Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, met with the South America South Area presidency, religious leaders, academics and government officials at the offices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a gathering focused on interfaith dialogue and religious freedom on Sept. 10.
The South America South Area presidency, all General Authority Seventies — Elder Alan R. Walker, president; Elder Mathias Held and Elder Sergio R. Vargas — attended the gathering, reported the Church’s Spanish-language Newsroom.
The event was organized by the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom, and brought together representatives from various faith communities and organizations dedicated to promoting religious liberty. Participants exchanged experiences and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence among people of different beliefs.
In his remarks, Cardinal Koovakad spoke about the importance of interfaith dialogue as a means of building more peaceful, inclusive societies that respect diversity.
Remarks were offered by David Frol, president of the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom; Pilar Bosca, director general of religious affairs for the Government of the City of Buenos Aires; Elder Walker; and Jorge Gentile, a founding member of the Argentine Council for Religious Freedom.
Among those in attendance was Claudio Epelman, executive director of the Latin American Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress’s representative to the Holy See, along with leaders of the Interreligious Forum of the Americas and other representatives from interfaith and religious freedom organizations.
The event concluded with a question-and-answer session in which Cardinal Koovakad spoke directly with participants, reaffirming the value of religious traditions coming together in a spirit of mutual respect.
