Elder Rasband Addresses the G20 Interfaith Forum in Bologna, Italy

ladies and gentlemen brothers and sisters of the same god father of us all i'm grateful to be here with you today i'm honored to attend this summit of all the distinguished visitors and guests that we have with us your willingness to live your beliefs and to protect others in the public square desiring to do the same as a beacon of courage and goodness for all humans everywhere in april of 2020 our church celebrated its 200th anniversary with a proclamation to the world it begins with salim we solemnly proclaim god loves his children in every nation of the world no matter the culture color creed or country god's love unites us to stand together to face down religious persecution of the type we've heard this morning throughout history people of faith have suffered mightily at the hands of others and the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints is no different and no exception my faith tradition and that of my own ancestors began in early 1820 in palmyra new york religious fervor consumed the hearts and minds of many in the united states at this time fourteen-year-old joseph smith was one of them he read these words in the holy bible if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god that giveth to all men liberally and abradeth not and it shall be given him joseph did just that he walked into a grove near the family farm seeking to know his standing before god and knelt in humble prayer in response we make a bold claim ladies and gentlemen that god the father and his son jesus christ appeared to that boy joseph smith later joseph was given a record of ancient prophetic writings that contained a history of a people in jerusalem around 600 bc who by guidance of god were led to the american continent the record contains the teachings of jesus christ when he visited the americas as a resurrected being following his crucifixion in jerusalem this record known as the book of mormon is a companion witness to the holy bible another testament of jesus christ in joseph's day many people were seeking god and were drawn to the unique teachings of this new religion others did not opposition persecution and violence quickly followed joseph and his followers church members were killed robbed violated driven thousands of miles from new york to ohio to missouri where the governor issued an order that members of our church quote must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state yes ladies and gentlemen an extermination order in the united states of america these early followers fled illinois where the small town of quincy and its 1500 residents none of them members of our faith took in 5 000 members of our church husbands wives mothers fathers grandmas grandpas all refugees fleeing the threat of extermination the good people of quincy provided refuge to these refugees amid this turmoil joseph smith published 13 fundamental tenets of this growing church including this one very appropriate for our gathering quote we claim the privilege of worshiping almighty god according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all men the same privilege let them worship how where or what they may end quote months later joseph pledged this quote if it has been demonstrated that i have been willing to die for a latter-day saint i am bold to declare before heaven that i am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a presbyterian a baptist or a good man of any other denomination for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the latter-day saints would trample upon the rights of the roman catholics or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend itself it is love of liberty that inspires my soul civil and religious liberty to the whole of humanity end quote joseph smith's ministry was short in 1844 he was confined in a small jail wrongly confined by the way in carthage illinois on false charges when a mob of 200 stormed the building and killed joseph and his brother hiram enemies though striking down joseph they thought would kill this church but the faithful carried on joseph's successor brigham young led a forced exodus of thousands of religious refugees 1 300 miles west to what is now the state of utah my own ancestors were part of those early settlers from those days of intense persecution our church has grown steadily now to some 17 million members half of them living outside of the united states of america we share with many of you a commitment to god and charity true religion prompts us to help those in need there is no question that the world needs all of us and our desire to go about doing good with the promise that god will be with us when religion is given the freedom to flourish believers everywhere perform simple and sometimes heroic acts of service for example this year alone many of you and other non-profit organizations partnered with us in 160 countries that includes significant contributions to kovacs a global effort to provide 2 billion that's with a b 2 billion covet 19 vaccines all around the world religious belief and practice are excellent predicate predictors of service catholic charities known as kuritas international and islamic relief and any number of jewish hindu buddhist sikh or christian organizations like the salvation army and the national christian foundation carry out essential relief efforts and social services to tens of millions of people they do this for anyone and everyone our church delivered more than 26 million meals to feed the hungry this last year we also doubt we also carried out 294 projects for refugees in 50 different countries with many other partner religions and organizations helping with shelter health support and refugee resettlement the ancient jewish phrase tikkun olam meaning to repair or heal the world is reflected in the efforts of so many faith traditions literacy programs clean water wells filled hospitals following earthquakes food during famines rebuilt homes after natural disasters assistance to the refugee populations the list is long but so are the needs in our world today as we all go about doing good we contribute to the growth and stability of diverse countries a study in 2016 from the religious freedom and business foundation reported that religion contributes about 1.2 trillion of social economic value annually just in the u.s economy that according to scholar brian grimm is equivalent to being the world's 15th largest natural economy it's more than the global annual revenues of the world's top 10 tech companies including apple amazon and google if that is the impact of faith in america imagine what faith can do across the entire globe that's why protecting all faiths even small minority faiths like we were and like we are is critical when people feel confident that their beliefs will always be protected they will reach out to others in significant ways dr grimm's research shows a correlation betw between robust religious freedom and other vital human rights i have shared the story of my faith tradition once a very persecuted minority today we reach out to others around the world in partnership and relationship like the lowly mustard seed described by jesus christ in the new testament today today we are a tree with branches that extend refugee and care to many many other minority faiths have similar stories to ours the good of religion the reach of religion and heroic acts of love which religion inspires only multiply when we protect all of our religious freedom we stand shoulder to shoulder in service with all of you i hope that universal goodness prompted by faith traditions will be honored and admired people around the world are blessed as we lift and encourage others through life-saving aid may we be grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in these ways we fulfill and expand the truth god loves all his children in every nation of the world even amongst the smallest minorities amongst us this is my hope and my prayer and in our faith tradition in the name of our lord jesus christ amen [Music] you

Channel: Church Newsroom

Views: 6,204

Rating: 4.9217606 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: fXjW5G51yJ0

Length: 12min 41sec (761 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 14 2021