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World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 06/05/2005

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO REVIEW THE DIRECTION OF INTERRELIGIOUS
DIALOGUE

More than a hundred people from diverse faiths and traditions will come to
the "Critical moment in interreligious dialogue" conference scheduled for
7-9 June 2005 to analyse, assess and review the experience of interreligious collaboration and dialogue as it has been practised over recent decades
and might be practised in future.

Religious scholars, academics, human rights activists, humanitarian
workers, journalists, and people experienced in working across religious
traditions will gather at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva under the themes
of "thinking together", "assessing the present", and "imagining the
future".

Speakers will include such prominent voices in interfaith dialogue as
Swami Agnivesh, Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, Rabbi Ehud Bandel, Prof. Rita M.
Gross, H.E. Seyyed Ali Abtahi, Prof. Tariq Ramadan, Rabbi Naamah Kelman,
Mr Cemal Usak, Prof. Anant Rambachan, Dr Homi Dhalla, Ven. Lama Denys
Teundroup, Dr Vinu Aram, Dr Wande Abimbola, Dr.Heba Raouf Ezzat, Dr Nan
Kobina Nketsia V, Mr Chaiwat Satha-Anand, and Rev. Valson Thampu (see
brief profiles of the speakers below).

Although interreligious dialogue "has broken ground in establishing
relations and promoting peace and understanding between people of
different religions and cultures[…] "yet many who are deeply involved
feel that interreligious dialogue is at a critical moment," World Council
of Churches (WCC) programme executive responsible for interreligious
relations and dialogue, Rev. Dr Hans Ucko, notes. "One of our tasks today
is to make a critical assessment, identifying what we have learned so that
we might begin to imagine the future."

The conference will also be an opportunity to address interreligious
tensions and divides, the present state of relations between religious
communities, and the challenges facing people in today’s world. It will
attempt to provide a forum for bridge-building conversations that focus on
social justice issues despite religious differences.

Organized by the WCC programme on interreligious relations and dialogue,
the conference is also designed to affirm and broaden the Council’s
active involvement in and commitment to building bridges and deepened
interreligious relations. This conference will attempt to assess the
impact and future direction of such work.

Scheduled speakers
Swami AGNIVESH is a Brahmin Hindu leader and activist with experience in
issues related to bonded labour and child rights, and a recipient of
Sweden's Right Livelihood Award.

Dr Asghar Ali ENGINEER is a Muslim scholar, activist, author and a
recipient of the Right Livelihood Award from Sweden. A major part of his
work deals with communalism and communal violence in India
Rabbi Ehud BANDEL is vice president of the International Council of
Christians and Jews and a founding member of Rabbis for Human Rights in
Israel. He is active in peace work and Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Prof. Rita M. GROSS is a Buddhist feminist, a prolific writer, and was a
professor at the University of Wisconsin EauClaire, USA.

H.E. Seyyed Ali ABTAHI is the former vice president of Iran. He is an
author, communicator and founder of an institute of dialogue in Iran.

Prof. Tariq RAMADAN is a Geneva-based author and university lecturer
reflecting on a new kind of European Islam that bridges Islamic values and
Western culture. He is a grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood
in Egypt.

Rabbi Naamah KELMAN is the first woman rabbi to be ordained in Israel. She
is dean and director of educational initiatives at Hebrew Union College,
Jerusalem. She is also active in the areas of religious pluralism, Jewish
feminism, peace and interfaith work.

Mr Cemal USAK is a writer and secretary general for the Intercultural
Dialogue Platform and vice chairman of the Journalists and Writers
Foundation in Turkey.

Prof. Anant RAMBACHAN is a Hindu scholar from Trinidad. He is a professor
of religion, philosophy and Asian studies at St Olaf College, Minnesota,
USA, and has long experience in dialogue.

Dr Homi DHALLA is a representative of Zoroastrianism and president of the
World Zoroastrian Cultural Federation in Mumbai. He is very active in
addressing communalism in India.

Ven. Lama Denys TEUNDROUP is a well-known Buddhist intellectual and a
leader of Tibetan Buddhism in France. He heads the Karma Ling institute
there, and is active in interfaith work, particularly in relation to
indigenous traditions.

Dr Wande ABIMBOLA is a chief of African religion from Nigeria who is
recognized as Awise Awo Ni Agbaye ("spokesperson and ambassador for the
Yor*b* religion and culture in the world").

Dr Vinu ARAM is a Hindu medical doctor active in interreligious work who
is involved in grassroots work (health, HIV/AIDS) at her ashram outside
Coimbatore, India.

Heba Raouf EZZAT is a political scientist, lecturer and an advisor of the
Islamonline website's English section on Islamic, political and contemporary issues.

Dr Nana Kobina NKETSIA V is an anthropologist and regional spiritual chief
of the Essikado Traditional Area in Ghana.

Mr Chaiwat SATA-ANAND is a well-known Muslim scholar, writer and activist
in Thailand. He is an expert on militarism, alternative defence, religion
and peace, Islam and nonviolence, and modern political philosophy.

Rev. Valson THAMPU is an author, lecturer, theologian and minister of the
Church of North India (CNI). He is also a member of the "Religion for
social justice" forum.

More information on the conference is available on our website at:
http://www.oikoumene.org/interreligious.html

Background information on the work of the WCC interreligious relations and
dialogue team;
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/index-e.html

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.