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March 2, 2006 - DPI/NGO Briefing
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We
know that intercultural and interreligious
dialogue is not a luxury...
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Sr
Joan KIRBY is during the DPI/NGO Briefing
on March 2, 2006 at the
United Nations. Next to Sr Kirby, Tomaz
Mastnak
by
Sr. Joan KIRBY
The Temple of Understanding
The Temple of Understanding focuses on Interfaith Education in
order to overcome prejudice and intolerance.
Our goal is to educate ourselves and others
to understand and respect all Religious
Traditions.
So, as a Christian, I come to the dialogue with great interest
and urgency especially since the history
of these two great Abrahamic Traditions
has been troubled. What we have heard
here today only confirms my deepest belief
in the need for dialogue and education.
We know that intercultural and interreligious dialogue is not a
luxury but an essential condition for
peace.
I have been privileged to work closely during the past year with
the Tri-Partite Interfaith Forum, so named
because of it includes three UN constituencies
- Member State (20 in number), UN System
Agencies (with UNESCO as the lead Agency)
and the NGO community represented by the
Bureau of the NGO at the UN.
Last June this Forum hosted a Conference
on the Interfaith Cooperation for Peace
and we continue to meet to define our
role and to provide opportunities for
all three groups to work together.
Our hope and expectation is
for collaboration with the Alliance of
Civilizations.
This emerging movement toward global interreligious
understanding and cooperation is critical
for our time. To achieve lasting global
change, innovative partnerships across
traditional boundaries are needed.
In this context alliance-building
among key partners is crucial. I refer
alliances among: Religious communities,
transnational civil society, governments
and the UN system and its international
agencies.
It is time to overcome age-old divisions and to seek together new
forms of effective, just and global cooperation.
For the full summary of the March 2nd
Briefing>
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