Bringing his plea for peacemaking and compromise for the common good before an audience of global leaders Thursday evening, President Dallin H. Oaks emphasized the need for religion in healing a troubled world.

“Faith-informed perspectives have a meaningful place in global policymaking,” Oaks, leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a welcoming speech to the G20 Interfaith Forum. “But the key to this whole effort is to bring us all together to address common problems.”

The three-day conference, which draws religious leaders, scholars, humanitarian advocates and civic officials from around the world, began with an opening ceremony at the historic Tabernacle in downtown Salt Lake City and will continue at the University of Utah’s Institute of Religion through Saturday.

“People of goodwill, compassion, and a desire to understand and help one another — without demanding a compromise of distinctive commitments — are at the core of peacemaking,” said Oaks, who praised the attendees as “peacemakers in today’s world.”

“We want to be part of your efforts,” he added, “and invoke the Lord’s blessings on all of us as we go forward.”

Hundreds of people gathered in the Tabernacle to hear messages about collaborating on issues ranging from “disagreeing better” to artificial intelligence.

The 2026 forum — centered on the theme “Resilient Hope, Shared Future” — kicked off with a panel discussion featuring Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley and Martin Luther King III, a son of civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr.. The three discussed the importance of retaining dialogue across political and religious lines.

Cox said the answer to many of the political divisions in the world can be found by creating community.

“We’re all worried about things beyond our control,” he said. “But we don’t know who our next-door neighbor is.”

These gaps can be closed, Cox said, “one conversation, one disagreement, one neighbor, one act of service at a time.”

Beasley said he has discovered during his travels that contempt was hard to hold onto when getting to know those with whom you disagree.

“When you break bread with someone,” Beasley said, “it’s hard to hate them.”

King echoed both sentiments and recalled that his “mom and dad understood that we could disagree without being disagreeable.”

The main ceremony included performances by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and addresses from faith leaders representing Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Hindu, Jewish and other faith traditions.

Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, focused on how religious communities can work together to promote peace and human dignity.

“Our natural difference should not be a threat, nor an incitement to clash and conflict,” Al-Issa said. “It’s a part of the diversities that God intended for humanity through his universal predestined wisdom.”

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, a Hindu spiritual leader from Los Angeles, expressed how faith should propel its adherents to action instead of waiting for the world to change.

“Our faith gives us an inner, resounding yes — yes to life, yes to love, yes to peace, yes to human dignity, yes to hope,” she said. “But faith must also give us an equally resounding inner no — no to environmental destruction, no to poverty, no to oppression and exploitation — and mostly no to violence in the name of God.”

“Hope,” she added, “is not a mood we wait for. It is a capacity we build.”

The forum will conclude Saturday at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in the heart of Salt Lake City.