A NEW commission on interfaith relations was launched last week, with a remit to identify and defuse potential areas of conflicts.

The Area Bishop of Willesden, in London diocese, the Rt Revd Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, is the vice-chair of the Commission on Interfaith Relations, convened by the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, and launched on Tuesday.

Bishop Nsenga-Ngoy said that the commission mattered “because we are living through a moment when global events are being felt deeply in local communities, often in ways that strain relationships and fuel misunderstanding.

“I am convinced that careful research, serious listening, and sustained interfaith engagement are not optional extras; they are essential if we are to nurture social cohesion and a shared sense of belonging in the UK.”

The chair of the commission, Dr Ed Kessler, who founded the Woolf Institute, said that riots in Leicester in 2022 and across the country in 2024 “indicate that faith-tied tensions are intensifying, not easing, and it is vital we understand how current and emerging conflicts overseas become points of tension within the UK.

“We will not address every global conflict but will examine the most relevant global conflicts and their direct impact on UK faith relations.”

The UK’s most prominent interfaith charity, the Inter Faith Network (IFN), closed in 2024 after government funding was withdrawn.

The new Commission on Interfaith Relations will meet six times this year to discuss evidence from public-participation sessions around the UK. Alongside the chair and vice-chair, a further 12 commissioners have been confirmed, including a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Revd Sally Foster-Fulton, who is an Ambassador for Christian Aid, and the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, Dr Shabna Begum.