ACNS 3145 - ACC12 Media Release No 13 - 25 September
2002
Interfaith
work and
concerns shared at ACC12
The world's great
religious
traditions should be seen as on the same side
fighting for peace
and justice,
said Bishop Kenneth Fernando of Colombo Sri
Lanka, in making his
presentation
to the ACC on interfaith issues. "We all
condemn violence and are
striving to
remove the causes of terrorism."
The bishop said that
interfaith matters
need to be part of every Provinces'
agenda in the Anglican
Communion and that
"we should try to become more
familiar with the texts of other
religions and
to learn from them" where
appropriate.
He said that the
"different
religions will each be enriched by finding
agendas they can share"
and that,
"The best way to build relationships with
other people of faith is
to work
with them together" He felt that this did
not exclude relevant
evangelism
which was something we should still support
by "setting out the
tenets of our
faith in ways that are intelligible to
hearers in different
cultures" and
also "by living out our faith as a
witness".
The speaker
suggested
that cultural diversity should always be affirmed,
"how rich we
shall be if
we accept each other". "It is better to have a
bouquet of various
flowers
rather than of the same kind". He said that it
was "not the
business of
Anglicans to promote a particular interfaith
theology on which we
are not yet
agreed but rather a particular practice".
He also spoke of the
need to
forgive and be forgiven. He noted that "there
are feelings of
resentment and
hostility in parts of the Islamic world that
date back to the time
of the
Crusades." "Even though at the time Franciscans
and others were
among
Christian voices that opposed the crusades."
It was suggested
that
Christians have to set an example to Islam and
overcome
relationships of
hostility. "We must respect the integrity of all
religions, for if
we respect
them we can hope they will respect us". He
stated that "good
interfaith
relations can open the way to better relations
in so many conflicts
where
religions have played a part" and can assist in
"building better
ethnic
relations and peace".
Mr Ghazi Musharbash, a Palestinian member
of the
ACC from the Anglican
diocese in Jerusalem and the Middle East,
gave a
presentation outlining the
history of the Anglican agency known as
NIFCON
which had first been mandated
but not resourced. He paid tribute to
the good
work that had been done
raising the funding necessary for the
creation of
half-time post for this
work. He also praised the work of the three
presidents appointed to spread
the news of the work being done,
namely Bishop
Nazir Ali of Rochester in the
United Kingdom. Bishop Kenneth
Fernando from
Sri Lanka Bishop Ideowo Fearon
from Nigeria. Mr. Musharbash
outlined the aims
of NIFCON and its work as
being based upon the sharing of
information,
stories and resources around
the Communion; the promotion of
dialogue and
friendship; expressing
solidarity and prayer in areas where there
is conflict
and finally
theological input of help in sustaining interfaith
work.
Archbishop Carey also gave a report of his own work in
this area.
He said
that William Temple in 1944 had said of the Ecumenical
movement that
it was
"the great new fact of our age and if he was alive now he
would have
said
something similar of interfaith dialogue".
The
archbishop
stressed that Islam itself was not the problem. Christians
and
Muslims have
lived together for many years in peace. "Take the case of
Iraq
where there
has been a Christian community for centuries." But, the
fact
remained that
"Islam can be used by fanatics" even though there were
many Muslims
now,
"worried about how Islam is being used".
He pointed out that
the tragic
events of September 11th had given added
urgency to a matter that
was already
of the greatest importance. The
Archbishop cited the cases of
Pakistan where
one fatwah had been issued
threatening to kill two Christians for
every
Muslim killed by Americans and
not long ago eighteen Christians had
been
killed in one attack on a church.
He also cited Nigeria where many
Christians
have also been killed.
The Archbishop identified four
interfaith
initiatives which he had himself
undertaken.
After September
11th he
had received a call from the British Prime Minister
Tony Blair and
with his
encouragement he had begun a Christian-Muslim
dialogue at Lambeth
Palace in
January this year. "The support of the Prime
Minister reflected the
seriousness with which politicians are now taking
religious issues
in
conflict resolution." The seminar brought together
scholars of both
faiths
with a view to challenging the roots of religious
extremism. It led
to the
publication of a book entitled "the Road Ahead" and
a further
seminar is
currently being planned for Doha in 2003.
The Archbishop said
that his
second initiative was a dialogue with the Grand
Imam of Al-Azhar
Al-Sharif in
Cairo, Dr Tantawi. This parallels a discussion
that is also being
conducted
between the Al Azhar and the Vatican. The group
has met several
times and an
historic agreement setting out guidelines for
the dialogue was
signed at
Lambeth in January and the first full dialogue
was held this month
in
Cairo.
The third initiative focused upon Muslim-Christian
relations in
England and
is led by John Austin the Bishop of Aston. This is
aimed at
establishing a
national framework for dialogue between Christians
and
Muslims.
The fourth initiative was launched last Autumn when
Jews and
Muslims jointly
asked the Archbishop to bring together the
religious
leadership of the holy
Land with a view to finding a way to promote
conversations that might
contribute towards a peace settlement. The
first
meeting, which the
Archbishop chaired jointly with Dr Tantawi,
brought twenty
religious leaders
together in Alexandria Egypt for a meeting that
was "one of
the most tense
and difficult I have ever held" yet the meeting "to
our great
joy led in the
end to the Alexandria declaration" the only
significant
agreement between
the three faiths in recent years. Dr Carey said
that it is
hoped to have a
further meeting in October but he feared that "this
may be
difficult if the
Palestinian delegates cannot get out or the Jewish
delegates
cannot meet
because of the suicide bombings".
Archbishop
Carey
expressed confidence that his successor Archbishop Rowan
Williams
will be
deeply committed to continuing this work.
In subsequent
discussion the
ACC delegate from Aotearoa, Archdeacon Winston
Halapua, applauded
the reports
he had heard saying that after September 11th
"we see the cost of
talk
without action". He urged that the Communion needed
"a mission
statement
making clear that interfaith dialogue is integral to
our faith in
Christ."
Archbishop Peter Akinola, Primate of the Church
Nigeria
commented that often
so called religious violence was a product of
economic
and other social
issues. He knew from experience that many "crises
can be
caused by having
many many young people who are unemployed". He
urged that
interfaith
dialogue should involve people on the ground and "not
just people
from the
upper levels of society meeting in nice
hotels".
Bishop
Michael Ingham, from the diocese of New Westminster in
Canada,
criticized
"those who feel that we cannot engage in Mission if we engage
in
interfaith
dialogue" saying that "we need to be faithful to our
Lord's
commission and to
live peacefully with people of other faiths."
Mr Is-Had Kodi
Kodi said
that "dialogue is important as it will help to stop
the violence"
even though
he felt that for Muslims " violence is part of the
means whereby
they are
going to convert the world".
In responding to discussion, the
Archbishop
of Canterbury said that "we need
to address what matters to the
disadvantaged" in addressing the causes of
extremism. He also made
it clear
that "I have never reneged upon my
commitment to the uniqueness of
Jesus
Christ. We have to dialogue and
listen". "I have never reneged upon
my
commitment of Uniqueness of Jesus
Christ. I have to dialogue and
listen even
though I want to share Him with
others."
Nonetheless he
recognised
that whereas "our faith is personal and can
coexist with other
faiths Islam
is political and when it gets to a critical
mass it imposes upon
non-Muslims"
and "takes a form that can threaten
freedom as has happened in
Northern
Nigeria and in Pakistan."
Bishop Catherine Roskam from New York
said that
Christians could not be
uncritical in response to other faiths
pointing to
the negative role of
caste in Hinduism. She also stressed that she
saw
interfaith work as part of
mission.
Retired Bishop Kenneth
Fernando of
Colombo told the story of his
intervention on behalf of the monks
of the Sri
Lankan buddhist temple in
London as an illustration of what can
flow from
sincere engagement with
goodwill. Upon learning that the temple was
too small
for the community he
had offered to seek help from the Anglican
church and
diocese of London in
seeking a site for a larger place of worship.
Later on
this had given him
such credibility with the Buddhist leaders in
Sri Lanka
that he was able to
be a senior advisor in the peace process in Sri
Lanka
where interfaith
dialogue was a key component in the present
peace.
(Alistair Macdonald Radcliffe, ACC12 Communications
Team)
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