Jakarta, July 11 (AseanAll) —The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Retno L.P. Marsudi, officially opened the International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (IC-CCRL), which was held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in collaboration with the Leimena Institute on July 10,2024.
The IC-CCRL held for two days on 10-11/07 and was attended by more than 160 offline participants and 4,000 online participants from within and outside the country.
In her keynote speech, the Indonesian Foreign Minister conveyed the importance of constructive dialogue to resolve conflicts around the world. These conflicts are not inherently religious, but religious elements are often present, intensifying tensions. Therefore, understanding diverse faiths becomes crucial, an endeavor we must always nurture. Freedom of each religion must be legally guaranteed, diversity must be respected and does not let religious differences create fanaticism and cause tensions.
"In this case, there are 3 (three) agendas in which Indonesia always works actively with the international community, namely strengthening tolerance, promoting inclusivity, and encouraging interfaith collaboration," said the Indonesian Foreign Minister.
A total of 37 countries attended the IC-CCRL event, including speakers, moderators, participants, and guests, including foreign embassies in Jakarta who attended the opening session. The event was also attended by participants who participated online both from Indonesia and abroad. The present guests in the level of heads of mission of foreign embassies were the Ambassadors of Austria, Jordan, Romania, Spain, the Vatican and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, other embassies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Laos, and the Philippines sent their diplomats. In addition to the participants above, participants also include civil society leaders, and cross-cultural religious literacy training alumni, consisting of madrasah and school teachers.
The theme raised was "Multi-faith Collaborations in an Inclusive Society", which focused on understanding the growing need for multi-faith collaboration where people of different religions and faiths can learn from each other and work together, while still acknowledging and respecting their differences in religions and beliefs, in addressing issues of common concern.
The IC-CCRL is expected to strengthen Indonesia's modality of values of tolerance, religious moderation, and respect for pluralism. The conference raised various topics for strengthening multireligious collaboration, in education, human rights, and promoting cross-cultural religious literacy values in the ASEAN community.
The conference presented around 50 speakers from various countries to speak in 5-panel sessions with a hybrid format via zoom and 10 breakout sessions for offline participants only. The cross-cultural religious literacy also highlighted the important role of education in the development of multireligious collaboration. This conference continues the success of cross-cultural religious literacy training in Indonesia which has trained more than 8,500 teachers during about 2.5 years, and involved at least 30 educational and religious institutions.
