Faith-enabled at the Rome Roundtable 2017

\’We seek to be a crossroads of global civil society\’.

So said the Global Foundation about itself in Rome, as it brought together participants from across the world and from several faith traditions, from business and the world of investment, academia, science, civil society and the media.

The Rome Roundtable however, was not about faith. It was faith-enabled and the various faith leaders all shared common backgrounds as major contributors to interfaith dialogues in their respective spheres of activity. They found it refreshing to take part in a wider conversation with people from many other walks of life.
Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, the leader of the Finchley Synagogue in London, was among the first to arrive, even on the Sabbath, and upon meeting Pope Francis at our private audience at the Vatican, offered a Hebrew blessing, as is Jewish tradition upon meeting a head of state.

Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, was part of the Anglican contingent that made the journey to Rome for this special Roundtable. The Archbishop of Canterbury\’s representative in Rome, Director of the Anglican Centre, Archbishop Sir David Moxon, also participated, just prior to his return home to his native New Zealand.

Dino Djalal, from Indonesia, former Ambassador to the United States, joined the meeting and the call on Pope Francis, expressing his delight in bringing an Islamic message of peace to His Holiness.

The key point to must remember is that what may appear to divide our world may, in fact, unite us and make us stronger. Through the Global Foundation, we strive to work together for the global common good.