In July 2022, President Dallin H. Oaks — then first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — traveled to Rome, Italy, to offer the keynote address at the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit.
When he was asked to offer a blessing on the food during a luncheon at the event, President Oaks included portions of the Lord’s Prayer in his heavenly petition. Uttered just miles from the Vatican, the prayer was a sweet and powerful acknowledgement of Notre Dame University as the sponsoring organization and of the many members of the Catholic faith in the room.
That beautiful, thoughtful, unifying prayer — which concluded with recognizable Latter-day Saint petitions — reflected love, respect, gratitude and reverence. For me, it was also a glimpse of the grace of a world religious leader.