wfn.org | ACNS3479 Al Azhar-Anglican Communion Dialogue to be held in New

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3479     |     NIFCON     |     16 JUNE 2003

Al Azhar-Anglican Communion Dialogue to be held in New York

[NIFCON] Arrangements are well under way for the Al Azhar-Anglican Communion
Dialogue which will take place in New York 10-11 September 2003. A small
team of scholars and churchpeople, nominated by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, will be meeting with key representatives of Al Azhar in Cairo -
which has a critical and authoritative position within the Muslim world. On
the Anglican side, this year the dialogue will be administered on behalf of
the Archbishop by NIFCON, the Anglican Communion's Inter Faith Network.

Finding opportunities for leading Christians and Muslims to meet and talk
about their faiths, what they share in common  as well as their
differences - seems particularly important in this time of world tension.
New York, on September 11 2003, provides a unique location for such a
meeting - and it is intended that the participants in the dialogue will have
the opportunity to visit 'Ground Zero'. The dialogue is part of a process to
which both the present and former Archbishops of Canterbury have been
committed, which provides a means for the Anglican Communion to develop and
foster positive relationships of trust and co-operation with Muslim
communities. Such events as the meeting in New York will, it is hoped, help
to overcome misapprehensions and further deepen understanding about each
other's faith. It is also anticipated that the ongoing process will consider
the experience both of Christians who live in predominantly Muslim contexts
and of Muslims living in predominantly Christian contexts.

For further information please contact:
Clare Amos, Coordinator, NIFCON
Telephone +44 20 7803 3439
Email Clarea@uspg.org.uk

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