The Importance of Christ’s Name at the G20 Interfaith Forum BOLOGNA, Italy — After Elder Ronald A. Rasband spoke at the G20 Interfaith Forum here on Monday, I had the opportunity to interview him alongside Doug Wilks, executive editor of the Deseret News. Because the forum’s theme was “Time to Heal,” Doug asked him, “Can the world be healed?” Elder Rasband already had expressed good cheer, calling himself “an optimist times 10,” and was encouraged by his meetings during the forum with government and faith leaders from around the world. “And to be here and have these visits and have heads of state ministers, a patriarch and others want to visit with the church and talk about actionable items, I’m very optimistic,” he said. He answered the question about healing the world with a statement and an experience. “The great healer is Jesus Christ the Lord,” Elder Rasband said. “I’m an optimist. I believe that healing can take place, if people will humble themselves and approach God the Father, who is the father of us all, and Jesus Christ, his son.” Elder Rasband had addressed a session of the forum with several other speakers, and he had noted their repeated concerns about the rise of hate speech around the world. He spoke passionately about the violence and depredations perpetrated against early Latter-day Saints. “Yes, ladies and gentlemen, an extermination order in the United States of America,” he said during his presentation, his deep voice resonating against the walls of a stone hall in the 775-year-old Palazzo Re Enzo, a medieval red-brick palace. The international audience gasped audibly. “There were some visible heads turned,” said Elder Jack N. Gerard, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church Communication Department. During our interview a few hours later, Elder Rasband talked about the experience and a decision he made in the moment as he neared the end of his talk. “I had an interesting moment today,” he said, “and it had to do with how I was going to end my talk. I’d been through listening to seven other speakers. None of them closed in any faith-tradition way, in the name of God or anything like that. When it came to me, I had a moment of, ‘Do I just say thank you to this group, or do I close In the name of Jesus Christ?’ And I remembered who I was, and I thought, ‘The Lord would have me say his name to conclude this message.’ And so I did, and I was the only speaker today that invoked the name of the Lord or even deity, to my knowledge. I felt that was a very important thing to declare his name, ‘In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ “So I’m an optimist,” he continued. “I’m an optimist about healing, but I also know the signs of the times, and I know the difficulty that is going to happen in our days. But we can certainly be healers. We can certainly have that message and encourage others to do so with us, all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Correction: Last week’s email incorrectly stated that the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is currently a member of the NAACP national board of directors. He served on the board from 2008 to 2020. |