BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL — Senior Church leaders have shared messages of unity and peace in a multitude of platforms in recent years. In the April 2023 general conference alone, three Apostles shared messages on this topic. All three came in the same session on Sunday morning, Apr. 2.

President Russell M. Nelson delivered his “Peacemakers Needed” address that has been the starting point for multiple social media posts from him in the last four months. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke about being “One in Christ.” And Elder Ulisses Soares, also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, spoke on becoming “Followers of the Prince of Peace.”

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks at the Second Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom in Brasília, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023.

Barbara Leite, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elder Soares has since spoken at a religious congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in June and now in Brasília, Brazil, on Tuesday, Aug. 8. In his latest remarks, Elder Soares said “everyone is born with a sense of fairness” that comes in the form of a “God-given instinct” to help individuals make good choices and support one another.  

Elder Soares’ message came as he participated with representatives of other faiths in the Second Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom. The event was organized by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the Brazilian Center for Studies in Law and Religion.

Elder Soares also spoke in the first such event in March 2022 in Rio de Janeiro.

In Brasília, Elder Soares compared working together to build harmony in communities to the way ecosystems find balance with a diversity of “interdependent organisms.”

“Society lives and breathes amid a diversity of opinions, experiences, feelings and beliefs. We need each other in countless ways — to listen, to learn and to speak,” he said.

A loss of balance in a biological ecosystem can cause the entire system to suffer, Elder Soares said. “The way we use our freedoms and uphold our responsibilities determines the health of the earth and the health of society.”

He said the task society has to learn is how to live together well.

“To live fully is to be grounded in a street, a neighborhood, a family, a relationship, a circle of friends, even a faith.”

Elder Soares said he believes that movements like the fight for civil rights in the United States, against apartheid in South Africa or for indigenous land rights in Brazil “do not emerge from nowhere.”

Presenters and attendees of the Second Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom in Brasília, Brazil, gather on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023.

Barbara Leite, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“Underneath the activism rests a bedrock of values, customs, wisdoms, traditions, practices and beliefs,” he said. “Gifts that we have inherited, gifts that shape our moral horizons.”

Some of those beliefs and practices are manifested in civic and spiritual rituals that “give meaning to birth, marriage, death and sacrifice,” he said. And religion is at the heart of beloved communities, he added.

“It is not all about liberation. It is a sacrifice of self. Living together in our differences requires humility, generosity and a vision of who we are as children of God.”

Understanding that divine origin as Heavenly Father’s children has been helpful in the creation of community for centuries, Elder Soares said, adding that passages from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran and other religious texts have been used in the formation of laws and governments.

Overcoming the natural man

“People being around people, pursuing a common good, is the beginning, middle and fulfillment of a civil society,” Elder Soares said.

From his personal perspective, Elder Soares said that societies which allow multiple expressions of belief may also see a magnification of “the discomfort of difference” while at the same time helping to “enhance our best human impulses.”

Panelists listen to Catholic Bishop Ricardo Hoepers as part of the Second Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom in Brasília, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023.

Barbara Leite, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elder Soares taught that a sense of responsibility leads to a greater feeling of dignity and worth.

“Religion lifts us out of our selfish desires,” he said. “The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches me to be answerable to God, to my fellow beings and to myself.”

Being obliged to respect others, show empathy, be patient, love others and listen to others’ opinions are some of the examples of obligations he listed.

“These responsibilities are the glue that allows choices to make a positive impact. When the two work together, all parts of society benefit in a beautiful synergy,” he said.

He also said that these responsibilities ennoble freedom and engender peace as part of a partnership between religion and society.

To illustrate further, Elder Soares turned to a national treasure of Brazil — the Iguazu River and Iguazu Falls.

Society as a river

The river runs through the south of Brazil and eventually spreads across the Paraná Plateau before falling steeply off the plateau’s edge and creating the beautiful Iguazu Falls. These falls are the longest in the world with a width of nearly 2 miles. Elder Soares said this is “a mirror of human society.”

“We share the same substance but flow our own way, all the while heading in the direction toward God.”

Water from the Iguazu River falls over the Paraná Plateau creating the longest water falls in the world at Iguazu Falls along the Brazil/Argentina border.

Jon Ryan Jensen, Church News

Historically, the falls are also the location of cultural and religious significance because of the way Jesuit priests from Spain stood together with the indigenous Guaraní community in the 1700s when Portuguese slave traders attempted to capture the Guaraní people.

“The Catholics and Indigenous sacrificed their lives for each other and put human dignity above all else,” Elder Soares said.

“Likewise, the most noble of human undertakings involve sacrifice and using our freedom to help the people around us.”

Standing together with other religions

Bishop Ricardo Hoepers, the secretary general of the National Conference of (Catholic) Bishops of Brazil participated in the panel discussion with Elder Soares.

Bishop Hoepers said he feels it is important that individuals, communities and governments not “disconnect from the conscience of God.” He said that sometimes people will say they believe something as a matter of identification without doing what the belief would compel them to do.

Participants in the Second Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom in Brasília, Brazil, gather on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023.

Barbara Leite, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“It is important that we differentiate between ‘I believe’ and ‘I do,’” he said. If an individual holds a religious belief, they should also live in a way that reflects that belief and glorifies God, he said.

Christine Alves Bastos represented the Afro-Brazilian community and shared her hope for the future of Brazil’s religious community and the bridges being built among different religions and beliefs. Because bridges connect two different places or ideas, she encouraged mutual understanding from each side when those bridges are built.

“We say, ‘With your permission,’ but do we really seek others’ permission? Coming from Africa, we know what it is like to not be asked permission to enter our space,” she said. “We must ask permission to enter other people’s spaces.”

Representing the Bahá’i Community of Brazil, Luiza Cavalcanti said she looks forward to a future of working together with other religions in the country.

“There is value in counseling,” she said. Whether it is within an individual church or among churches and other community members, counseling together will help lift everyone in society, she added.