Salt Lake City is hosting an international gathering of religious leaders, scholars and policymakers this week as the G20 Interfaith Forum opens Thursday and runs through Saturday. The three-day event brings together an international gathering of religious leaders, interfaith scholars, civil-society representatives and policymakers under the theme “Resilient Hope, Shared Future,” with sessions planned on food, health, education, economic progress, energy security and artificial intelligence.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the forum will be hosted Thursday through Saturday at the University of Utah Institute of Religion, with an opening ceremony at the Historic Tabernacle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Per the same report, dozens of civic leaders and representatives of various faiths are expected, and attendees will address topics ranging from interfaith dialogue and religious freedom to global health, hunger and poverty, mental health, artificial intelligence, education, energy, human trafficking and even the Olympics.
Oaks, Global Faith Leaders Set to Address Opening Ceremony
Dallin H. Oaks is expected to deliver a welcome address at the forum, according to G20 Interfaith Forum Viewpoints, which notes he will speak in the church's home city. Oaks was set apart as the 18th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 2025, per the same outlet. This year's gathering opens at the Historic Tabernacle at Temple Square with welcome addresses expected from senior figures representing Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Latter-day Saint traditions, the blog reports.
The Tribune's report adds that Mohammad Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, is also scheduled to address the opening ceremony, and that the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square is expected to perform a welcome concert. Per the same article, sharon eubank — head of the faith's humanitarian services and a former counselor in the general presidency of the Relief Society, who was a director of the church's humanitarian services in 2018 — is among the figures tied to the forum's programming.
Civic Dialogue Panel Pairs Cox, Beasley and King
The Tribune reports that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is scheduled to speak this week alongside former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, with Martin Luther King III joining the two in discussing civil dialogue across political and faith divides. Cox is Utah's 18th governor, sworn in Jan. 4, 2021, according to the G20 Interfaith Forum.
Elder Gerrit W. Gong is scheduled to speak at Saturday morning's plenary on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, per G20 Interfaith Forum Viewpoints. The Tribune's report notes that previous forums have drawn Latter-day Saint apostles David Bednar, D. Todd Christofferson and Gerrit Gong, reflecting a pattern of church participation in the annual event.
An Annual Platform Tied to December's G20 Summit
The G20 Interfaith Forum is described by the Tribune as an annual platform where a network of religiously linked institutions engages on worldwide agendas, welcoming global religious, educational and political leaders to Utah this week. The G20 Interfaith Forum states it seeks global solutions by collaborating with religious thought leaders and political representatives to help shape the overall G20 agenda, a mission that extends toward the leaders' summit scheduled for Dec. 14-15 at the Trump National Doral Miami resort in Miami.
The forum has convened annually since 2014 in the G20 host country, according to Georgetown University's Berkley Center, and has previously taken up topics including the environment, humanitarian aid, health, education, and freedom of religion or belief. In 2021, the forum convened in Bologna, Italy under the theme “Time to heal: Peace among cultures, understanding between religions,” where a Latter-day Saint apostle met with Catholicism's Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad, Islam's Grand Mufti of the Caucasus and Sudan's minister of religious affairs, Church News reported at the time. That same report noted the First Presidency had sent an apostle to participate in the forum for four consecutive years as of its 2021 publication.
Last Year's Forum Packed Tens of Thousands of Meals
Last year's forum, held in South Africa under the theme “Ubuntu in Action,” brought together roughly 500 global leaders, including six leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to Church News Africa. Participants there packed 32,400 nutritious meals for people in need, the outlet reported, describing the gathering's mission as helping shape a more inclusive and ethical world through dialogue and service to those in need.
Ahead of this week's Salt Lake City sessions, a white paper on artificial intelligence and faith was planned for distribution at the forum and presentation to G20 summit leaders before December's meeting, according to the National Law Review. The outlet also noted a planned 2026 webinar focused on using artificial intelligence to translate low-resource languages that currently lack digital tools, part of a broader push by the forum to connect emerging technology with its interfaith mission.
