Indonesia Initiates Interfaith Leaders Meeting

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian government will initiate a meeting of international interfaith leaders as a means of calling for peace in the midst of conflict that is developing in the world today.

“I met the Foreign Minister, who we discussed, among others, to hold a meeting of world religious leaders. It is hoped that Indonesia can be the host. The target is how religious leaders get along well in the world, so that religious conflicts do not occur,” said Vice President Ma’ruf Amin on Thursday, February 13.

Ma’ruf added that the meeting of interfaith leaders would take the momentum of the arrival of supreme Catholic Church leader Pope Francis to Indonesia, as President Joko Widodo’s invitation was sent to the Vatican.

“We want not only to be able to get along well, but also to be able to reconcile the conflicts that are developing now in the world with prominent religious figures such as from Islam, from the Pope, then Christian, Hindu and Buddhist religious leaders together how to build a new, more new world. peaceful, more harmonious, ” he explained.

Previously, the efforts to increase interfaith harmony through international interfaith dialogue were also conveyed by Vice President Ma’ruf when meeting with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob some time ago.

During the meeting, Vice President Ma’ruf and President Halimah agreed to encourage the holding of interfaith dialogue between the two countries, as an effort to counter radicalism and terrorism.

Ma’ruf said that the dialogues between religious leaders must be put forward as an effort to create harmony and tolerance between communities. With tolerance, radical notions will be difficult to infiltrate people’s thinking.

“We want to hold dialogue between religious leaders in this world, to build interfaith harmony, so that religion does not become a source of conflict,” he said.

According to Ma’ruf, dialogue is a solution to create and maintain peace in conflict areas because the military approach is not optimal as a means of resolution.

“We hope that through religion we can become the glue to be able to resolve the conflict, because efforts to reconcile the conflict through a political approach and the military approach have not resolved the existing conflicts,” he said. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)