Creating a Public Space for Meaningful Inter-Faith Dialogue: Historic Papal Visit to Chulalongkorn University

In November 2019, Chulalongkorn University had the honour of hosting an historic event when His Holiness Pope Francis graciously accepted the invitation to speak on its campus during his apostolic visit to Thailand.

The Papal visit was to mark the 350th anniversary of the founding of “Mission de Siam,” and 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Holy See. 

Given its expanding public role in its community and social engagement that goes beyond education and research, Chula considered this initiative as a service of foremost importance to the public that would pave the way for raising the awareness of the importance in knowledge co-creation for a sustainable society. 

Pope Francis addressed the audience with particular emphasis on “…imagining the logic of encounter and of mutual dialogue as the path, common collaboration as conduct and reciprocal knowledge as a method and standard…” to offer a new paradigm for the resolution of conflicts in the service of justice and peace.  

In addition to the public lecture, Chula also convened a three-day Interfaith Peacebuilders Conference in conjunction. The conference was co-organized with the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation/ International Network of Engaged Buddhists.

It aimed to increase public awareness of the important role that religious and traditional actors play in conflict mediation and peacebuilding while advancing Sustainable Development Goals.