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9/11 to be marked by interfaith conference

By JANICE ARNOLD
Staff Reporter

MONTREAL - Representatives of religions from around the world will gather in Montreal on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 for a conference that aims to demonstrate that those of different beliefs can find common ground.

Organziers of World’s Religions After September 11: A Global Congress, to be held from Sept. 11 to 15 at the Palais des Congrès, say their goal – about 18 religions will be represented, including Judaism – is to restore a more positive image of religion.

Congress president Arvind Sharma, the Birks professor of comparative religion in McGill University’s religious studies faculty, said at the official announcement of the event that the perception of religion in general, not just Islam, has suffered as a result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The arrest of 17 Muslim terrorist suspects in Toronto has only underscored the need for reflection in an ecumenical spirit, he added.

Confirmed as a speaker is Rabbi David Rosen, a former chief rabbi of Ireland and international director of interreligious relations with the American Jewish Committee, based in its Jerusalem office.

Last August, he was named president of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), which represents organized world Jewry in its relations with other international religious bodies, notably the Vatican.

Rabbi Rosen has played a pivotal role in promoting Jewish-Catholic reconciliation, as well as in establishing full relations between Israel and the Holy See.

His criticism of Pope Benedict XVI for not denouncing anti-Semitism during his visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau site in May was widely quoted in the media.

Rabbi Rosen said at the time of his appointment to head the IJCIC that, “Understanding and co-operation between religious communities and their leadership is more crucial than ever for the well-being of society. The Jewish community has an essential role to play as both contributor and beneficiary.”

He is also on the executive of the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis, and is an international president of the multi-faith World Conference of Religions for Peace.

The Montreal conference is using the broadest definition for inclusion, choosing the term “world’s religions” rather than “world religions” to allow for participation by such smaller or lesser known faiths as African or American Indian religions, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and even Paganism and Wicca, which do not fit the conventional understanding of religion. Participants from more than 55 countries have registered to date.

Among the other headline speakers confirmed are two Iranian expatriates critical of the Islamic Republic: lawyer Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (2003); and liberal Islamic thinker Abdolkarim Soroush.

Also speaking are religious affairs writer Karen Armstrong; Harvard divinity professor and author Harvey Cox, Jr.; and Deepak Chopra, an Indian-born physician and popular writer and speaker on spirituality and consciousness.

Barry Levy, dean of McGill University’s religious studies faculty, a Jewish studies professor and ordained rabbi, said that a Jewish presence at the congress is “crucial because the last thing we want is for Jews to appear disinterested in this activity… but Jews are not the group that will be hardest to persuade to participate.”

A major theme of the congress is religion and human rights, and the central aim is to draft a Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In the congress prospectus, the organizers compare the state of the world in the early 20th century to current times – only in reverse.

“Secular extremism in the form of fascism, communism and totalitarianism was on the rise, but nothing was done to stop it until two world wars were fought.” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it is contended, was adopted as an “antidote” to those godless ideologies.

“Might it not be wise, with religious extremism on the rise around the world, to adopt a Universal Declaration of Human Rights (and Duties) by the World’s Religions, as a prophylactic against the ideological excesses of religious extremism?”