Maria Fauzi, a Member of the UNU Jogja Academic Community, Presents Humanitarian Islam at an International Conference in Rome

Rome, Italy – Maria Fauzi, a member of the academic community of Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Yogyakarta (UNU Jogja), presented the concept of Humanitarian Islam at the international conference Religious Humanism, Inclusive Citizenship, and Democracy, jointly organized by the University of Notre Dame Rome and John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, from 24 to 27 June 2026.

The conference brought together academics, researchers, practitioners, and doctoral fellows from Europe, the United States, the Arab region, and other parts of the world to discuss issues related to religious humanism, inclusive citizenship, democracy, and interfaith dialogue. During the event, Maria spoke in the panel session titled "Humanitarian Islam and Democracy in Indonesia: The Humanitarian Islam Movement."

At the conference, Maria presented a paper entitled "The Making of Humanitarian Islam: From Pesantren Ethics to a Global Reform Project." The paper explored how the ethical values cultivated in Indonesian pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) have evolved into the concept of Humanitarian Islam, offering Indonesia's perspective on promoting peace, dialogue among civilizations, and global reform grounded in shared humanitarian values.

According to Maria, participating in the conference provided an important opportunity to introduce Indonesia's Islamic intellectual perspective to the international academic community while strengthening research and academic networks with scholars from different countries.

"Forums like this create valuable opportunities to exchange perspectives on religion, democracy, and humanitarian issues in a global context," she said.

In addition to the academic presentations, participants joined a series of institutional visits in Rome, including the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican and the Istituto Luigi Sturzo. These visits complemented the conference discussions by providing further opportunities to explore the role of religion in fostering inclusive, democratic, and pluralistic societies.

The conference served as a platform for exchanging ideas and strengthening international academic collaboration in the fields of religion, democracy, and humanitarian studies. Maria Fauzi's participation also reflects UNU Jogja's commitment to expanding its global academic engagement and contributing Indonesian perspectives to international discussions on contemporary global issues. [Latifah]