What: The 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions
When: October 16 - 18, 2021 (Central Standard Time)
Where: Virtually Around the World
The 1st Parliament of the World’s Religions, hosted at the historic World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, brought together people of faith from around the world. Some like Anagārika Dharmapāla, A.G. Bonet-Maury, and Swami Vivekananda traveled for months and across continents to serve as representatives of their faiths, and many more journeyed over weeks, through countries, and across oceans to attend what would become the birthplace of the modern interfaith movement.
The 8th Parliament of the World’s Religions, hosted for the first time virtually, brought together people of faith from around the world in an instant.
The virtual Parliament served as a safe way to gather the world’s global interfaith movement and celebrate the enduring spirit and work of religious and spiritual communities striving toward a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world.
Programs at the 2021 Parliament
The 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions was the eighth convening and the first time that it was hosted virtually. Recognized as the birthplace of the modern interfaith movement, the 1893 Parliament made history with its groundbreaking interreligious dialogues among leaders of Eastern and Western religious traditions, fostering understanding, cooperation and social harmony. Since 1893, six more Parliaments have been hosted in the United States, South Africa, Spain, Canada and Australia; attended by tens of thousands of people from around the world.
The 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions featured programs, presentations, and religious observances, held virtually, October 16-18. The program was hosted in Central US time, coinciding with the location of the Parliament headquarters in Chicago, but provide offerings for time zones around the world, on the theme Opening our Hearts to the World: Compassion in Action.
Explore the full schedule below!
The Film Festival at the 2021 Parliament offered registrants a unique opportunity to enjoy documentaries from award-winning directors like Mission: Joy, heartfelt stories of faith like Spiritual Audacity: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Story, profound stories of justice like Glimpses into the Spirit of Gender Equality, and outstanding interfaith stories like Tango Shalom.
Explore the full list of films at Accelevents, simply filter by the tag "Film Festival".
Programming for the 2021 Parliament focused largely, but not exclusively, on:
- The broad critical issues of our mission statement: Justice, Peace, and Sustainability including Climate Action
- Our critical constituencies: Indigenous Peoples, Next Generations, and Women and Girls
- The signature document of the Parliament of the World's Religions, Declaration Toward a Global Ethic
Voices of PoWR - Featured Global Luminaries
The Voices of PoWR at the Parliament are widely diverse luminaries featured at the Convening.
Check-in weekly for new updates!
Scott Stearman
Gospel for Teens Choir
Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein
Faisal Bin Abdulrahman Bin Muaammar
Phyllis Curott
Chief Oren Lyons
Jonathan Granoff
Rev. Diane Berke
Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor
Rev. Paulette Pipe
His Eminence Muḥammad ˁAbdur-Raḥmān Muḥammad Aḍ-Ḍuwīnī
Ming Hua Lin
His Eminence Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl
Nitin Ajmera
The Very Reverend Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas
Dharma Master Hsin Tao
Atmarpit Nemiji
Kehkashan Basu
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
Vandana Shiva
Dharma Master Cheng Yen
Lord Karan Bilimoria, CBE
Mena Suvari
Swami Ishatmananda
Yangjin Lamu
Yacop Cohen
H.H. Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muni Ji
Mother Maya Tiwari
Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq
Sirena Huang
Andrew Harvey
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE
Her Excellency Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés
Prof. Wande Abimbola
Advertising, Exhibitors & Sponsorships
The 2021 Parliament of the World's Religions provides a cost-effective way to maximize your organization’s exposure to thousands of participants from at least 50 different countries and over 100 faith and spiritual traditions. Leaders in their communities, our participants are multi-generational, media-savvy, and culturally aware. Your organization will gain exposure not only as part of the virtual platform, but also to tens of thousands more through visibility on the Parliament website, social media channels, and associated marketing materials.
The virtual platform of the 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions provides outstanding opportunities for multiple and highly prominent impressions of your brand - and your commitment to bringing persons of faith and conscience together to build peace, justice, and sustainability in today’s world.
Let the world see who you are and what matters to you.
Reach socially conscious, open-minded, and connected persons by hosting a booth in our virtual Exhibit Hall. Your booth will let you reach participants with one-on-one, personal conversations that build relationships.
Build Recognition and Authority , Share a Call to Action
Exhibitor booths in the virtual event platform are a virtual space for your organization with customizable elements such as logo, banner image, links, documents, media, interest/action button, and your ability to interact as your booth's representative.
One of the main reasons why exhibitors join events is to connect with potential leads or customers and expand their professional and social networks. In a virtual event scenario, there are a few ways that you can maximize that opportunity as an exhibitor through lead retrieval functions.
Interested in custom sponsorships, sponsoring a networking session, lounge, or private session, sponsoring a track, or other types of sponsorship?
Contact Emma Pittsley, Parliament Development Associate at Emma@parliamentofreligions.org
Exhibit Booths
Standard$1,100 | Prime$1,900 | Platinum$4,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booth in exhibit hall | Small | Medium | Large |
| Event registrations | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Sell products | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lead retrieval | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live chat and polls | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Highlighted as interactive booth | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Livestream video in booth | ✓ | ||
| Featured in expo carousel | ✓ |
Sponsorship
Standard$2,000 | Prime$4,000 | Platinum$10,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsor logo on Parliament website | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sponsor logo + link on event platform | Small | Medium | Large |
| Exhibit booth | Standard Booth | Prime Booth | Platinum Booth |
| Featured in sponsor carousel | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Promoted on social media | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Featured as a main stage sponsor | ✓ | ||
| Video during break | ✓ |
More Luminaries Coming Soon!
Why Virtual?
When the Site Committee began the scoping of the 8th Parliament of the World’s Religions after the Toronto Parliament, its members never imagined what our communities would be facing in the form of COVID-19. In response to established safety standards, the Parliament joined interfaith and interreligious organizations across the globe in utilizing our diversity of beliefs and practices and committed to serving as a convener of the interfaith movement, virtually, to continue working together for a world-wide community that embraces love, compassion, justice, and peace during this on-going global crisis.
So why host the 8th Parliament of the World’s Religions Virtually?
The Parliament is committed to being a safe space for people of faith to come together; both mentally and physically. During the ongoing pandemic, we could not guarantee this safety in a physical event and the Parliament convening is too important to put off. There is no better time than 2021 to bring people of diverse faith and spirituality together to bring about a better world.
The second and perhaps most important reason to go virtual for this year’s Parliament is the advantages of a virtual platform. Since 1893, each Parliament has striven to be more inclusive than the last. By allowing attendants to come to the Parliament through the click of a button in their homes and offices around the world, we bring voices that may not have ever had a chance to come before. Think of the possibilities! For the first time, the Parliament could include tours of sacred places from all around the globe. We believe that all Parliaments in the future will include some virtual element to them, even when we return to meeting in a city conference center. This is just the beginning!
Frequently Asked Questions
Sponsors of the 2021 Parliament
What Do Past Attendees Say About the Parliament?
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