Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - October 29, 1999
When the doors to the Grand Ballroom opened, more than 570 supporters were greeted by the thundering percussion of the Buddhist Kyoko Daruma Taiko Group. After the meal, Dr. Ray orchestrated the evening's presentations, noting the critical importance of the 1999 Parliament of the World's Religions to be held Dec. 1-8 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Two prominent South Africans -- one a leading Muslim, the other Hindu -- both key to the interreligious movement in post-apartheid South Africa, addressed the audience.
Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the Hindu Maha Sabha of South Africa (the largest Hindu organization in southern Africa) asked the audience to exert their influence as spiritual and religious leaders on their government. This message was underscored by Muslim leader, Ebrahim Rasool, chair of the African National Congress in the Western Cape Province. Interreligious influence, he said, helped to destroy apartheid and must be part of creating an "African Renaissance."
Dr. Ray, a CPWR trustee, chaired a committee of 40 members, working for the past six months to generate support not only for the 1999 Parliament but also for CPWR's ongoing work.
On Sunday, that work was described by two other speakers. Executive Director Rev. Dirk Ficca reported on CPWR's interreligious community-building in Rogers Park and Jim Kenney, director of the Council's International Interreligious Initiative, painted a verbal picture of the opening events planned for Cape Town. There, more than 6,000 people of all ages -- religious leaders, scholars, social activists, and others -- will celebrate the diversity of the world's spiritual and religious traditions and consider their relevance in the new millennium. More than 700 presentations will be given at the 1999 Parliament, on topics ranging from AIDS to Zoroastrianism.
SOURCE Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
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