Wonderful music, Utah’s natural beauty, and the spiritual hope and wisdom gathered here launch this 2026 Forum. A warm welcome and deep appreciation to our hosts, as we look to lively discussions over the next three days.
As my colleague Cole Durham has emphasized, our meeting here focuses on the G20, the group of national leaders that represents, and in many senses epitomizes, economic and political power in today’s world. As the G20 Interfaith Forum, we build on 12 years of commitment to the ideal that the finest religiously inspired values and wisdom belong at the G20 table.
The G20 begins with economics: since its creation in 1999, crises of debt and unexpected shocks, prices and livelihoods have dominated formal agendas. But questions of justice and fairness run through those economic agendas. Healthcare, the quality of air and water, digital technology, school curricula, responding to hurricanes and drought, and negotiations to end conflicts are inextricably linked to the economic and financial agendas the G20 leaders will address when they meet in December.
The G20 Interfaith Forum brings both the moral teachings and rich experience of religious traditions and networks to these tables. The Salt Lake City IF20 agenda (engaging with the priorities of this year’s United States presidency) focuses on economic prosperity, energy security, and technology and innovation. But our agenda looks also to the broader arena that the Forum’s theme represents: Resilient Hope, Shared Future reflects our conviction that we are working together for the common good, as a central, integral part of the G20 process. Religious communities sustain care through crises, help rebuild shattered lives, and keep hope alive when institutions falter. Thus we aim for a role in setting agendas but also responsibility for their implementation.
Learning, listening, and savoring diversity are the IF20’s spirit, our “brand.” There is surely much scope within and among religious communities to disagree better. Ideas about prosperity, inequality, environmental responsibility, and family life are contested. But we share solid common ground: compassion and caring are our cornerstone. Religious communities can achieve far more working together than separately, and towards goals shared with governments, the private sector, and civil society. We know that a far fairer and better world is possible, because we have seen so much progress during our own lifetimes. We share a responsibility to protect and support those who are most vulnerable. And we share a determination to translate into practice the teaching that each and every person, every child born, has equal value.
As we sharpen proposals for action over the next days, we are enriched by previous Forums (especially Brazil in 2024 and South Africa in 2025). We have much to offer, alongside others who contribute to the G20 process, as the G20 meets in Miami, and as the baton of G20 leadership passes for 2027 to the United Kingdom and the year after to South Korea.
We bring both the soft power of ideals and the extensive lived experience of care and innovation to the G20 process. The ideals inspire us to care, to hope, to speak, and to act, together and continuously, for those who suffer or find themselves at the margins: those without means and homes, those suffering from disease, those trafficked, facing discrimination, disasters, and conflict. Our test of prosperity must begin with what it means for those with the least resources and power. We draw on the hope and conviction that solutions are possible, with spirit, science, and political will and determination. Peace, prosperity, fairness, and human development are possible everywhere for everyone on our beautiful planet.
For an overview of the forum, including press releases from the opening and closing ceremonies and individual sessions, visit the G20 Interfaith Forum event page.
For a participant’s reflection on the G20 Interfaith Forum in Salt Lake City, visit Luisa Banchoff’s blog post.
