Scholars and practitioners from the University of Notre Dame and across the globe recently gathered in Rome to examine how religion can serve as a resource for democratic renewal amid authoritarian attempts to weaponize it.
The June 29 through July 1 symposium, “Religion and Global Politics across Disciplines and Publics,” convened scholars, diplomats and religious leaders to discuss topics ranging from including religious voices in policy discussions to examining the ways religious institutions have both enabled and mobilized against autocratic rule.
The conference aligns with the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative and with Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, which supports research on democracy and human rights and explores how religion connects to policy through the school’s Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion. The gathering was supported by a Democracy Catalyst Grant from the initiative.
“Religious authority is one of the few forms of trust still intact in many polarized and divided societies, and whether that trust serves the dignity and rights of all people is a central puzzle,” said Joel Day, managing director of the Democracy Initiative. “This relationship between democracy and religion is a thematic priority of the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative for exactly this reason. This symposium underscored how the University, through the Keough School and its Ansari Institute, convenes scholars working at the forefront of these issues.”
Religion still matters to politics, even when it’s ignored
Erin K. Wilson, recipient of the 2026 Ansari Book Prize for her book, “Religion and World Politics: Connecting Theory with Practice,” opened the symposium by challenging a common assumption in diplomacy and scholarship alike: that religion has become irrelevant to serious policymaking.
Wilson argued that religion continues to shape institutions and norms in ways policymakers often fail to see, precisely because they have been trained to operate in a secular idiom. The resurgence of Christian nationalism in the West, she said, is one clear sign that religion has not receded from politics. It has simply gone unaddressed.
Presentations throughout the symposium extended this argument across multiple contexts, including the Philippines, Kenya and Peru.
Building the next generation of scholarship
The symposium also showcased the Ansari Institute’s investment in emerging scholars. Its six 2025-26 Global Fellows spent the academic year refining dissertations into book manuscripts with Notre Dame faculty mentors. One fellow, Jacob Katumusiime, recently signed a contract with Columbia University Press.
On the symposium’s final day, fellows joined current and former participants in the Rome Summer Seminars, a multiweek writing and policy-centered workshop for graduate student work on religion and global politics. The seminars were co-sponsored with John Cabot University at the European Academy of Religion’s annual conference, extending the network of scholars working at the intersection of these two academic fields of study.
“This convening underscores the Ansari Institute’s wide-ranging work to support human dignity and flourishing through research, teaching and outreach that explores how religion shapes our world,” said Rev. Emmanuel Katongole, professor of theology and peace studies and director of the Ansari Institute. “Discussions like this are an important part of our work to connect with religious communities, faith and civic leaders, scholars and journalists as we work to inform larger conversations around religion and policy.”