This age of globalization needs enlightened people in
each faith who can examine their sacred writings and traditions and identify
the aspects that can benefit all humanity as well as those that preserve each
religion's identity. The UN designated the first week of February every year as
World Interfaith Harmony Week. UPF and its network of Ambassadors for Peace
celebrate this week each year, in a way that encourages understanding, respect,
and cooperation among people of all faiths for the well-being of our
communities and peace in the world.
|
|
|
|
150 people gathered on February 8, 2013 at the
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The first speaker, Dr. Walter Lichem, gave a detailed
insight in the start and the institutional development of the United
Nations Alliance of Civilizations, where his diverse positions in the UN and the
Austrian Foreign Ministry allowed him close insights. He encouraged the UPF in
its attempt to promote an Interreligious
Council within the UN framework and
advised UPF to learn from the informal path the Alliance of Civilizations has
taken in its development. The
Dr. Shantu Watt, active member of the UN’s
Women’s Guild, strongly urged people of faith to make sure that religions build
a peaceful platform for people. Watt started out with sharing from her personal
background growing up in
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Michael Stöger, a
trained physicist and now a filmmaker, said that “understanding and dealing
with conflicts within oneself helps to understand conflicts ‘outside,’ in
society.” In the work of creating documentaries, he had the chance to listen to
many people of different cultures and religions. In this process Dr. Stöger
could discover "a common heritage and destiny connecting humanity."
He elaborated on a Native American prophecy expressing the need of different
cultures for each other and shared impressive pictures of the Ganges River,
where at the moment the Kumbh Mela, one if the world's largest religious
gatherings, was taking place. The filmmaker closed by explaining his understanding
that life is not going to only an external but also an inner evolution of
consciousness, pointing out that he sees that humanity has arrived at a crucial
point of decision.
The panel closed with Rev.
Fr. Kodom Patrick Kofi, SVD, who serves as immigrants and refugees pastor of
the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. He stressed that when talking about
interfaith harmony and a culture of peace it is important to talk about the
migration and the millions of people who are forced to leave their homes or
decide to migrate in order to seek a better life for themselves and their
children. The reverend shared from his work with refugees and how defining
religion often is for their identity. “When someone after 7-8 years as an
asylum seeker in
|
|
|
|
|
As the first speaker of the
second panel, Mag. Franz Nahrada, a sociologist and writer, started his speech
by explaining about the Earth Day, which is held every year exactly at the
spring equinox in the Northern hemisphere. Its founder was John McConnell. As a
sociologist and environmental activist, he quoted Douglas Engelbart: “We are
not able to invent something meaningful as long as we’re not able to create
social innovation.” (see http://www.earthsite.org/)
Next, he explained shortly about
the Global Village (http://globalvillages.ning.com/), where people would live in
small villages, interconnected through Telematik (Telecommunication +
Informatics), as a new form of environmental friendly living.
His main point was the
topic “Monasteries of the Future”: his vision is that people will use
monasteries to retreat and also do study and research work together. He stated:
“Any major revolution in the world looks back to retrieval. The monasteries of
the 21st century will be places of cohabitation of culture and
nature.” He invited everybody to attend a conference which he will organize on
this topic in May in the famous monastery of Melk.
Then Dr. Ulrike Kraus, a
lawyer and sinologist, spoke about “Religions in Modern China.” She has always
been fascinated by Chinese culture, which is why she studied Chinese language.
Through her studies and many excursions to
Among today’s 55 different
nationalities in
|
|
|
|
The next speaker was Mr.
Fahat Al Rawi, from the Islamic Community of Faith in
Mr. Fahat Al Rawi is a
member of the Islamic Youth Organization. In
|
|
|
|
The last speaker of the
conference was Dr. Jaan Karl Klasmann, who represented Universal Sufism. He explained
that originally the Sufi schools used to accept people from all religions. The
International Sufi Order offers a variety of rituals by which they celebrate
the underlying unity of all religions.
Guests appreciated the
variety of the views and approaches to religion presented in a very personal
and authentic manner. As a conclusion of the program everybody was invited to
listen to the “Te Deum” by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, a powerful
conclusion of the event.
World Interfaith Harmony Week
Observed in UN General Assembly Hall in 2012
Further
Information:
|
|
|
|
|
