17th April
SEARCH Colloquium: “Who is my Neighbour?”
Speakers from around the world will congregate online for SEARCH Journal’s next colloquium which takes place on Saturday April 17. “Who is my Neighbour?” is the title of an unusually wide–ranging event organised by SEARCHin response to the recent challenge issued last year by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue: “Serving Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity”.
The fact that the Colloquium can only take place on Zoom has made it possible to secure speakers from all over the world as well as the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, who will introduce and close the proceedings. All are warmly invite to attend. The colloquium begins at 10am on April 17 and the Zoom link can be obtained by emailing searchjournalsocialmedia@gmail.com. The programme for the day is available here.
The chief architect of the WCC report (which you can read here), Dr Peniel Rajkumar, will offer inspiration from Geneva, while Professor David Ford from Cambridge will share his experience of the Scriptural Reasoning method which for many years he has used and encouraged to bring adherents of different faiths together.
Brother Jean–Marie of Taizé will share that community’s practical experience of serving poor communities across religious divides around the world. He will be backed up by Canon Delene Mark of Hope Africa in Capetown, Professor Esther Mombo of Limuru University in Kenya, and Brother John Martin Sahajananda, formerly of Shantivanam in India.
Speakers from nearer home will include Professor Maureen Junker–Kenny of TCD, Shayk Dr Umar Al–Qadri of Dublin and Dr Rupert Sheldrake from the UK. Speakers from other religious communities and mission agencies in Dublin will also be invited to speak.
Looking around the world more than a year since the pandemic began, it is clear that, while some rich countries have been slow ln protecting their citizens from infection, it is the poorer countries who have been suffering worst. The WCC document uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to appeal for inter–faith and international cooperation in responding to the desperate needs of those most severely affected by the pandemic, as well as by conflict, climate change, famine and displacement.
The document aims “to offer a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity that can inspire and confirm, in Christians of all churches, the impulse to serve a world wounded not only by the COVID19 pandemic but also by many other wounds. While primarily intended to address Christians, we hope that it will be useful also to those of other religions, who have already responded to this crisis with similar thoughts based on their own traditions. The global challenge of responding to this pandemic calls us to increased ecumenical and interreligious awareness and cooperation.”
Attendance at the Colloquium is free, but limited to 300 people, so to secure a place it’s advisable to access the link ten minutes before the starting time of 10am on April 17. For the zoom link, please email searchjournalsocialmedia@gmail.com or check the spring issue of SEARCH.