wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Interreligious dialogue could help solve world's problems

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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 - 08/06/2005

INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE SHOULD HELP SOLVE WORLD'S PRESSING PROBLEMS
SAY REPRESENTATIVES OF TEN WORLD RELIGIONS

	Free photos available, see below

While interreligious dialogue has contributed to overcoming some human
suffering and helped combat fundamentalisms, much more grass-roots
participation is needed, especially of women and youth, and concrete
cooperation should be its main goal.

Some 130 participants from ten world religions shared this assessment of
the current interreligious scene at the beginning of the "Critical moment
in interreligious dialogue" conference organized by the World Council of
Churches (WCC) in Geneva from 7-9 June.

Improving the living conditions of women and children and helping to
overcome economic and political exploitation were mentioned by participants as being part of the positive impact of interreligious dialogue over the
past few decades. This impact also includes efforts to combat racism,
casteism, and HIV/AIDS, and involvement in environmental issues.

Within religious communities themselves, interreligious dialogue has
helped to challenge fundamentalisms and divisive ideologies while
dispelling fear and opening people up to the rich treasures of all
religions. But some important elements are still missing, particularly the
participation of women and youth, as well as gender issues.

The main criticism levelled against interreligious dialogue is that it
does not really reach the "ordinary people" in religious communities,
being mostly restricted to the religious leadership and involving mainly
liberal-minded activists. Nonetheless, participants also pointed out, the
positive long-term effect of trust-building among religious leaders should
not be underestimated.

The whole endeavour should be oriented and lead to concrete cooperation on
issues of common concern in specific contexts. Only in this way, participants agreed, is interreligious dialogue worth the effort.

> Beyond the conversion mentality

Sharing his own assessment of the impact of interreligious dialogue,
Professor Dr Wande Abimbola from Nigeria challenged the sincerity and
inclusiveness of "the dialogues which the Christian missions have staged
so far".

According to Abimbola, who is a priest and Awise Agbaye (spokesperson) of
the Yorùbá religion, "rarely have these dialogues included the primal
religions of the world, such as the indigenous religions of Africa and the
Americas".

A dialogue oriented "to solve the pressing problems of the world" must be
"all-inclusive and all-embracing", with all the religions being "accepted
at the table on an equal basis," he affirmed.

A prerequisite for interreligious dialogue, according to Dr Heba Raouf
Ezzat, a Muslim political scientist from Egypt, is to have left a
"conversion mentality" behind.

Religions have the right to invite people to share their beliefs, but not
to impose them. This principle applies not only to religions, but also to
today's proponents of liberalism and capitalism, who are trying to convert
all the nations of the world to their own values.

The challenge is not an alleged "clash of civilizations", but a threat to
humanity. "The human dimension, the sense of values and dignity, has to be
kept, against the sweeping forces of materialism and capitalism in our
world," Ezzat said.

The full text of the speeches and free high resolution photos are
available on the conference website:
http://www.oikoumene.org/interreligious.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.