White House Faith Based Head Keynotes Vatican Conference On Interfaith Action

This week Joshua DuBois, Executive Director of The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, delivered the keynote address (full text) at the Holy See's Conference on Interfaith Action held in the Vatican. He said in part:

My Office is also tasked with assessing, and improving, the United States Government’s engagement of religious issues and religious actors around the globe.  President Obama believes that faith-based organizations can be powerful catalysts for development and social action: from rebuilding communities ravished by natural disasters to responding to outbreaks of deadly disease.   The President also believes that while faith-based groups are powerful as singular actors, they can multiply their impact by joining across religious lines: Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jews, retaining their individual beliefs but coming together to serve communities around the globe in times of dire need.  My Office seeks to create opportunities for this sort of interfaith engagement, and for the first time develop mechanisms for the United States Government to systematically partner with religious organizations abroad.