Asian News International (ANI): “In a first, G20 in Bali includes major religions as ‘part of solution’ to tackle global crises,” by Ayushi Agarwal, 31 October 2022. “The R20 is mobilizing religious, political and economic leaders from G20 member states and elsewhere throughout the world to build bridges of dialogue between East and West to encourage mutual understanding, peace and friendship among the world’s diverse peoples and civilizations, to encourage honest and realistic conversation within and between religious communities and in order to ensure that religion functions as a source of solutions, rather than problems.”

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha: “Hindu Representation at G20 Religion Forum, Bali, Indonesia,” 31 October 2022. “R20 is a ground-breaking new global initiative that brings together religious leaders from G20 member states — a strategic multilateral platform connecting the world’s 20 major developed and emerging economies to help secure future global economic growth and prosperity — to discuss and respond to wider global challenges of the 21st century.”

The Christian Post: “Archbishop tells G20 event Christianity ‘on the very edge of extinction’ in Iraq,” by Michael Gryboski, 7 November 2022. “During his remarks, [Archbishop Warda] stressed that ‘sectarian violence’ is a significant problem in Iraq. This country suffered the rise of an Islamic State stronghold during the last decade in which thousands of Iraqi religious minorities were killed, enslaved or forced to flee their homelands. Warda stated, ’without an end to this sectarian violence, there is no future for religious pluralism in Iraq, or anywhere else in the Mideast for that matter.’”

The Church of England Newspaper: “Archbishop challenges world leaders on ‘slow motion’ genocide in Nigeria,” 1 November 2022. “Archbishop Henry Ndukuba challenged the Indonesian R20 Forum of religious leaders, in advance of this month’s G20 meeting, on the threat of Islamist extremists. ‘Nigeria is now one of the most dangerous countries to be a Christian’ he declared.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “Elder Stevenson Tells Religious Leaders in Bali that ‘All Are Alike Unto God’,” 8 November 2022. “‘When citizens learn to live together with respect and unity despite religious differences, we have the foundational stones to true peace,’ Elder Stevenson said. ‘The gospel of Jesus Christ calls on us to love people of all faiths, cultures, races and nations for the common good — all are alike unto God.’”

The Conversation: “The G20’s first religious summit includes India’s militant Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – it’s a bold move for global peace,” by Hadza Min Fadhli Robby, 31 October 2022. “[RSS] should seriously consider the R20 forum and its engagement with religious organisations, including NU, as a way to heal the wounds still left from the communal conflict of the Partition in 1947. Cohesiveness and mutual understanding between Hindus and Muslims in India is a precondition for India to become an emerging power and moral force in global politics.”

El-Khabar (Arabic): “Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama Chooses Shaykh Al-Issa as Co-chair of the R20,” October 15, 2022.

First Things: “The G20 Gets Religion,” by Mary Ann Glendon, 17 November 2022. “As I left this year’s meeting, I could not help but feel that the group’s dreams were wildly ambitious. Yet, as Pope Francis said in his message to the R20, if one looks beyond ‘the ways in which religion is weaponized to stoke hostility and achieve political goals,’ one finds that the ‘major religious groups overwhelmingly espouse a set of values that, when widely observed, make possible civilizations marked by peaceful interaction and mutual respect.’ I permit myself to entertain the thought that possibly, just possibly, this little noticed meeting in Bali might have a larger effect on world stability and prosperity than any decision reached by world leaders at the G20 Summit.”

The Hill: “At the G20, Islamic clerics are mainstreaming pluralism,” by Muddassar Ahmed, 9 November 2022. “A remarkable transformation has been taking place in the Muslim world, a years-long shift towards pluralism and tolerance belying common assumptions about Islam. Maybe we missed this earlier: a lot has been going on, after all. But last week in Bali, at the G20’s ground-breaking Religion Forum, the R20, that transformation took center stage. Not only is it an epochal moment in modern Islam, but this moment also helped create the world’s most important interfaith conversation.”

The Indian Express: “Religions-20: A pioneering initiative in G-20 to build a God-centric value system,” by Ram Madhav, 22 October 2022. “The R-20 will move from Muslim-majority Indonesia this year to Hindu-majority India next year and Catholic-majority Brazil in 2024. This process can help the three world religions, together with Buddhism and other important religions, evolve a universal value system and also become equal partners with the political, economic and technological leadership of the world in defining the destiny of mankind in the 21st century.”

International Institute for Religious Freedom: “A Clash of Civilizations or Shared Civilizational Values: We Must Decide,” by Reverend Dr. Thomas K. Johnson, 2023. “My central point is that independent of our diverse religious rituals and practices, which embody our very different ways of understanding the Ultimate, I believe we can readily envision gathering around a shared table to identify the most fundamental values on the basis of which our societies can truly flourish.”

International Institute for Religious Freedom: “The Protestant Faith and Shared Civilizational Values,” by The Most Reverend Dr. Thomas Paul Schirrmacher, 2023. “We are people of good will, who do not want to use violence against each other, but who instead want to engage in rational discourse with each other, and promote a free and just society in which we all can live.”

Kompas (Indonesian): “Indonesia Beri Agamawan Dunia Perjalanan Budaya,” 6 November 2022.

Koran Sindo (Indonesian): “R20 Untuk Kemanusiaan dan Peradaban,” by Imam Taufiq, 31 October 2022.

Muslim Journal: “Indonesia Hosts G20/R20 International Religion Forum,” by Imam Enrique Rasheed, 2 December, 2022. “What makes this a historical event is that it is the first time a religion forum has been officially sanctioned as part of the G20 Summit. The vision of this agenda is to have the G20 Religion Forum R20 adopted into the annual G20 every year as ‘an impartial, inclusive and solution-oriented forum.’”

National Catholic Register: “G20 Religion Forum Gathers Ahead of Summit in Bali, Indonesia,” by Uchenna Ekwo, 6 November 2022. “For Catholics, the opportunity to work with faith leaders with similar priorities and common commitments is exciting. It means our dedication to religion, to social development and to stewardship of the Earth is not one we make alone. And that is something all the world should heed. For Dr. Al-Issa is right: Behind many of our earthly problems are spiritual problems. We cannot solve the former without a deeper consciousness of who we are, where we came from and where we are going.”

National Post: “Raymond J. de Souza: New G20 Religion Forum brings hope for peace and understanding,” by Father Raymond J. de Souza, 4 December 2022. “Like the G20, the R20 issued a final communiqué. It committed the participants to ‘prevent the political weaponization of identity,’ ‘curtail the spread of communal hatred,’ and ‘promote solidarity and respect among the diverse peoples, cultures, and nations of the world.’”

The Print: “You know G20 — now there’s R20, a ‘push for moderate Islam’ with links to RSS’s Ram Madhav,” by Madhuparna Das, 6 August 2022. “‘The idea of hosting [the R20] was mooted by Nahdlatul Ulama. We from India join hands with them to address the challenge of radicalism, terrorism, war, and violence. Right now, there is no role of spiritual or civilisational leadership [within the G20]. R20 is aimed at developing a global platform of cultural, religious, and civilisational leadership that can pro-actively help countries in tackling some of the 21st-century challenges,’ added [Ram Madhav].”

The Print: “Islam Nusantara saved Indonesia’s Muslims from ISIS. It can help India too,” by Hadza Min Fadhli Robby, 7 July 2022. “[A] unique and significant initiative… that will bring together leaders of all the important world religions to assist G-20 governments in building a united, pluralist and peaceful world.”

Real Clear Politics: “Faith and Human Rights at the G20 Religion Forum in Indonesia,” by Peter Berkowitz, 5 November 2022. “Let us, gathered here in Bali for the first annual G20 Religion Forum, carry forward the work of cultivating respect for human rights through teaching and education. Inspired not least by Indonesia’s national motto of unity in diversity, let us cherish our own traditions while reaching outward to the principles that reflect our shared humanity.”

Sekratariat Kabinet Republik Indonesia (Indonesian): “Pembukaan G20 Religion Forum (R20), 2 November 2022,” 2 November 2022.

Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons