Interreligious gatherings have very different flavors. I have been to many in recent years and each evokes vivid yet very different memories. But all have some special, common qualities. The united presence of people from all corners of the earth, many wearing visible symbols of their faith and cultures, makes a poignant tapestry of the diversity of humanity. It is history come alive, but also today's plural reality in living color. A side product is a sea of cameras seeking to capture the color, life and diversity. Another is a vibrant feel of diversity at such meetings are particularly tough to organize as participants come with very different habits, not to speak of dietary needs, daily rhythms, and expectations. "Herding cats" is a common analogy.
The Interreligious Encounter opened Thursday night with a dinner. Dirk Ficca, Executive Director of the Parliament of Religions Secretariat from Chicago, opened with two evocative themes. First he told a story about the Muslim, the Hindu and the Presbyterian (if you want to hear it let me know!), through which he injected humor, humanity, and an admonition to introspection within religious traditions. And second, he stressed the keen anticipation of the people of Monterrey for this event.
Which raises an interesting question: why is this city in central Mexico, heavily Catholic and without visible interreligious tensions, so very interested in interreligious dialogue and the topics it brings to the agenda: identity, values, peace, tolerance, life and death? The list goes some way to answering the question: religion itself and relations among different faiths are fundamentally interesting and important in a universal sense. But still, why Monterrey? A special openness and deep curiosity about world religions seems to have been the force of gravity that inspired Monterrey’s city leaders to hold the Cultural Forum here. They want to be part of the world, to understand different traditions, and they will be intensely welcoming. Whether they would be so welcoming to diversity within the Catholic religion is less clear.
But I will keep asking the question: why are thousands of people (some 5000 have already signed up and paid a subscription for the interreligious forum and more are expected) so keen and what do they expect? What will they make of the presentations of Jainism, the Brahmakumari approach to life, the Pagan representative? The evangelicals, Muslims, Sikhs? And so on.
I am here to speak about poverty and the Millennium Development Goals that emerged from the historic United Nations meeting in September 2000. It is not always obvious to people who hear me speak why the MDGs have anything to do with religion. Ironically, I do not expect that to be an issue here. Monterrey is famous in the development world, and we evoke often the “Monterrey Consensusâ€, as a sort of Camelot moment when there truly seemed to be a powerful consensus that we, as a global community, had both an obligation and a consensus to end poverty in our times. Monterrey was the site of an important UN meeting with a less than scintillating title – Financing for Development, in March 2002. It was here that the high ideals of the 2000 UN meeting, tempered by September 11, 2001 and other setbacks, were translated into the notion of specific action commitments, a true pact.
So being at an interreligious meeting, focused on poverty, equity, water and sanitation, education, HIV/AIDS, and reconciliation makes eminent sense.
