Rev. Raphael Warnock addresses the Crisis Plenary at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, USA.

Hello and blessings to the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions. I’m United States Senator Reverend Rafael Warnock and I wanna welcome you virtually to the windy city where you gather this day. As a pastor who serves in the United States Senate, I’ve dedicated my whole life to public service.

Like all of you, I am inspired in that work by my faith. And so I’m glad to see people of faith from the four corners of the globe, representing various faith traditions, come together to once again affirm our connection to one another. Dr. King said “We’re tied in a single garment of destiny, caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

You clearly understand that, which is why your theme is a call to conscience, defending freedom and human rights. That is the work we must do in this moment. There’s no question that people of faith should lead the way.

The Christian Mystic and poet Howard Thurman is for me a great inspiration. And he said, “Ask not what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive and do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

May you come alive in this moment in which our democracy is being challenged here in the United States of America. May you come alive and fight for the most marginalized members of the human family. And may your faith inspire you to do all of that in the name of the God who loves us into freedom and frees us into loving.

God bless each and every one of you. Keep the faith and keep looking up. God bless you.