Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expressed the need for compassion in religious freedom in his second speech in Washington, D.C.. He spoke at the 2025 International Religious Freedom Summit at the Washington Hilton on Feb. 5.
“Without compassion, we are merely strangers and foreigners to each other. With compassion, we see each other with new eyes, as brothers and sisters,” Elder Soares said during a lunch on the final day of the 2025 International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit at the Washington Hilton on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. “Compassion goes beyond tolerance — it calls us to understand and engage with those who are different. It should be the driving force behind our shared efforts for conscience and religious freedom. Compassion must not just be an ideal, but a practice we nurture through daily actions, guiding our efforts for greater religious freedom worldwide.”
Elder Soares said that allowing religious freedom would “strengthen their nations as a whole.”
“Lasting religious freedom is rooted in religious principles that foster moral individuals, encourage peace, and promote service to vulnerable communities,” he said. “Churches and congregations of all kinds bring communities together. They provide a setting for people to serve those who they would not normally serve, and to talk with people they would not normally talk with.”
You can read the news article by going to https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-soares-compassion-religious-freedom-advocacy