The 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions
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Fr. Thomas Ryan, CSP, directs the Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations in New York City. He is an advisor to Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and wrote the following report on the Parliament of the World’s Religions, where he was one of the thousands of persons in attendance.
It came during the discussion period of a session entitled “Finding the Brother in the Other: Overcoming Negative Images of Other Faiths as We Build Our Religious Identities and Seek Common Ground.” A Muslim imam from Rwanda took the mike and expressed how valuable he was finding this “free zone” where people from different religions could meet to talk together. “I am from Rwanda,” he said, “where one million people were slaughtered in a hundred days because people did not find a brother or sister in the other.” Then he turned to Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, an Orthodox Jewish member of the presenting panel, and said, “I am getting to know Jews here. I really appreciate what you have been saying about Judaism not being just a way to be Jewish, but a way to be human—and so it must be with all other religions, too. I want to shake your hand!” And as he went toward the panelists’ table, the Rabbi got up and came around the table to meet him and the two spontaneously embraced. Suddenly everyone in the room was gripped with the poignancy of the moment, and then all present erupted in applause as the imam and the rabbi stood before us in a prolonged embrace. It was a minute that effectively caught the raison d’etre of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.
The first Parliament, held in Chicago in 1893, is widely regarded as the beginning of the interreligious movement worldwide. A hundred years transpired before the next one, held again in Chicago in 1993. It was generally recognized that the new situation of religious pluralism in most countries of the world demanded more frequent designations of a “free zone” in which people from all religions could come together to talk, pray, share meals, sing and dance. The third Parliament took place just six years later in Capetown, South Africa.
This summer’s Parliament from July 7-14 in Barcelona, Spain, was the fourth. There were 6500 participants from a total of 75 countries. The setting was the five-month-long Universal Forum of Cultures, a new kind of event where participants from all over the world can seek solutions to the most urgent problems of our time. The Forum’s three core themes revolved around cultural diversity, sustainable development, and conditions for peace. The Parliament of the World’s Religions, a centerpiece among the Forum’s events, represented a large-scale dialogue between people working in interreligious movements in harmony with the Forum’s goals.
The theme of the Barcelona Parliament was “Pathways to Peace: the Wisdom of Listening, the Power of Commitment.” The Parliament is more a gathering of people engaged in interreligious relations at local and regional levels than an Assembly of high-level leaders. It offers an opportunity to foster mutual understanding and respect; to recognize the humanity of the other and broaden our sense of community; to learn to live together in harmony in the midst of diversity; to seek justice, peace, and sustainability of the earth’s resources; and to deepen one’s own spirituality. In short, to actively work for a better world.
The Assembly of Leaders
Although the Parliament is more a movement of people than a decision-making assembly of high-level leaders, there is a place in the Parliament process for religious leaders to gather and talk. It is called the Parliament Assembly. In 1993 in Chicago, 250 leaders of religious and spiritual traditions and international religious organizations met to discuss a document which has come to be called "Towards A Global Ethic." Based on the work of Prof. Hans Küng, it presents four ethical principles common across the major eastern and western traditions. Since 1993, the Global Ethic has been translated into many languages, has provided a focus for many books, and has engendered much additional study.
At Capetown in 1999, the participation in the Assembly of Leaders was broadened to include young people as well as leaders from eight guiding institutions: Religion and Spirituality; Government; Agriculture, Labor, Industry, and Commerce; Education; the Arts and Communications Media; Science and Medicine; International Governmental Organizations; and Organizations of Civil Society. These leaders considered another document, A Call to Our Guiding Institutions, which presented an invitation to people leading these institutions to consider how they would behave if they took seriously the principles from the Global Ethic.
The 2004 Assembly met for three days prior to the Parliament at the famous Benedictine monastery of Montserrat, nestled among towering mountain peaks, about an hour and a half outside of Barcelona. The decision by the Chicago-based Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions was not to pursue another formal document at this gathering, but to call for religious and spiritual communities to develop and enact practical and transformative responses to four critical issues: improving the plight of refugees, relieving the crushing burden of international debt on poor countries, creating access to clean water, and overcoming religiously motivated violence. The methodology used in the Assembly meetings involved identifying “simple and profound acts” that make a contribution to a just, peaceful, and sustainable world. Participants were asked to view the issues through the lens of their own traditions. What in one’s own tradition compels and inspires one to care about this issue? How does the strategy for social change embedded in the teachings of one’s own and others’ traditions shape one’s response? Through pilot projects and grassroots organizing, through partnerships and collaborations, the Council for the Parliament seeks to encourage religious and spiritual communities to make an effective and constructive contribution.
Simple, Profound Acts
If simple and profound acts were the focus, the center and heartbeat of the Parliament for many of its participants were two large, off-site tents called The Parliament by the Sea, just a five-minute walk along the Mediterranean sea from the Universal Forum of Cultures’ buildings in which Parliament venues took place. Over the entry to one of the tents was the word “Gurudwara,” and over the entry to the other, “Sacred Space.” Both were erected by the international Sikh community, which was observing and celebrating four historic anniversaries. In the huge Gurudwara, the Sikh temple and gathering place, Sikh men and women prepared and served blessed vegetarian food for lunch and supper every day of the Parliament at no charge for all who wished to come. Nishkar Seva (selfless service) is a fundamental tenet of the Sikh faith: performing voluntary selfless service in helping the needy without expecting any reward.
Every day for seven days, five to six thousand Parliament participants were greeted warmly at the entry to the tent by members of the Sikh community and invited to wash their hands, remove their shoes and receive a white, kerchief-like head covering (a mark of respect towards God the Giver) before going in and sitting down on the floor in long rows facing one another. Sikh men came down the center of the rows one after another to ladle simple and nourishing food from large containers onto plastic plates (all washed by hand and reused) and to distribute bottles of water. There was something about being barefoot and on the floor that created a sense of openness and dialogue. People just randomly looked and smiled at one another. Many remarked about “the wonderful energy” in the tent and how their best conversations with other participants took place within it.
In the Gurudwara there was a temple area where a continuous reading took place of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh volume of scripture exalted to the status of a living prophet. Next to the place of worship, participants could learn more through an extensive exposition about the spirituality and practice of those who had so generously and cheerfully abated their physical hunger and thirst. Next to the temple area was a labyrinth which participants could walk in quiet meditation. The perimeter of the second tent, Sacred Space, was framed by the symbol of each religion depicted on the floor with colored earth, sand, and pebbles. More like a great open-air canopy, it faced the sea and provided room for personal and group contemplation, chanting, and prayer.
The first Parliament, held in Chicago in 1893, is widely regarded as the beginning of the interreligious movement worldwide. A hundred years transpired before the next one, held again in Chicago in 1993. It was generally recognized that the new situation of religious pluralism in most countries of the world demanded more frequent designations of a “free zone” in which people from all religions could come together to talk, pray, share meals, sing and dance. The third Parliament took place just six years later in Capetown, South Africa.
This summer’s Parliament from July 7-14 in Barcelona, Spain, was the fourth. There were 6500 participants from a total of 75 countries. The setting was the five-month-long Universal Forum of Cultures, a new kind of event where participants from all over the world can seek solutions to the most urgent problems of our time. The Forum’s three core themes revolved around cultural diversity, sustainable development, and conditions for peace. The Parliament of the World’s Religions, a centerpiece among the Forum’s events, represented a large-scale dialogue between people working in interreligious movements in harmony with the Forum’s goals.
The theme of the Barcelona Parliament was “Pathways to Peace: the Wisdom of Listening, the Power of Commitment.” The Parliament is more a gathering of people engaged in interreligious relations at local and regional levels than an Assembly of high-level leaders. It offers an opportunity to foster mutual understanding and respect; to recognize the humanity of the other and broaden our sense of community; to learn to live together in harmony in the midst of diversity; to seek justice, peace, and sustainability of the earth’s resources; and to deepen one’s own spirituality. In short, to actively work for a better world.
The Assembly of Leaders
Although the Parliament is more a movement of people than a decision-making assembly of high-level leaders, there is a place in the Parliament process for religious leaders to gather and talk. It is called the Parliament Assembly. In 1993 in Chicago, 250 leaders of religious and spiritual traditions and international religious organizations met to discuss a document which has come to be called "Towards A Global Ethic." Based on the work of Prof. Hans Küng, it presents four ethical principles common across the major eastern and western traditions. Since 1993, the Global Ethic has been translated into many languages, has provided a focus for many books, and has engendered much additional study.
At Capetown in 1999, the participation in the Assembly of Leaders was broadened to include young people as well as leaders from eight guiding institutions: Religion and Spirituality; Government; Agriculture, Labor, Industry, and Commerce; Education; the Arts and Communications Media; Science and Medicine; International Governmental Organizations; and Organizations of Civil Society. These leaders considered another document, A Call to Our Guiding Institutions, which presented an invitation to people leading these institutions to consider how they would behave if they took seriously the principles from the Global Ethic.
The 2004 Assembly met for three days prior to the Parliament at the famous Benedictine monastery of Montserrat, nestled among towering mountain peaks, about an hour and a half outside of Barcelona. The decision by the Chicago-based Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions was not to pursue another formal document at this gathering, but to call for religious and spiritual communities to develop and enact practical and transformative responses to four critical issues: improving the plight of refugees, relieving the crushing burden of international debt on poor countries, creating access to clean water, and overcoming religiously motivated violence. The methodology used in the Assembly meetings involved identifying “simple and profound acts” that make a contribution to a just, peaceful, and sustainable world. Participants were asked to view the issues through the lens of their own traditions. What in one’s own tradition compels and inspires one to care about this issue? How does the strategy for social change embedded in the teachings of one’s own and others’ traditions shape one’s response? Through pilot projects and grassroots organizing, through partnerships and collaborations, the Council for the Parliament seeks to encourage religious and spiritual communities to make an effective and constructive contribution.
Simple, Profound Acts
If simple and profound acts were the focus, the center and heartbeat of the Parliament for many of its participants were two large, off-site tents called The Parliament by the Sea, just a five-minute walk along the Mediterranean sea from the Universal Forum of Cultures’ buildings in which Parliament venues took place. Over the entry to one of the tents was the word “Gurudwara,” and over the entry to the other, “Sacred Space.” Both were erected by the international Sikh community, which was observing and celebrating four historic anniversaries. In the huge Gurudwara, the Sikh temple and gathering place, Sikh men and women prepared and served blessed vegetarian food for lunch and supper every day of the Parliament at no charge for all who wished to come. Nishkar Seva (selfless service) is a fundamental tenet of the Sikh faith: performing voluntary selfless service in helping the needy without expecting any reward.
Every day for seven days, five to six thousand Parliament participants were greeted warmly at the entry to the tent by members of the Sikh community and invited to wash their hands, remove their shoes and receive a white, kerchief-like head covering (a mark of respect towards God the Giver) before going in and sitting down on the floor in long rows facing one another. Sikh men came down the center of the rows one after another to ladle simple and nourishing food from large containers onto plastic plates (all washed by hand and reused) and to distribute bottles of water. There was something about being barefoot and on the floor that created a sense of openness and dialogue. People just randomly looked and smiled at one another. Many remarked about “the wonderful energy” in the tent and how their best conversations with other participants took place within it.
In the Gurudwara there was a temple area where a continuous reading took place of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh volume of scripture exalted to the status of a living prophet. Next to the place of worship, participants could learn more through an extensive exposition about the spirituality and practice of those who had so generously and cheerfully abated their physical hunger and thirst. Next to the temple area was a labyrinth which participants could walk in quiet meditation. The perimeter of the second tent, Sacred Space, was framed by the symbol of each religion depicted on the floor with colored earth, sand, and pebbles. More like a great open-air canopy, it faced the sea and provided room for personal and group contemplation, chanting, and prayer.
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1993 Parliament of the World's Religions
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Fr. Thomas Ryan, CSP, Fr. Thomas Ryan resides at the North American Paulist Center in Washington DC, and works for Christian unity and interfaith relations through a variety of formats: interreligious dialogue, retreats, on-line courses, graduate instruction, workshops, etc. He has served on MID’s Board of Advisors.