InterfaithNews.Net

by Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia,
Secretary, Interfaith Center for Peace

Peace Education Newsletter of Interfaith Center for Peace
September 2005

In spite of the tremendous efforts and success of the interfaith movement
in promoting a multi-faith pluralistic society based on trust and respect,
why has the interfaith circle not expanded as much as many of us expected it
to? Why have the relationships not deepened as much? Why is that formal
interfaith dialogue only occasionally translates into action? And what can
the interfaith community do to make dialogue more relevant and effective?

These were some of the key questions that brought many of us involved in
interfaith dialogue - more than 100 persons from across the globe, to Geneva,
Switzerland in the second week of June 2005 for a World Council of
Churches' landmark international interfaith conference titled
"Critical Moment in Interreligious Dialogue."

Representatives of virtually all the major world faith communities
explored the connections between dialogue and action during the three-day
conference. The gathering called for deeper dialogue in common action.

This conference was not an opportunity for people of faith to come
together to share once again our common humanity - we have done that too many
times before. This conference was an opportunity for those engaged in
interreligious dialogue to assess it's achievements of the past, reflect
on the relevance and effectiveness of it today, and plan a vision for the
future in which dialogue and action will be interlinked.

The gathering was a call to move beyond formal dialogue to being able to
work with people of faith across religious boundaries in common action so as
to reconcile and heal an imperfect and fragile world. Because without
justice, our world will not know peace.

The need for religions to undertake a "critical and realistic self
assessment" while making "overcoming violence in all its
forms" an "urgent priority" was stressed by the World Council
of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator, His Holiness Catholicos Aram
I. In a keynote speech, he emphasized that in the midst of the "moral
vacuum" of today's globalized world, this common action must be
grounded in common values. "Values, not interests, must be the guiding
principles of interreligious collaboration", Aram I said.

The need for common action was also stressed by WCC General Secretary Rev.
Dr. Samuel Kobia in welcoming the conference participants from ten world
religions. After almost 35 years of involvement in dialogue, the WCC has
"come to realize the interreligious truth of an old ecumenical
principle: that which we can do together we should not do separately,"
he said.

The conference opened on June 7 with a Sikh spiritual reflection. The
first day of the conference stressed the call for credible dialogue with
common action. The second day was devoted to exploring the relationship
between dialogue and action. On the last day of the conference, religious
leaders from across the world focused on the growing global Christian -
Muslim tensions. Discussions were held on the future of interreligious
dialogue and initial steps were taken to develop a non-sectarian common
declaration that may guide interfaith dialogue in action.

The conference participants agreed that "recasting interreligious
dialogue as a practice of humility and hope offers a way of building greater
trust… Together may we seize this critical moment and help transform its
perils into a pilgrimage of faith that will guide us to a more just,
compassionate and peaceful future."

About 130 participants of diverse faiths and traditions, including
academics, religious scholars, humanitarian workers, activists and
journalists attended the gathering. The conference program included a series
of presentations and dialogue sessions on the themes of "thinking
together", "assessing the present", and "imagining the
future". More information about the conference can be accessed at
www.oikoumene.org/interreligious.html.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 6th, 2005 at 10:24 pm and is filed under Groups and Gatherings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.