The first-ever G20 Religious Forum (R20) Summit will come at a time of stalemate in international politics, as the war in Ukraine has divided G20 members and put multilateral efforts in the economic forum in jeopardy.

Determined not to squander crucial talks that determine the way nations make decisions on issues that touch the lives and livelihoods of billions globally, Indonesia has pushed ahead with its G20 presidency agenda and has expanded into alternative ways of maintaining dialogue.

As one of these initiatives, the R20 Summit is to be held early next month and promises a forum to air out past grievances among religions and recontextualize draconian values of religious practice – in hopes of achieving peaceful coexistence that transcends international politics.

Its co-organizers, Indonesia’s moderate Nahdlatul Ulama group and Saudi Arabia’s fundamentalist Muslim World League, are making the clear distinction between the R20 and the existing G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20), the latter putting more emphasis on how religious groups can help achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals.

Sensitive topics

The R20, in contrast, “will not shy away from more sensitive topics”, said engagement group spokesman Muhammad Najib Azca, who is also deputy secretary-general of NU, Indonesia’s largest religious group.

The theme of the Nov. 4–5 meeting will be centered on nurturing religion as a source for global solutions.

The forum will focus on four topics – historical grievances among world religions, truth-telling, reconciliation and forgiveness; identifying and embracing shared values; the recontextualization of obsolete and problematic religious teachings; and identifying values needed to ensure peaceful coexistence.

“These are topics rarely discussed by global religious leaders,” Najib told The Jakarta Post during a visit to its Palmerah office on Wednesday.

The event, to be opened by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, would feature a prerecorded address by Pope Francis, leader of the Catholic Church, who could not join in person due to health concerns. In his stead, the pope will be sending Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot.

The forum is to be co-chaired by Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Mecca-based Muslim World League, and NU leader Yahya Cholil Staquf.

Other participating delegates include Archbishop Thomas Schirrmacher, secretary-general of the World Evangelical Alliance; rightwing Indian Hindu figure Shri Ram Madhav Varanasil; Rabbi Silvina Chemen of the Kehilat Beth El congregation in Argentina; and Hamdan Musallam Al-Mazrouei, trustee board chairman of the Mohammed bin Zayed University for Humanities, the R20 organizing committee revealed.

A total of 400 delegates of varying faith denominations and public roles would take part in the two-day summit, R20 committee chairman Ahmad Suaedy said on Wednesday.

“At the upcoming R20 meeting, global religious leaders will be able to have the chance to reflect on their own religious values and discuss them with one another in order to arrive at new shared views,” Ahmad said.

Decoupling effort

The R20 is a G20 engagement group, one of many nongovernmental groupings tasked with providing G20 governments with counsel on issues of common concern.

It is the latest G20 engagement group to be set up, and its organizers have said they are keen to maintain continuity beyond Indonesia’s G20 presidency.

To this end, there are plans to set up a permanent secretariat for the R20 at the Center for Shared Civilizational Values (CSCV) in North Carolina, the United States, which leverages the network of NU chair Yahya.