Building an international interfaith movement2004 Parliament of World Religions, Barcelona

Every five years, the Parliament of World Religions gathers somewherein the world. These events have proven to be the largest multifaith

gatherings in history. Last July, 9,000 people of many faiths from manyparts of the world converged upon Barcelona, Spain, to dialogue, sing,meditate, celebrate, meet and rejoice together.

Social justice was very much a concern of this Parliament that dealtwith four pressing global issues:

• supporting refugees worldwide • eliminating the international debt owed by developing countries • overcoming religiously-motivated violence • increasing access to clean water

The seven-day conference featured more than 500 workshops deal-ing with all aspects of the fields of religion, spirituality and social justice.Two members of the Scarboro Missions Interfaith Desk, along withnumerous other Canadians, attended the global interfaith gathering.

“The conference site on the edge of the Mediterranean was a sea ofpeople in the clothing, voices, faces and colours of the world-the orangerobes of Buddhist monks mingling with the white gowns of the Sufis-allstopping to greet each other in peace, smiling, spontaneouslyhugging,”said Raheel Raza, a Toronto Muslim who collaborates withScarboro's Interfaith Desk. “As I looked around me, I was filled withpeace and the wonder of being there.”

The Parliament of World Religions is one of a growing number ofinternational interfaith organizations. These groups, which are springingup all over the world, are committed to working together on a globalscale because they realize that, in the words of Catholic theologian HansKung, “there will be no peace among the nations without peace amongthe religions.”

“People ask me, 'Is there hope for peace?'” said Raheel Raza. “Afterexperiencing Barcelona, I say, 'Peace will happen when we exchangeweapons of mass destruction for words of wisdom.'”

For summaries of the workshops, visit the website of the Council for aParliament of World Religions: www.cpwr.org. Scarboro Missions and theEncounter World Religions Centre have produced a powerpoint slide presenta-tion featuring the events of the Barcelona Parliament of World Religions. Toview this presentation, contact J.W. Windland at Tel: 1-888-411-7537, Ext. 22,or Email: encounter@worldreligions.ca

Photos above: Whirling dervishes(Sufis) dance before an audience ofthousands of conference participantsat the 2004 Parliament of WorldReligions. Many faith traditionsprayed, sang and dialogued together atthis powerful global interfaith gather-ing. Barcelona.

10 SCARBORO MISSIONS/JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2005

It is time to uncover the best-kept secret on the planet. Allover the world, Catholics at all

levels of the Church are engagingin creative dialogue with peopleof other religions. And dialoguewith Islam is a big part of thisinternational interfaith conversa-tion. After 13 centuries of badhistory between these two tradi-tions, the good news is thatCatholics and Muslims are nowin conversation.

Did you know that Muslimsand Catholics together form one-third of the world's population,and that Muslims and Christiansform almost one-half? Did youknow that Pope John Paul II hasforged dramatic new bonds withMuslims worldwide? Since 1978,he has met with or addressedMuslim audiences more than 150times. In 1998, he supported thecreation of the Muslim-CatholicDialogue Commission. Estab-lished by Vatican and Muslimofficials, this commission is thefirst permanent official channelfor discussion between the tworeligions.

In 2003, I attended an interna-tional conference in Rome onMuslim-Christian dialogue. Thegathering was sponsored bySEDOS, a Rome-based forum thatsupports Catholic religiousorders worldwide in their com-mitment to global mission. Theconference attracted priests andnuns from a multitude of reli-gious orders; many had lived orworked in countries with largeMuslim populations.

Gifted speakers, Muslim and

Catholic, travelled from variousparts of the world to take part inthe conference. They includedacademics, theologians, lawyers,dialogue specialists, doctoralstudents, human rights special-ists, international relations spe-cialists, imams (Muslim religiousleaders) and Christian religious.Together, they painted a stunningpicture of global interreligiouscooperation.

Three of the conference speak-ers were Muslim young peoplewho are also doctoral students inChristian theology at Catholicuniversities in Rome. Theseyoung people have come fromother countries and are living inChristian communities in Romewhile completing their studies.

Throughout the world, Mus-lims and Christians are engaging

in dramatic new models of con-versation and cooperation at thelevels of the theological, the spiri-tual, the interpersonal, the grass-roots and the institutional.Together they are cooperating inthe fields of social justice, lan-guage, diplomacy, culture,human rights, global peace andinternational relations.

And so the conference treatedme to a panorama of internationalcooperation between the world'stwo largest religions. What aprofound experience of hope forthe future. I was left wonderingwhy today's media expends agood deal of ink informing usonly about Muslim-Christiantensions around the world. Whyis the media keeping us in thedark about the good news ofMuslim-Christian cooperation?

The Muslim-Christian conversationSCARBORO MISSIONS’ INTERFAITH DESK GOES TO ROME AND WITNESSES

A STUNNING GLOBAL PICTURE OF MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN COOPERATION

By Paul McKenna

Paul McKenna (left) of the Scarboro Missions Interfaith Desk withMuslim and Catholic scholars and specialists at an international

conference on Muslim-Christian relations. Rome, 2003.

I WAS LEFT WONDERING WHY TODAY’SMEDIA KEEPS US IN THE DARK ABOUT

THIS GOOD NEWS OF DIALOGUE.

This is a story that speaks to atleast 50 percent of the world's pop-ulation.

While in Rome I visited theoffices of the Pontifical Council forInter-religious Dialogue, one of theVatican's chief instruments forpromoting dialogue with otherfaiths on an international scale.Interfaith conversations are blos-soming here at the official level ofthe Church. It was encouraging towitness the work and advancestaking place in the areas of Bud-dhist-Catholic dialogue, Hindu-Catholic dialogue, Jewish-Catholicdialogue and Muslim-Catholicdialogue.

During my stay in Rome, I alsohad ample opportunity to share theinterfaith work and vision of Scar-boro Missions. A number of peopleinformed me as to how the Scar-boro Missions Golden Rule posteris being used in various parts ofthe world including Pakistan andAfrica where incidents of Muslim-Christian conflict continue.∞

For information on the PontificalCouncil for Inter-religious Dialogue,go to:www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifi-cal_councils/interelg

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2005/SCARBORO MISSIONS 11