In much international development work, religion has been a marginal if not ignored topic. The inverse applies for many faith institutions, which have viewed the work and thinking of development institutions with skepticism. Research, operational action, joint reflection, and dialogue on common issues have been patchwork. Recent initiatives, notably the Jubilee 2000 campaign spotlight on issues of poor country debt, have highlighted how significant are the linkages and areas for exploration,

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... many opportunities for dialogue on topics of common concern and differing perspectives (like education, social impact of modernization, roots of poverty) are still missed. The events of September 11, 2001 have underscored starkly the powerful links between religion and modernization, and posed a host of new questions about how the links operate and how thinkers and actors should respond. This article focuses on a specific initiative aimed at bridging this gulf, the World Faiths Development Dialogue, which aims to engage a wide-ranging international and national dialogue among faith and development institutions, with the effort to combat world poverty the central focus. The experience illustrates both opportunities and pitfalls. WFDD and some recent events bridging the development and faith worlds highlight the importance of this dialogue for the work of development institutions, faith organizations and academia as they address the wide array of topics around the globalization themes of world poverty, inequality and social justice. It has brought to the fore ethical and pragmatic dilemmas for practitioners in quite diverse fields.