First held in Chicago in 1893, the Parliament of the World's Religions brings together religious and civic leaders from dozens of countries. The fifth such parliament convened in December in Melbourne, Australia, and brought together 10,000 "people of faith, spirit and goodwill" from 220 different faiths and 80 countries. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was represented.
Media, including the BBC, covered the weeklong interfaith event.
During the gathering, Latter-day Saint Church leaders discussed the doctrinal understanding of families and chaired breakout sessions on the need for worldwide service. A choir of 80 Latter-day Saint Samoan voices entertained the audience with their performance.
In his closing remarks Professor Daniel C. Peterson, from Brigham Young University, referred to the late Lutheran bishop of Stockholm, Krister Stendahl, when he encouraged attendees to "compare the best of our own faith tradition with the best of others' religions; not our best to their worst."
See the complete story detailing the Church's participation on the Church's official Australian Web site.