Jakarta, NU Online
The Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) had the honor of speaking at the International Peace Conference initiated by Sant'Egidio Community in Rome Italy, 29 September-1 October 2013.<>

Secretary General of NU H Marsyudi Syuhud representing the largest Muslim organization presented a paper titled "Living in Harmony with Religious Diversity: Nahdlatul Ulama Perspective in Indonesia".

This paper focuses on the explanation of statistical data about the diversity of race, ethnicity, language, and religion in Indonesia, as well as the NU's acceptance of Pancasila as the final state ideology of Indonesia.

According to him, for multicultural and multi-faith country, Indonesia has a tough task of building social harmony among diverse groups to share and understand each other's point of view and respect differences.

Marshudi said the NU could rely its all long-standing values such as as tawasuth (moderation), tasamuh (tolerance), tawazun (harmony), i'tidal (consistency), in dealing with various problems, by holding dialogue which is aimed at preventing any possible violence.

" Pancasila has become a meeting point in the face of a fierce debate about the state ideology, among those who expect Indonesia to be a secular state and those who expect it as a religious state for becoming the largest Muslim-majority country, " Marsudi said.

At the occasion, Marsudi was one of some 30 panelists coming from such countries as Tunisia (National Constituent Assembly Abdul Majeed Al - Najjar); Algeria (Catholic Archbishop Ghaleb Bader); Malaysia (Anwar Ibrahim); Lebanon (Maronite Catholic Archbishop Paul Youssef Matar), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Husejin Smajic).

This international meeting is the 27th since the first World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, Italy, on October 27, 1986, organized by Pope John Paul II to spread the "spirit of Assisi" in European countries and the Middle East, in order to confirm that the dialogue is a solution for the future of peace in all levels.

Reporting by Mahbib Khoiron; Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq