wfn.org | ACNS3660 Bishop applauds European dialogue with faiths

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

ACNS 3660     |     ENGLAND	|     4 NOVEMBER 2003 

Bishop applauds European dialogue with faiths

[ACNS source: Diocese of St Albans] An important initiative to encourage
dialogue between the governments and faith communities of Europe has
been applauded by the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Christopher
Herbert.

He welcomed moves towards closer links highlighted at a high-level
European Union conference in Rome last week, at which he spoke for the
Anglican Church.

The ground-breaking event, organised by the Italian Presidency of the
European Union, brought together Home Affairs ministers from governments
across Europe with senior representatives of faith communities, on
Thursday (October 30th).

The UK Government was represented by Fiona Mactaggart, Home Office
Minister for Race Equality, Community Policy, and Civil Renewal, who
also spoke at the conference.

The Bishop, who sits in the House of Lords and is also UK Chairman of
the Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) told the conference that
dialogue between all faiths lies at the heart of Europe's future.

He also welcomed the reference to the EU maintaining "an open,
transparent and regular dialogue" with churches and other faith
communities contained in Clause 51 of the European Convention that will
shape the EU's future.

Bishop Christopher said, "I sense in the new Europe which is emerging
some fascinating and hopeful signs. There is a tendency amongst the
power-wielders of modern society to treat religions and faith as simply
a kind of lifestyle choice, of no more importance or significance than
going to the gym or deciding which designer-jacket to wear."

In contrast, he said that the Convention's Clause 51 represented "a
profound recognition that religions are unique, they are far more than
lifestyles or a matter of personal choice."

Bishop Christopher added, "That clause is one which I hope all here will
welcome, because it provides part of the serious conceptual architecture
within which interfaith dialogue can take place.

"The future of Europe is bound up with interfaith dialogue, because it
is in that dialogue that we may fashion a language which, with due
humility, will shape our vision of God and of our human destiny. Without
such a dialogue, the political structures of Europe could become thin
and feeble."

In the address, Bishop Christopher said that interfaith dialogue had to
be built on transparency, openness and trust and based on an academic,
intellectual rigour. It had to take the 'emotional content' of the
dialogue into account, and be morally patient and courageous.

He explained: "Dialogue takes energy, a kind of moral energy - an act of
will which refuses to surrender to despair. Much of that energy has to
be devoted to education, to combating racism and challenging all
stereotypes."

Although the Rome conference was attended by senior representatives of
the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faith, the Bishop stressed that
interfaith dialogue should involve all faiths represented in the EU.

Other speakers at the Rome conference included the European Commissioner
for Justice and Home Affairs Antonio Vitorino, and the President of the
European Parliament's Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights,
Justice and Home Affairs, Hernandez Mollar.

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