Washington, DC

This event focused on developing constructive ways for leaders in higher education and other sectors to navigate the conflicts that emerge in a religiously diverse democracy.

Interfaith America
January 31, 2023 | Online

Women Building a Culture of Encounter Interreligiously
The event aimed to listen to interreligious initiatives from different contexts and develop a global network of religious traditions and spiritualities which can work together in solidarity for a growing re-humanization of society through friendship, dialogue, and cooperation.

Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue
January 25 - 27 | Rome, Italy

Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs: Securing Peoples’ Well-Being and Planetary Sustainability
This event illustrated how both conceptual and practical convergences around human security are exhibited in the intersections of human security with sustainable development, durable peace, and gender justice. Participants explored ways to better address threats through the discourse and practice of faith-based organizations and partners in the UN system.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
January 24 | Online

Equitable Futures: Building Solidarity in an Interdependent World
At the 2023 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, this session brought together leaders from interfaith organizations, global research institutes, and management consulting firms for an interdisciplinary discussion of what’s possible when the world comes together on pressing issues of universal concern.

GHR Foundation
January 18 | Davos, Switzerland

Big Tech, Hate, and Religious Freedom Online

This report draws attention to how debates around mismanagement at social media platforms often overlook the impact on religious freedom, which guarantees the right for people of all faiths and none to practice what they believe without fear of harm.

(Interfaith Alliance)

On the Value of Empathy to Inter-Religious Relations: A Case Study Based on the Thought of Charles Hartshorne

This paper explores the idea that a theological account of empathy can go beyond the framework constructed in psychology and transform it into something that has positive value for interreligious integration and dialogue.

(Religions)

Intra and Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Building A Muslim Personal Story

This paper will discuss some of the rights, responsibilities, and skills essential for a successful intra-faith and interfaith dialogue in the light of those principles and guidelines initiated in the Quran and Sunnah.

(Journal of Human Rights)

The Complexities of Interreligious Dialogue in the Post-Yugoslav Context

This article sees interreligious dialogue and tolerance as an imperative prerequisite for multi-confessional reconciliation in the area of the former Yugoslavia, so that religion is not used as a means for social and political agendas.

(Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies)

The Pharisees: What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us

This February 6 event explored what we know—and don’t know—about these teachers of the past who are also in some ways the predecessors of all forms of modern Judaism. The program started with an initial presentation by the co-editors and contributors to The Pharisees, a multidisciplinary volume that addresses the question historically, theologically, and pastorally. Following the panel, interactive roundtable discussions allowed the panelists to join participants in exploring some practical suggestions for incorporating a nuanced understanding of the Pharisees in preaching, teaching, and catechesis.

Religious Nationalism and Pope Francis’ "Culture of Encounter"

Writing for La Civiltà Cattolica, Berkley Center Senior Fellow Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J., sketches several examples of how religious nationalism threatens peace. He also notes several forms of faith-based resistance to religious nationalism and highlights how Pope Francis’ “culture of encounter” can provide a remedy for such religious nationalism and help build peace.

A Time to Act: Faith in the G20

Reflecting on the 2022 G20 Interfaith Forum in Abu Dhabi, Katherine Marshall, a Berkley Center senior fellow and vice president of the G20 Interfaith Association, employs the motif of the Greek concept of kairos time to highlight the urgency of the role of religion and religious networks on the polycrisis facing global society in terms of COVID-19, climate, conflicts, and children.