Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR) 70 E. Lake Street, Suite 205 Chicago, IL 60601 Telephone: (312) 629-2990 Fax: (312) 629-2991
The 2009 Parliament of the World?s Religions will be an international interreligious gathering spanning seven nights and six days from December 3rd to 9th - bringing together an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 persons.
The city of Melbourne, Australia has been selected to host the 2009 Parliament of the World?s Religions.
A multi-religious, multi-lingual, and multicultural city, Melbourne is an ideal place to hold the world?s largest interreligious gathering. Culturally vibrant, Melbourne and Victoria are home to indigenous and aboriginal spiritualities, as well as diverse world religious and spiritual traditions, including Baha?i, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Zoroastrian.
Since September 11, 2001, Australia has committed to further an inter-religious and multicultural social agenda.
Melbourne has demonstrated collaboration among its religious communities through inter-religious councils, school programs, and solidarity in times of stress and crisis. Melbourne has formed a council that works to ensure ongoing collaboration between religious leaders and police.
An active and multi-dimensional city nexus includes government initiatives to support inter-religious engagement and organizations at the community level. Melbourne?s social policy model fosters cohesion and harmony in a multicultural and multi-religious society. The Parliament will showcase Melbourne?s practices and policies designed to assist in integrating immigrants and refugees.
Within Australia, aboriginal reconciliation issues are pressing. The Parliament provides the opportunity to engage these issues within a larger context. Those gathered will have the opportunity to explore new approaches to aboriginal reconciliation through dialogue with indigenous peoples from other countries. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore the themes of sustainability and global climate change through the lens of indigenous spirituality.
Additionally, like youth in other countries, Australian young people are ?seeking,? so this moment presents an opportunity to provide young people with something other than aggressive secularism.
Australia?s reliance on fossil fuels and its possession of 40 percent of the world?s uranium reserves makes environmental issues critical to consider within religious contexts.
The selection process
A ten-month search process resulted in the selection of Melbourne in October 2006. Melbourne put together an impressive bid that met all the criteria established by the Council for a Parliament of the World?s Religions. The intentionality with which Australia addressed the question of social cohesion in the midst of diversity, as well as the compelling issues that confront Australian society (and which have both local relevance and global significance) contributed to Melbourne?s selection.
The city of Melbourne was selected, in part, because it:
? has a vision compatible with the values of the Council for a Parliament of the World?s Religions.
? focuses on harmony, not unity.
? focuses on convergence, not consensus.
? holds social cohesion as a priority for all segments of society.
? understands the roles religious communities, inter-religious dialogue and collaboration play in creating and maintaining social cohesion.
? connects to the world through a network of sister cities.
However, the selection of Melbourne will become final when full funding has been secured from donors, communities, corporations and foundations, matching the funds pledged by city, state and federal governmen ts.