All in Good Faith

Author(s): Jean Potter, Marcus Braybrooke
Publisher: World Congress of Faiths

Page 30

Development of Interfaith Prayer and the Discussion
Because words divide, it was recognised that silence is often a feature of interreligious prayer, although it may be used as a way to evade disagreement or dialogue. At the inauguration of President Mandela, prayers were led by the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, by a Hindu, a Muslim and by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The daily proceedings of the South African Parliament now begin with a few moments of silent prayer, which Archbishop Tutu has strongly criticised as 'a cop out'.
Whilst the consultation focused on interreligious prayer, it was made clear that this could not be divorced from interreligious dialogue and practical co-operative action. In fact, interreligious prayer loses much of its meaning if there is no strong relationship between the participants.
It was recognised, therefore, that questions about interreligious prayer cannot be separated from theological discussion of the relation of Christianity to other religions. No one at the Bangalore meeting doubted that the Spirit is at work in other religions. There was, however, little discussion of theological questions nor of how to deal with Biblical texts that condemn idolatry, although one or two papers made comments on these subjects. The statement stressed that interreligious prayer is a significant part of the healing and reconciling mission of Christ. The statement also said that 'holding fast to the centrality of Christ, we urge careful theological reflection on our understanding of the uniqueness and universality of Christ'.
The statement made clear that neither multireligious prayer nor interreligious prayer was intended to create a new religion of 'interfaith' nor should either replace the regular pattern of prayer of a particular faith community. Interreligious prayer should be a symbol of hope and a reminder of God's purpose and promise for justice and peace for all people and a call to all people to offer themselves to be used in this work.
This was most vividly illustrated by a participant from Brazil who described a vigil that was held on Leme Beach to support 'Citizen Action Against Hunger and Misery, in Favour of Life' which is championing the cause of more than thirty million Brazilians who live in abject poverty. As the vigil ended, people were sent away with these words:
Let's go now in peace, Let's live as free people. Let's build a free world, Let's build humanity, free, nurtured and creative,
- 23 -