Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

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ABOUT THE PARLIAMENTI
A History of the Parliament The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions works to cultivate harmony among religious and spiritual communities and to foster their engagement with the world and its other guiding institutions in order to achieve a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. The Parliament of the World's Religions began in 1893 and has since been held in various locations around the world. The timeline below provides a brief description on past Parliament Events.
The Parliament of the World's Religions is the world's largest global interreligious event. It is held once every five years in a different city. The Melbourne Parliament will bring together people from around Australia and across the world, including renowned spiritual, religious, civic, academic, political and grassroots leaders Our theme - Make a World of Difference: Hearing each other. Healing the earth - reflects the urgent need for religious and spiritual communities and all people of goodwill to act on their concerns for the environment, peace and for overcoming poverty. It also encourages responsibility for cultivating awareness of our global interconnectedness. This Parliament will focus on the struggles and spiritualities of Indigenous People around the globe, particularly highlighting the Indigenous communities of Australia, Thousands of people from around the world will convene, to renew their work for the future of the planet. The programs will include diverse spiritual observances, workshops on issues of common concern, interreligious dialoque, performances of sacred music and dance, tours of cultural and religious sites and more. Our programming framework includes: Observances, Intrareligious Programs, Interreligious Programs, Engagement Programs and Celebrations.
1893 CHICAGO The Parliament of the World's Religions held its inaugural event as part of the Columbian Exposition. This historic gathering is widely regarded as the beginning of the interreligious movement world-wide.
1993 CHICAGO Eight thousand people from around the world came together for a centennial Parliament celebration to foster harmony among religious and spiritual communities and to explore their responses to the critical issues facing the global community
1999 CAPE TOWN The Parliament convened in South Africa to promote interreligious dialogue and cooperation and call the world's attention to the powerful role that religious and spiritual communities played in the struggle against apartheid
Major Subthemes The 2009 Parliament features seven major subthemes of programming that focus on different aspects of our overall mission. All of these are pieces in the puzzle that must be put together if we want to see our visions of peace and justice for people everywhere, of all faiths, become reality The seven subthemes are: • Healing the Earth with Care and Concern • Indigenous People • Overcoming Poverty in an unequal World • Securing Food and Water for All People • Building Peace in the Pursuit of Justice
Creating Social Cohesion in Village and City • Sharing Wisdom in the Search for Inner Peace
Program Clusters In addition to the framework of the seven major subthemes program clusters have emerged around several topic areas to enrich the diversity of the 2009 Parliament. They are: - Local to Global Interreligious Movements • Partner Cities Network • Islam in the Global Context • Women in Leadership • Youth • Family • Media and Religion • Interreligious Education • Human Rights • Peace Building • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Disaster Relief
2004 BARCELONA The 2004 Parliament welcomed eight thousand participants from seventy-four countries to the site of Barcelona's Universal Forum of Cultures. The goals of the 2004 Parliament were to deepen our spirituality and experience personal transformation; recognise the humanity of all and broaden our sense of community: foster mutual understanding and respect and actively work for a better world. Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions is a non-profit organisation whose history dates back to the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, held in conjunction with the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. This marked the first formal gathering of representatives from Eastern and Western spiritual traditions and is recognised today as the birth of formal interreligious dialogue world-wide. The Council seeks to cultivate harmony among the world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a more just, peaceful and sustainable world.
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