Berlin Conference: How Religious Leaders Can Help Re-invigorate European Democracies

Interreligious Dialogue at the Service of European Democracy

On 13 May 2024, Berlin hosted an international conference organised by the Council of Europe under the Liechtenstein Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, with the support of the German and Italian governments. The theme — “How can interreligious engagement help to re-invigorate the European democracies?” — placed religious leaders and civil society organisations at the heart of a conversation about the state and future of democratic culture in Europe.

The conference came at a moment when governments, civil society and European institutions had been raising sustained alarms about democratic backsliding: restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, violence against journalists, and a significant rise in hate speech and hate crime, both online and offline. The question posed to faith communities was direct: what responsibility do religious leaders carry, and what concrete contribution can they make, in defending and renewing the democratic culture that underlies Europe’s shared project?

Participants explored how interreligious dialogue — when practised at both institutional and grassroots levels — can sustain a spirit of compromise, respect for pluralism, and civic solidarity that purely political processes struggle to cultivate alone. Religious communities, as longstanding actors in civil society, are uniquely positioned to build bridges across the social and political divides that democratic erosion tends to exploit.

EULEMA remains committed to this task: as a network of Muslim religious leaders with recognised standing in European institutions, the Majlis works to ensure that Islamic perspectives contribute constructively to the shared European democratic conversation.

More information is available on the Council of Europe portal.