Archbishop of Westminster and Lord Malloch-Brown Address Annual Meeting of the Ambassadors to the Court of St James

The Three Faiths Forum held its annual meeting for Ambassadors and representatives from many of the world’s nations on 5th November, enabling them to discuss the challenging issues of faith, politics and inter-communal relations. The annual event at the Ambassadors Court, St James’s Palace, was hosted by the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, Mr. Charles Gray, CMG. 

The meeting, attended by over 70 diplomats, was opened by Stephen Shashoua, Director the Three Faiths Forum, who shared his vision for the future of interfaith and inter-communal action, expressing his hopes for greater international cooperation on these issues. Shashoua stressed the importance of being informed by the local when thinking and acting internationally.

The Chair of the meeting, Monawar Hussein, Muslim Tutor at Eton College, then introduced Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who spoke on the role of faith in tackling the problems facing humanity in the 21st century.  Archbishop Nichols stressed how faith can provide us with a positive view of ourselves and the world, enabling us to face problems such as climate change.  The Archbishop also argued that “religious institutions have an international reach and scope unmatched by most political institutions”, thus providing a potential framework for global action.

Lord Malloch-Brown, speaking in his capacity as advisor to the World Economic Forum, shared his views on the situation facing the world in the wake of the financial crisis. Lord Malloch-Brown claimed that there is a widespread feeling, internationally, that we had not been governing our economic affairs properly before the crisis, and that there was a lack of regulation and transparency. He identified global poverty as one of the most pressing concerns for the international community in the near future, claiming that “there must now be an international effort to reduce poverty in the same way that there were focused national efforts in the West in the 19th and 20th centuries. “

Lord Malloch-Brown also identified a general change in international power relationships, admitting that most nations are simply unable to secure foreign policy results acting unilaterally. Cooperation and alliances have become absolutely crucial in our globalised world. “National solutions no longer work, nations have to act together to create change.” Lord Malloch-Brown ended his speech by praising the Three Faiths Forum for bringing the ambassadors together, recognising that faith is one of the factors through which we can overcome cultural separateness.

The speech was followed by a questions and answers session in which the international representatives present could express their thoughts on the issues of faith and cultural relations nationally and internationally. Sir Sigmund Sternberg, a co-founder of the Three Faiths Forum, then closed the meeting by praising the organisers, the host and the speakers, and underscoring the need for further resources to be able to extend the work of Three Faith Forum programmes internationally.