World Summit of Religious Leaders

The Summit of World Religious Leaders is an annual meeting of religious leaders. Although there are other Interfaith World Summits where religious leaders from a diverse array of faith traditions attend, these particular meetings are unique in that they deliver collaborative statements to the G8 political leaders about the mutual responsibility faith groups and political leaders share for improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable people and species in the world. These Summits have now met for one complete round of G8 meetings. The first meeting to deliver a statement to the G8 was held in the United Kingdom and was ecumenical. It became interfaith the following year when Russia hosted the event. The statements can be viewed at the G8 Research Group website.

Round One of Meetings

• 2005 — United Kingdom "Action on Poverty Needed Now"
• 2006 — Russia "World Summit of Religious Leaders"
• 2007 — Germany "Just Participation: A Call From Cologne"
• 2008 — Japan "A Proposal From People of Religion to Leaders of the Group of Eight"]/"Call From Sapporo--World Religious Leaders Summit for Peace"
• 2009 — Italy "IV Summit of Religious Leaders on the Occasion of the G8"
• 2010 — Canada "A Time for Inspired Leadership"
• 2011 — France "Bordeaux Religious Leaders Summit"
• 2012 — United States "2012 Religious Leaders Statment for the G8 and G20"

Round Two of Meetings

• 2013 -- United Kingdom "Global Religious Leaders Call on G8 to 'Strike at Causes of Poverty.'" This meeting was technologically mediated rather than face-to-face.

Scholarly Work

Peer-reviewed articles studying the significance of these meetings include: "Religious Soft Power as Accountability Mechanism for Power in World Politics: The InterFaith Leaders' Summit(s)" and "Faith-Based Accountability Mechanism Typology: The 2011 Interfaith Summit as Soft Power in Global Governance." The Munk School of Global Affairs included the civil society involvement of faith-based organizations, including the collaborative statements of religious leaders to the G8, in their Civil Society Report on Camp David. [1]

See also

• World Council of Churches
• Ecumenism
• World Parliament of Religions

External links

• World Summit of Religious Leaders condemns religiously sanctioned abuses 6 Jul 2006
• Statement of the Cologne Religious Leaders Summit 7 June 2007
• Call from Sapporo - World Religious Leaders Summit for Peace 3 July 2008
• A Proposal From People of Religion to Leaders of the Group of Eight 1 June 2008
• World religious leaders hold their own G8 summit 18 June 2009
• A Time for inspired Leadership 23 June 2010
• Bordeaux Religious Leaders Summit May, 2011
• Joint Religious Leadership Coordination for the G8 and G20 Summits 17 May 2012
• Global Religious Leaders Call on G8 to 'Strike at Causes of Poverty.' 4 April 2013