Jakarta Conference Communique affirms strengthening inter-religious harmony in Asian countries

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

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23 September 2025

Jakarta, Indonesia: More than eighty representatives of all major religions from across Asia participated in the International Inter-religious Conference on ‘Freedom of Religion and Rights of Religious Minorities in Asia’ and adopted the “Jakarta Communiqué”, reaffirming their shared commitment to human rights, religious freedom, and interreligious harmony.

The conference, organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), was held from 16 to 20 September 2025 in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. It brought together representatives of Buddhist, Christian, Confucian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Taoist, and Indigenous religions from across Asia.

The communiqué highlighted both positive developments of people’s initiatives to nurture inter-religious harmony in many contexts, and ongoing challenges, including violations of religious freedom, rising intolerance, politicisation of religion, violent extremism, and lack of effective legal and protection mechanisms as well as implementation of constitutional guarantees.

It called on governments to protect religious freedom, repeal discriminatory laws, ensure accountability, and promote interreligious education; urged religious leaders to strengthen collaboration, affirm religious freedom, denounce hate speech, and advocate for minority rights; encouraged civil society and scholars to resist politicization of religion, monitor violations, conduct research, and provide training; and invited ecumenical and interreligious bodies to establish an Asian Interreligious Agenda and Observatory to advance actionable recommendations for protecting minority rights.

The communiqué reaffirmed that freedom of religion protects individuals, groups, and communities, not religions alone, and called on all adherents of faith to uphold diversity as a foundation for peace in Asia and beyond, pledging collaborative efforts across religions, countries, and societal sectors to defend, advocate for, and protect religious freedom for all.

For the full text of the communiqué, please click here.