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Christian Century, Dec 22, 1999

A "Parliament of the World's Religions" ended in Cape Town, South Africa, with a call to religions to engage other institutions in tackling critical problems in the world. The parliament's spokesperson, Robert Henderson, summing up the eight-day gathering, described it as "a new fact in history." The parliament, which ended on December 8, was attended by more than 7,000 people from various religious traditions, belief systems and other groups from around the world.

"We are witnessing the birth of a new system of the organization of the world's religions. We have thousands of people representing all the religious traditions in one place. For the first time, they are giving birth to a common vision of their spiritual and redeeming purpose," Henderson said.

The Cape Town gathering, modeled on the Parliament of the World Religions held in Chicago in 1993, had a twofold aim, according to organizers, of engaging a wide range of religious leaders in interreligious dialogue and encouraging them to collaborate for social change with government, labor, commerce, science, business, media, education and other spheres of influence.

During the final three days of the parliament, an assembly of 400 religious and spiritual leaders attending the PWR committed themselves to over 250 practical projects intended to make the world a better place. The projects will be monitored by the Chicago-based Council for the PWR, the sponsor of the Cape Town meeting. The projects include plans to develop an international index of the world's top 500 companies in terms of social responsibility, museums for peace in conflict-ridden countries, and a project to bring Jewish, Christian and Muslim youth together in dialogue in the Middle East.