Where faith meets the world's hardest problems

On August 28th through 31st of the year 2000, two thousand of the world's preeminent religious and spiritual leaders representing the many faith traditions gathered at the United Nations for a Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. Addressing the world's population through a live telecast from the United Nations General Assembly Hall, these revered leaders demonstrated their united commitment to work together to eliminate the causes that perpetrate violence and lead to war.

The goal of the Summit was to create a forum by which preeminent leaders of all the world's great religious and faith traditions could come together at the United Nations for the first time in history to pledge concrete actions for the achievement of world peace. This commitment was embodied in a Declaration for World Peace that participants signed and that specified actions to be taken.

The World Peace Summit marked a new era of collaboration between the different religious communities and between the world's political and spiritual leadership — religious leaders addressing the world's population on how people with diverse belief systems can live together in peace.

Who Attended

One thousand of the world's leading religious and spiritual figures. Alongside His Holiness Pope John Paul II and The Most Reverend Dr. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, leaders included Sheikh Ahmed Keftaro, Grand Mufti of Syria; the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar in Cairo; the imams of the mosques of Mecca and Medina; Dr. Abdullah Saleh al-Obaid, Secretary of the World Muslim League; Israel's Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau; Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew; Russian Patriarch Alexii II; Archbishop Desmond Tutu; and Bishop Carlos Belo, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate from East Timor.

Why Then

Since the end of World War II, armed conflict had claimed some 27 million lives around the world — an estimated 85% of casualties civilian, especially children and the elderly. In the preceding decade alone there had been over 100 armed conflicts in more than 70 locations across every region of the world. A united spiritual effort was needed to join religions, ethnic groups, and nations in a singular demand for peace.

The Precedent

Throughout the conflicts in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo, private efforts had been made to rally religious leadership for peace — Pope John Paul II's 1992 gathering at Assisi, the World Conference on Religion and Peace's facilitation in Bosnia, and the Interfaith Service of Commitment to the United Nations begun in 1997. Such efforts, often focused on a single conflict, could not rise to a global level. The Summit was created to inspire sustained interfaith advocacy for peace at the highest international levels.

An International Advisory Council

To ensure the spirit and declaration of the Summit created sustained momentum, participants formed an International Advisory Council of Religious Leaders to function as a resource for the Secretary-General of the United Nations in resolving international conflicts. The creation of this Council was a first step toward developing a World Academy of Nonviolence and Ethics with global branches providing research, education, and leadership on ethical issues and practical mechanisms for maintaining world peace.

Summit Outcomes

"This gathering of the world's preeminent religious and spiritual leaders in a united call for peace will hopefully strengthen the prospect for peace as we enter the new millennium."

The Signing of the Commitment to Global Peace

Several hundred preeminent international leaders from many religious traditions signed the Commitment to Global Peace at the Summit. Its two main facets are condemning all violence perpetrated in the name of religion, and acknowledging the value of religious and ethnic diversity. Further commitments include recognizing the equal partnership of all people, calling for a global program of reforestation, and seeking greater economic equity. The document continues to circulate religious communities around the world for ongoing signing.

Formation of the World Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders

Initiation of a process to form a World Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders to work in an advisory capacity with the United Nations and other international organizations in peacemaking and peace-keeping efforts — bringing a religious and spiritual presence into conflict transformation and helping address critical issues facing the world community.

Religious Leaders Initiative of the World Economic Forum

Co-founded at the 2001 annual meeting in Davos, the Religious Leaders Initiative brings moral and spiritual counsel to the major challenges of our time, including globalization and redressing the growing economic divide.

Partnership with the UN High Commission for Human Rights

A partnership founded to bring religious and spiritual voices to combat intolerance and racism, leading to the publication of Sacred Rights: Faith Leaders on Tolerance and Respect in support of the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, September 2001.

Global Commission for the Preservation of Sacred Sites

Established in conjunction with UNESCO and the World Monument Fund to engage religious communities in securing sacred sites endangered by conflict and intolerance, and restoring those damaged by war.

Opening of Interfaith Dialogue in Iran

From an interchange at the Summit came a historic exchange of visits between Muslim leaders from Iran and Buddhist leaders from Thailand, along with high-level meetings between Jewish leaders and Iranian Muslim leaders.

Congress on the Preservation of Religious Diversity

An International Congress organized in New Delhi in November 2001, developed from Summit workshops addressing tensions between Christian and Hindu communities in India regarding economic development programs linked to religious conversion.

A continuing dialogue between two of the world's oldest living traditions — building trust, shared understanding, and joint declarations across successive summits of Hindu and Jewish religious leadership.

The documents below collect the declarations, proceedings, and summary materials from the Hindu–Jewish Leadership Summits.

Senior Muslim and Jewish leaders came together to mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau — a historic gathering of solidarity, remembrance, and shared commitment to combating hatred and intolerance.