Anglican Communion News Service

A new 'Children of Abraham Peace Forum' for news, articles and discussions over the Internet has grown out of a large inter-religious conference held 11-13 June at the American Cathedral in Paris. The bi-lingual conference, .entitled 'The Children of Abraham and the Art of Peacemaking: Christians, Muslims, and Jews who work together for peace', featured lectures and workshops by internationally-known experts on the traditions of peacemaking in all three religions. Between 700 to 800 Christians, Jews, and Muslims participated in the conference, coming from Israel, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Great Britain, the United States, and France.

The objective of the three-day gathering was to bring together Christians, Jews, and Muslims seasoned in inter-religious dialogue, to search together for models and inspiration for those working for peace in situations of religious tension and conflict. The new online forum is the first tangible result of the conference.

The conference was under the patronage of the Rt Revd Pierre Whalon, the Bishop-in-charge of the Convocation of American (Episcopal) Churches in Europe, and the Very Revd Zachary Fleetwood, the Dean of the American Cathedral in Paris, both of whom warmly greeted the assembly at the outset of the gathering. It was organized by the Revd Doctor George Hobson, Canon Theologian of the Cathedral, Mrs Victoria Hobson and Ms Robyn Gason. In his welcoming remarks, Bishop Whalon stressed the imperative need for the three Abrahamic faiths to repudiate any tradition of violence legitimised in the name of God. Messages of support were read to the assembly from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams; from the former Chief Rabbi of France, René Samuel Sirat; and from Dr Dalil Boubakeur, the Rector of the Institut Musulman de la Grande Mosquée of Paris, through the Institute’s Director of Cultural Affairs, Dr Rais. In addition, His Grace Bishop Narek Alemezian, the Ecumenical Officer of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Middle East, read a message from His Holiness Aram I, Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia.

His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, acclaimed for his dynamic initiatives on behalf of interfaith dialogue and understanding, gave the keynote address on Saturday morning, following Miroslav Volf, the eminent Croatian professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School, whose work on reconciliation and 'embracing the other' has received international recognition. Chief Rabbi David Rosen, currently a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s delegation for inter-religious relations and of the Permanent Bilateral Commission of the State of Israel and the Holy See, spoke on Friday afternoon on Abraham as a blessing for all peoples of the earth; and on Friday evening the well-known human rights advocate, Baroness Caroline Cox of the House of Lords, underlined the need for bridges, not walls, and stressed the distinction between the violent and triumphalist ideology of “islamism” and the moderate Islam desirous of co-existing peacefully with other religions. The presence of eleven Iraqis who had managed to fly to Paris for the occasion - thanks to an intrepid Royal Air Force fighter pilot stationed in that country - was a source of jubilation for all the participants.

From Israel came Elias Jabbour, founder of the 'House of Hope International Peace Center', accompanied by twenty-two members of his community representing the three religions, who brought exciting testimonies on Friday afternoon of their struggles, victories, and joys in living together in the strife-torn Holy Land. Dean Fleetwood, who introduced Mr Jabbour, told of his visit to the House of Hope some years before and of the eye-opening blessing that the community had been for him. His Eminence Sheikh Al-Tamimi, Supreme Judge of Jordan and Advisor to His Majesty King Abdallah II for Islamic Affairs, also spoke on Friday afternoon, along with his colleague in a Jordanian inter-religious organization, the Reverend Nabil Haddad, the Greek Melkite Catholic founder and director of the 'Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center' and member of the Royal Commission for Human Rights. On Saturday afternoon, Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet, Principal of Leo Baeck College in England and co-editor of the prayer books of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, presented a ‘re-reading’ of a Jewish prayer, which he used to set forth thirteen steps for peace. Rabbi Magonet was followed by Dr Nahal Tajadod, an Iranian-born scholar working in the World of Iran section of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, and specialist in Sufi mysticism, who sketched the life of the great 13th Century Persian mystic and poet Rumi, showing how greatly his work and person were appreciated by members of all three Abrahamic faiths.

On Saturday afternoon, three well-attended workshops on Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Forgiveness, were led respectively by Elias Jabbour (Palestinian Arab Christian, Israel), Mahmoud Mufti (Muslim, Jordan) with Robert Harris (Jew, England), and Baroness Caroline Cox (Christian, England) with George Hobson (Christian, USA/France). The lively discussions and a round-table conference reflected the high level of interest in these subjects and enthusiasm for peace initiatives, and the idea for a continuing forum received enthusiastic approval. Bishop Whalon’s sermon at the 1100 service on Sunday morning gathered the threads of the conference together: “...our God is a God of love and compassion, abounding in forgiveness, who wants the children of Abraham and all creation to live in peace.”

As a result of this conference, the 'Children of Abraham Peace Forum' for news, articles and discussions over the Internet was founded, and further conferences are planned. All the talks were translated into French and English by skilled interpreters. Publication of the main talks from the conference will be announced soon, as well as a videotape of highlights from the conference with brief excerpts of the speakers’ talks.

www.childrenofabrahampeacemakers.org
www.lesenfantsdabrahampourlapaix.org

Contact: Victoria Hobson
vhobson@club-internet.fr