Recalling the Message: Melbourne Parliament of Religions, December 2009

Melbourne Parliament of Religions LogoIn December of 2009, Rabbi David Saperstein – one of the keynote speakers at the Melbourne Parliament of Religions told – inter alia – “In a world in which you can do everything, what you should do – the moral question – is the fundamental challenge facing humanity. And on that question, the religious communities have urgent, profound, indispensable wisdom to offer.


The global interreligious movement has come of age.
From major metropolitan centres to rural villages, religious and spiritual communities are reflecting on their identities in light of diversity and shared responsibility. As globalisation sweeps across the planet and contact among disparate people grows, so too does the need for new approaches, resources and partnerships by these communities.

Twenty years ago, interreligious dialogue was a footnote on the agenda of the United Nations.
Today — in a post—9/11 world ~ it is a key instrument for exploring questions of conflict and peacemaking, poverty and development, climate change sustainability, diversity and social cohesion. This change has come in response to the recognition that religious and spiritual traditions ~ Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Jewish, Hindu, Indigenous, Muslim, New Religious Movements, Pagan, Secular Humanist, Sikh and Zoroastrian, among others — are influential and constructive forces in the grassroots realities they inhabit. They are directly engaged with pivotal issues at every level, from the personal to the global; the significance of the various ways that religion can be understood, and harnessed, is relevant to all. Policy makers worldwide understand that this pervasive and insightful engagement of religious communities is in the best strategic interests of the constituents they serve, and with that understanding has come a fundamental change of approach.

Integral to the global interreligious movement is the Parliament of the World’s Religions, the World’s largest interfaith event.
Hosted once every five years by a different city around the globe, the Parliament brings together thousands of attendees, from those serving small communities to distinguished religious, civic, academic, political and grassroots leaders. Through 20 years of convening, facilitating, networking and leveraging, the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (CPWR) has built the capacity of the interreligious movement to thrive in a global context.

The challenges facing the nations of the world are increasingly viewed as broadly shared.
These nations are comprised of societies; those societies are networks of diverse communities; the communities are rooted in individuals ~ and among them, billions of people nurtured in the fertile ground of spiritual belief and religious practice. It is from there the interreligious movement has emerged, with growing scope and sophistication, and with it a unique and tremendous opportunity to address global concerns with global solutions.

The World is Listening.
And for the global interreligious movement and those with the wisdom to heed its significance, the time is now.

Rabbi David Saperstein
Rabbi David Saperstein at the opening Plenary, 2009 Melbourne Parliament of the World’s Religions

Zoroastrian chant at the 2009 Melbourne Parliament of the World's Religions
Zoroastrian chant at the 2009 Melbourne Parliament of the World’s Religions

Choir and Sikhs chanting at the Opening Plenary
Choir and Musicians – wearing Sikh headdress – along with Sikhs chanting at the Opening Plenary of the 2009 Melbourne Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Protect the Only Earth We Have - last event of the Melbourne Parliament of Religions, 2009
Protect the Only Earth We Have – the last event of the Melbourne Parliament of Religions, 2009

2009 Melbourne Parliament Logo and literature © Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions; Images courtesy Parliament Photographer Ray Messner, Flickr

Logo - 2009 Melbourne Parliament of the World's Religions
Logo – 2009 Melbourne Parliament of the World’s Religions