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MORE than 8,000 people
from nearly 80 countries gathered in Barcelona, Spain, in
July (2004), for the
Fourth
Parliament of Religions.
The giant “spiritual summit” took place during, and as a
part of, Barcelona’s Universal Forum of Cultures, a 141-day
international festival which was billed as a “Cultural
Olympics.”
The
first
gathering
of the
Parliament of World Religions, held in Chicago in 1893, was
thought to be the first time Jews, Catholics, Bahai's and
Hindus engaged in official dialogue.
The
second
parliament
was not convened until one hundred years later - in 1983;
again in Chicago.
The
third
parliament
was held in
Cape Town, South Africa, in 1999.
The
fourth
parliament,
in July 04, was a week of shared prayers, panels and
discussions. The ultimate goal of the sessions was said to
be “the spirit of fellowship.”
A multitude of faiths
were represented, from Anglican to Zoroastrian. Rarely do
Muslim clerics, Buddhist monks, Hindu gurus, Jewish rabbis
and Roman Catholic cardinals find themselves in a conclave
together, but this year they were all there along with cult
followers and mystics.
This year the emphasis
was on
action,
not doctrine.
While the Parliament
of Religion espouses the grand notion of achieving world
peace, the leaders hope to motivate individuals to take
actions that will benefit their local communities in
overcoming religiously motivated violence, supporting
refugees worldwide, increasing access to clean water, and in
eliminating international debt for developing countries.
The Parliament does
not have any legislative authority, but the leaders say the
group seeks instead, to set a worldwide moral and religious
agenda.
“The parliament will
not dictate to the world what to do,” said Lally Lucretia
Warren, a parliament leader from Botswana. “But religion is
the chief instrument through which order is established in
the world.”
The conference’s
executive director, Rev. Dirk Ficca, said, “this will not be
an assembly issuing a declaration on what the world should
do … the goal of the conference is to help all participants
create and share commitments through a list of simple and
profound acts to bring back to their home communities.”
OPEN TO ALL
“Today, the Parliament
of the World’s Religions is the largest and most inclusive
interfaith gathering in the world,” Kusumita P. Pedersen, a
parliament trustee said. “It’s open to anyone who wants to
come. There are thousands of groups and programs all over
the world that are trying to bring religious communities
closer together in better relations.”
Shirin Ebadi, the
Iranian lawyer and human-rights activist and a longstanding
critic of the authoritarian rule of Iran’s hard-line
clerics, gave the keynote address. “Human rights can be
achieved only through democracy,” she said. “But democracy
requires a frame-work. A majority has no right to govern as
they please.”
Other key speakers
included prominent theologian Hans Kung; Ela Gandhi, a South
African peace activist and grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi;
primatologist and activist Jane Goodall; health expert and
author Deepak Chopra; and Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
(known also as Amma) of India. The Dalai Lama was scheduled
to speak but he had to cancel because of illness.
The Parliament’s shift
in focus to real-world problems may be designed to help
avoid the many doctrinal differences and historical
conflicts between religious groups. The Rev. Shanta
Premawardhana, associate general secretary for the US-based
National Council of Churches, said the task of engaging in
issues of justice and peace causes churches to “discover
that we often have more in common than that which divides
us.”
OTHER RELIGIOUS NEWS
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
DECLINES
A RECENT report says
that although nearly two million people claim their “current
religion” as Church of Scotland, only about 240,000 of the
membership worship regularly.
Some people fear the
Church is too much like “an exclusive club” and they want to
remain free of it, but at the same time, keep allegiance to
the Christian faith.
The report adds:
“People know what they want from the Church: a good funeral,
a happy wedding, a celebration of a birth, but they resist
when the Church tries to take this further and seems to want
to take over their lives.”
-
www.theherald.co.uk
CANADA FORBIDS FREE
BIBLE
DISTRIBUTION TO NEW
CANADIANS
FOR more than 50 years
the Canadian Bible Society has welcomed immigrants in
citizenship courts, offering them copies of the Scriptures.
The right of the Society to do that was formalized in an
agreement signed in 1998 with the government. At all times,
it was made clear that acceptance of the Bibles was purely
voluntary on the part of the recipients.
Now a
Senior Citizenship Judge has removed the Society’s freedom
to present Bibles to new Canadians.
In a letter to the
Bible Society, Judge Simard noted that Canada is a
multicultural nation where freedom of religion is guaranteed
under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. His letter
indicated that notwithstanding the agreement, “allowing holy
books to be made available at citizenship ceremonies
detracts from this message.” - Toronto / LifeSiteNews.com
MORE than 8,000 people
from nearly 80 countries gathered in Barcelona, Spain, in
July (2004), for the
Fourth
Parliament of Religions.
The giant “spiritual summit” took place during, and as a
part of, Barcelona’s Universal Forum of Cultures, a 141-day
international festival which was billed as a “Cultural
Olympics.”
The
first
gathering
of the
Parliament of World Religions, held in Chicago in 1893, was
thought to be the first time Jews, Catholics, Bahai's and
Hindus engaged in official dialogue.
The
second
parliament
was not convened until one hundred years later - in 1983;
again in Chicago.
The
third
parliament
was held in
Cape Town, South Africa, in 1999.
The
fourth
parliament,
in July 04, was a week of shared prayers, panels and
discussions. The ultimate goal of the sessions was said to
be “the spirit of fellowship.”
A multitude of faiths
were represented, from Anglican to Zoroastrian. Rarely do
Muslim clerics, Buddhist monks, Hindu gurus, Jewish rabbis
and Roman Catholic cardinals find themselves in a conclave
together, but this year they were all there along with cult
followers and mystics.
This year the emphasis
was on
action,
not doctrine.
While the Parliament
of Religion espouses the grand notion of achieving world
peace, the leaders hope to motivate individuals to take
actions that will benefit their local communities in
overcoming religiously motivated violence, supporting
refugees worldwide, increasing access to clean water, and in
eliminating international debt for developing countries.
The Parliament does
not have any legislative authority, but the leaders say the
group seeks instead, to set a worldwide moral and religious
agenda.
“The parliament will
not dictate to the world what to do,” said Lally Lucretia
Warren, a parliament leader from Botswana. “But religion is
the chief instrument through which order is established in
the world.”
The conference’s
executive director, Rev. Dirk Ficca, said, “this will not be
an assembly issuing a declaration on what the world should
do … the goal of the conference is to help all participants
create and share commitments through a list of simple and
profound acts to bring back to their home communities.”
OPEN TO ALL
“Today, the Parliament
of the World’s Religions is the largest and most inclusive
interfaith gathering in the world,” Kusumita P. Pedersen, a
parliament trustee said. “It’s open to anyone who wants to
come. There are thousands of groups and programs all over
the world that are trying to bring religious communities
closer together in better relations.”
Shirin Ebadi, the
Iranian lawyer and human-rights activist and a longstanding
critic of the authoritarian rule of Iran’s hard-line
clerics, gave the keynote address. “Human rights can be
achieved only through democracy,” she said. “But democracy
requires a frame-work. A majority has no right to govern as
they please.”
Other key speakers
included prominent theologian Hans Kung; Ela Gandhi, a South
African peace activist and grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi;
primatologist and activist Jane Goodall; health expert and
author Deepak Chopra; and Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
(known also as Amma) of India. The Dalai Lama was scheduled
to speak but he had to cancel because of illness.
The Parliament’s shift
in focus to real-world problems may be designed to help
avoid the many doctrinal differences and historical
conflicts between religious groups. The Rev. Shanta
Premawardhana, associate general secretary for the US-based
National Council of Churches, said the task of engaging in
issues of justice and peace causes churches to “discover
that we often have more in common than that which divides
us.”
OTHER RELIGIOUS NEWS
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
DECLINES
A RECENT report says
that although nearly two million people claim their “current
religion” as Church of Scotland, only about 240,000 of the
membership worship regularly.
Some people fear the
Church is too much like “an exclusive club” and they want to
remain free of it, but at the same time, keep allegiance to
the Christian faith.
The report adds:
“People know what they want from the Church: a good funeral,
a happy wedding, a celebration of a birth, but they resist
when the Church tries to take this further and seems to want
to take over their lives.”
-
www.theherald.co.uk
CANADA FORBIDS FREE
BIBLE
DISTRIBUTION TO NEW
CANADIANS
FOR more than 50 years
the Canadian Bible Society has welcomed immigrants in
citizenship courts, offering them copies of the Scriptures.
The right of the Society to do that was formalized in an
agreement signed in 1998 with the government. At all times,
it was made clear that acceptance of the Bibles was purely
voluntary on the part of the recipients.
Now a
Senior Citizenship Judge has removed the Society’s freedom
to present Bibles to new Canadians.
In a letter to the
Bible Society, Judge Simard noted that Canada is a
multicultural nation where freedom of religion is guaranteed
under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. His letter
indicated that notwithstanding the agreement, “allowing holy
books to be made available at citizenship ceremonies
detracts from this message.” - Toronto / LifeSiteNews.com |
