ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Indonesia held the Religion of 20 International Summit of Religious Authorities on Monday, November 27 2023, at the Park Hyatt Hotel Ballroom, Jakarta.
President Joko Widodo welcomed the presence of religious leaders and delegates because they had actively sought to strengthen world peace and bridge differences with Indonesia.
“Because it really doesn’t make sense, it really doesn’t enter into our conscience, in today’s super modern world there are still open wars and massacres that take civilians, women and children,” said Jokowi, starting his speech. .
President Jokowi emphasized that Indonesia believes that independence is the right of all nations and this is clearly stated in the Indonesian constitution.
“The humanitarian tragedy in Palestine cannot be tolerated in the slightest. “A ceasefire must be implemented immediately, humanitarian assistance must be accelerated, and peace negotiations must begin immediately,” he stressed.
President Jokowi added that Indonesia also has long experience in knitting together diversity, in bridging differences, and in uniting diversity.
He said that currently Indonesia’s population is almost 280 million, consisting of 714 tribes, more than 1,300 local or regional languages, adhere to different religions, and live spread across 17 thousand islands in Indonesia.
“It’s not an easy thing to unite, but we can. “And we are grateful that Indonesia is able to erode tribal egos, able to erode religious egos, able to erode regional egos, so that it is able to realize Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, unity in diversity,” he said.
According to him, this would not be possible if it were not supported by religious teachings.
Unity will also not be able to be realized if it is not supported by religious leaders who teach that love of one’s country is part of faith, tolerance for differences is part of faith, and maintaining unity is also part of faith.
President Jokowi further said that Indonesia believes that the role of religion, the role of religious figures and society is very important in creating peace, in creating harmony and togetherness, both within a country, within the region and around the world.
“Let us create dialogue between religions, across nations to bridge differences and stop all forms of conflict, so that we can create a peaceful world, a harmonious world, a prosperous world together,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the Religion of 20 International Summit of Religious Authorities activity was initiated by the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), with the theme “The Role of Religion in Overcoming Violence in the Middle East and Threats to the Rules-Based International Order”.
This activity was motivated by the increasing escalation of the conflict in Gaza since 7 October 2023. The religious leaders who are members of the R20 network agreed to hold an agenda to encourage real solutions so that the conflict in Gaza can be resolved as soon as possible.
In this forum, religious leaders will later present their responses regarding solutions that can be provided through religious channels for humanitarian problems that occur in various countries, especially in Palestine.
Religion of the 20th International Summit of Religious Authorities seeks to build bridges between religious communities and promote better understanding between different communities. This activity is an important milestone in PBNU’s efforts to strengthen the role of religion in promoting global peace.
Previously, PBNU had successfully held similar events such as the G20 Religion Forum of Twenty or R20 in Nusa Dua, Bali in November 2022. Based on the success of holding the R20 forum, the next initiative, namely the first International Conference on Civilizational Fiqh in Indonesia, was held in Surabaya in February 2023. Then PBNU also held a similar event, namely the ASEAN Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Conference (IIDC) in Jakarta on August 7 2023. (AT Network)
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