Dr. Francis Kuria is secretary general of Religions for Peace International and its African affiliate, the African Council of Religious Leaders-Religions for Peace. He also serves as administrative chair of the international steering group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. This post is based on his keynote address at the ICLRS 32nd International Law and Religion Symposium, 6 October 2025.
Introduction
Now more than ever, we are confronted with internal divisions and heightened tensions, calling for a timely and necessary conversation on the protection of religious freedom. The tragic attack on 28 September on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, serves as a devastating reminder of the urgent need to persist in promoting religious freedom for all—a responsibility that we must not only address in theory but that requires our collective action on community, judicial, and legislative fronts.
Religious freedom is critical in forging a future of peace, inclusivity, and shared sacred well-being. It is the heart of civic and spiritual flourishing and is the foundation of dignity, community, and harmony across faiths. Enshrined in law and religious teachings, the right to believe is a fundamental right that we must uphold.
Despite our agreement here on its importance, religious freedom is not yet universal. Certain groups—targets of rising authoritarianism, violent extremism, religiously motivated violence, and politicized narratives of exclusion—are barred from experiencing the basic freedoms of thought, conscience, and religion.
Restrictions on religious freedom threaten more than half of the world’s population, reflected in the persecution of minorities and the desecration of holy sites, the rise of hate speech, and the silencing of dissenting voices. These injustices strike at the core of humanity, diminishing human dignity and weakening bonds among communities.
For more than 50 years, Religions for Peace has worked to unite the world’s faiths in common action for peace, guided by a vision in which the world’s religious communities join hands, take action, and build peace in unison. Together, Religions for Peace and the International Center for Law and Religious Studies share a vision of securing religious liberty for all that must be achieved through dialogue and collective effort.
Below, I share the mission and vision of Religions for Peace and our efforts to achieve a shared, sacred flourishing that leaves no one behind. As I discuss the importance of religious freedom and multi-faith dialogue and its applications, I will explore some views and methods in service of facilitating effective multi-faith dialogue that stretch across the borders of generations and governments.
Religions for Peace: Its Vision and Mission
Religions for Peace promotes cooperation among faith leaders who believe in peace, urging them to work together to heal historical and social fractures that create conflict and misunderstanding, undermining the achievement of peace.
Championing freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief (FoTCR) stands among Religions for Peace’s core strategic priorities. We use such an encompassing term, rather than simply “freedom of belief,” to underscore the complexities of this issue and to bring various stakeholder actors into the conversation in an inclusive way.
Under this strategic priority, Religions for Peace engages with governmental, intergovernmental, and civil society frameworks—providing safe spaces for divisive and fraught conversations on FoTCR. We encounter and encourage discussions on
- balancing freedom of speech with the elimination of hate speech and the introduction of blasphemy laws;
- promoting an alliance of diverse religious traditions;
- eliminating violence and hatred against all;
- and disseminating intergovernmental and multireligious declarations.
Examples of Religions for Peace’s Actions
For more than 50 years, Religions for Peace has promoted FoTCR not only as a legal right but as a sacred moral obligation shared across faiths. The following are a few examples of our work, showcasing the power that championing these freedoms can have:
- Religions for Peace developed The Mohonk Criteria for Humanitarian Assistance in Complex Emergencies, along with a multireligious task force. These ethical and legal guidelines remain a global benchmark for faith-sensitive humanitarian response, reinforcing neutrality, impartiality, and the protection of human dignity in times of crisis.
- In response to rising attacks on sacred sites rooted in political, territorial, and religious tensions, Religions for Peacecodeveloped The Universal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites, offering a principled framework to prevent interreligious conflict and promote peace through the preservation of religious heritage. This precedent informed the work of our Interreligious Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which led a multi-year initiative to monitor and publicly condemn attacks on places of worship, collaborate with law enforcement and media, and build interfaith alliances for the protection of holy sites.
- In Southeast Asia, Religions for Peace and partners launched the Advancing Interreligious Dialogue and Freedom of Religion or Belief project to enhance local capacities in combatting religious discrimination and prejudice. Through the initiative, 60 religious leaders and activists participated in an intensive interfaith fellowship, where they were trained in mediation, communications, process design, and interreligious peacebuilding.
- Currently, members of Religions for Peace’s Interfaith Youth Committee are developing a resource guide on protecting freedom of thought, conscience, and religion for faith leaders and civil society members. This guide will be a resource in future trainings and workshops, providing leaders around the world with tools to protect their sacred right to faith.
Religions for Peace’s leadership on FoTCR combines advocacy, education, interfaith solidarity, and policy influence. It demonstrates that these essential freedoms cannot be protected in a vacuum; they require bold cooperation between religious leaders, governments, and civil society.
Examples of Countries and Organizations Protecting Religious Freedom
Despite the rising attacks on essential FoTCR rights across the world, the protection of religious freedom is being upheld in multireligious societies. Many initiatives on the governmental and grassroots levels can serve as inspiration on our journey toward a shared sacred flourishing.
Bosnia and Herzegovina builds trust and improves relations across religious and ethnic communities, focusing on the protection of religious artifacts and holy sites through systematic reporting of attacks on holy sites, interfaith public condemnations of violence, and active engagement of stakeholders such as the police, media, and local political leaders.
Albania’s institutionalized protection of the right to belief has nurtured a robust culture of mutual respect, reflected not only in institutions but also in everyday life, through mixed-faith families, shared festivals, and community solidarity, proving that a nation can overcome the darkest repression of faith and emerge as a beacon of pluralism.
The JISRA (Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action) initiative, implemented in part by African Council of Religious Leaders, and named after the Arabic word for bridge, promotes peaceful and just societies by encouraging freedom of religion and belief across 50 civil society organizations in Africa.
Methods: Multi-faith Dialogue and Diversity
Behind these impactful initiatives are tried and true methods Religions for Peace implements to build strong protections for religious freedom that can apply to everyone. I focus here on the importance of multi-faith dialogue and embracing diversity.
Multi-faith dialogue is the heart and soul of nurturing these freedoms, and Religions for Peace calls on religious leaders from diverse traditions to unite in these dialogues, which provide powerful moral leadership and emphasis that interfaith harmony is both achievable and necessary.
To embrace true multi-faith dialogue, we must champion the unity found in diversity. Humans of every faith, no matter their beliefs, share common values of love, mercy, compassion, justice, and respect for the intrinsic value of every human being.
An essential component of embracing diversity is centering the voices of underrepresented groups not only as participants but as leaders of these conversations. Inclusive and intergenerational leadership that provides a platform for the voices of women, youth, religious minorities, and indigenous leaders is crucial to supporting work at grassroots and global levels
In his speech at the 2025 Religions for Peace World Council meeting in Istanbul, Elder Gerrit Gong, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke about the intersection of faith and artificial intelligence, and in doing so, offered poignant reflections on our humanity: “Human benevolence, compassion, judgment, optimism, faith—that which speaks to and for our souls—require lived experience and authentic relationships.” Our lived experiences and dialogues with one another are what contribute to our humanity and, ultimately, our shared sacred flourishing. Elder Gong implored us to look to our own religious heritages in order to foster this humanity.
It is through these shared values, as well as our differences, that we draw strength, allowing us to make a significant impact across diverse faith communities. Establishing bonds and working together as a community of peacebuilders is pivotal in addressing the complex attacks on freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
Dialogue must also occur at the institutional level to reinforce the work we do at the grassroots level. Governments and civil society organizations play a pivotal role in advancing freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, by establishing legal frameworks to protect religious freedoms and marginalized groups.
Collaboration between faith-based and secular actors, and the implementation of human rights literacy and policy, promotes understanding and tolerance and safeguards the rights of marginalized groups. It is only through the promotion of dialogue at both local and institutional levels that necessary change can be initiated.
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also delivered an address at the 2025 World Council gathering. He spoke of multi-faith dialogue as “an inexorable necessity, an act of collective resistance” against the dissolution of meaning and the sacred in today’s world. His import on cross-religious dialogue is well placed, and he notes that the essence of this dialogue occurs in action—in sharing bread with and caring for one another. We should take guidance from the Ecumenical Patriarch’s melding of both thought and actions.
Conclusion
We must establish stronger and more inclusive protections of religious freedoms that consider all faiths. This begins with a combination of legal reform, interreligious and intrareligious dialogue, grassroots action, and culturally rooted leadership to advance freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
Our actions manifest in preventing hate speech, protecting holy sites, raising public awareness, and advocating for the right of all individuals to believe—or not believe—freely and without fear.
This Symposium and others like it that encourage authentic dialogue between players and stakeholders on religious freedom worldwide are fundamental to advancing conversation and action. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is dependent on conversations and cooperation across religious communities, governmental agencies, civil society, academia, and private sector entities.
Events like the 2025 International Law and Religion Symposium present concrete examples of the value that religion brings to society—through open and accessible dialogue, solidarity among diverse actors, and solutions that ignite global change. Religion unites us through our shared principles and visions and motivates us to embrace our differences so that we may procure a future of shared sacred flourishing for all.
Building trust through authentic leadership and community ownership, creating safe spaces for dialogue, connecting spiritual values to human rights, and bridging divides across sectors are imperative to securing a future of peace and compassion for all faith groups. Where these factors come together, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion can flourish even in post-conflict, repressive, or divided societies.
We will not see meaningful impact from dialogue alone. Our strength comes from our united actions. Together, through the protection of religious freedom, we can ensure a future of peace, inclusivity, and flourishing for all.