The Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, which attracted some 1,000 participants representing more than 70 religious traditions, has drawn mixed reactions. The meetings, which ran from August 28 to 31 in New York, aimed to encourage dialogue on the role religion can play in reducing conflict and violence around the world.

Jonathan Gallagher, United Nations (U.N.) liaison director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, reports that while many have applauded the opportunity for inter-faith dialogue with leaders of many faiths present, concerns remain over the agenda and composition of the Summit.

“Though the Summit is not an official U.N. event, it has support from the organization,” says Gallagher. “The U.N. Secretary-General’s recognition of the importance of religion is welcomed, as is his emphasis on the right to freedom of religion.”

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in his address to the Summit on August 29 that religion is “a realm of extraordinary power.”

“Religion helps us find our place in the cosmos; it knits families and communities together; it endows individuals with compassion and morality,” said Annan. “Whether one believes without question or wrestles with doubt; whether one is part of a religious community or worships in the privacy of the soul, religious practices and beliefs are among the phenomena that define us as human.”

But religious rights need to be defended, said Annan. “Let us today, from this great center of global community, reaffirm every man and woman’s fundamental right to freedom of religion: to worship; to establish and maintain places of worship; to write, publish and teach; to celebrate holidays, to choose their own religious leaders, and to communicate with others at home and abroad.

“Where religions and their adherents are persecuted, defamed, assaulted or denied due process, we are all diminished, our societies undermined,” said Annan. “There must be no room in the 21st century for religious bigotry and intolerance.”

Yet the practicalities of how to achieve these ideals remain a matter of debate, says Gallagher. “Some representatives voiced concern over the agenda of the Summit and its purpose. More specifically, delegates questioned why a number of Christian groups, including the Adventist Church, had not been invited, and what were the intentions of the funders of the event.” The Summit was financed in part by media mogul Ted Turner and a group of corporations that support Turner’s Better World Fund, a U.N. foundation.

“Other concerns centered on what role would be played by the proposed International Advisory Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. Any attempt to work towards a kind of ‘unified world religion’ or single religious voice–as some are proposing–would be doomed to failure,” Gallagher concludes.