Senior religious representatives have recommitted to interfaith harmony at four meetings hosted by the Adelaide Archdiocese. Philippa Rowland, president of the Multifaith Association of SA and chair of Religions for Peace Australia, convened the meetings to discuss the key elements of the Commitment to Interfaith Harmony.
The commitment was written in 2015 in response to the Reclaim Australia rallies calling for Muslims to ‘go home’ and was first read aloud during the Interfaith Prayer Service for the Christchurch Massacre held in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in 2016.
Leaders of 12 faith communities – Ahmadiyya, Baha’I, Braham Kumari, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Latter Day Saints, Lutheran, Quaker, Unitarian and Uniting Church of Australia joined Aboriginal elder Uncle Alen Edwards snr in discussing three key elements of the commitment:
- Respect for First Nations, acknowledging the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples/custodians of all their traditional lands upon which we all now live.
- Respect for the beliefs, cultures and traditions of all the diverse faith communities now living on these islands now called Australia.
- Respect for the land itself, seeking to live in harmony with our environment and to reduce the threat of climate change to Mother Earth and future generations of all life.
Mrs Rowland said that central to discussions was how to encourage communities to learn more about the history of Australian white settlement, not telling people how to vote but explaining the importance of this year’s Referendum on a Voice to Parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
“Encouragingly, these productive discussions also generated shared ideas, including a keen desire across faiths to engage more with youth; to work to raise awareness of the Voice to Parliament; and to stand together against racial/religious violence and against war,” she said.
“Finally, there was also significant interest in restarting our visit to carious faith communities and places of worship and to places of natural beauty and inspiration for sustainable living.”
