WINNIPEG TO HOST G8 RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2008

WINNIPEG, MB - Up to 100 religious leaders from diverse faiths including Christianity, Judaism, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Muslim, Indigenous Spirituality and Shinto traditions will gather in Winnipeg in late June, 2010 at the invitation of Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President & Vice-Chancellor, University of Winnipeg and the Canadian Council of Churches. It is the first time Canada will host the G8 Religious Leaders Summit which, for the past five years, has been organized to complement the meeting of G8 political leaders (in 2010, G8 leaders meet in Huntsville, Ontario.)

Participants will travel to Winnipeg from France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia (G8) as well as Africa for three days of dialogue devoted to advancing the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the G8 countries in 2000. The goals encompass pressing global concerns ranging from eradicating extreme poverty to combating HIV and malaria to ensuring environmental sustainability (see attached backgrounder).

“Winnipeg is recognized as a centre for human rights in Canada,” said Axworthy. “Through our Global College we are actively nurturing the kind of broad, ethical citizenship epitomized by the G8 Religious Leaders Summit. We are honoured to host this important event on campus.”

“For the first time in recorded history, the religious and political leadership of G8 nations have a common language, for a common agenda, for the advancement of the whole human community rather than for sectarian or political goals,” said James Christie, Secretary General of the G8 Religious Leaders 2010 Summit and Dean of Theology at The University of Winnipeg. “This is extremely encouraging as we move from theory to practice in attaining the Millennium Development Goals.”

The G8 Religious Leaders Summit began as an idea by Jim Wallis with a virtual meeting in Scotland in 2005 with the first actual conference taking place in Russia (2006), followed by Germany (2007), Japan (2008), Italy (2009) and Winnipeg, Canada (2010). Wallis, author of God’s
Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It and currently the theological reflector at both the Democratic and Republican conventions, will attend the Winnipeg summit.

Since the initial G8 Religious Leaders' Summit at Gleneagles in Scotland, it has been the intention of organizers to include leadership from Indigenous traditions from among the G8 countries and Africa.

One of the unique contributions of the Winnipeg Summit is the potential for engaging Aboriginal Elders in both the planning and the execution of the Summit.

The summit is self-financing as each partner undertakes fundraising activities. The Canadian Council of Churches, founded in 1944, is the national ecumenical fellowship of Canadian churches. It provides an agency for consultation, planning and common action.

Dr. James Christie, Secretary General of the G8 Religious Leaders 2010 Summit, is available for one-on-one media interviews.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Diane Poulin, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135 E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca