"With All Respect in Every Respect"

By: Katherine Marshall

September 20, 2007

That's the theme phrase for the Monterrey International Interreligious Encounter that had its formal opening last night. The event took place in Monterrey's cavernous arena, where concerts and sports events are often held; there was an eerie smell of popcorn in the air.

The long string of welcoming speeches stressed again and again the theme that all cultures and religions deserve respect, that knowing other religions and cultures is the key to social peace and harmony. The officials of the State of Nueva Leon and the City of Monterrey were exemplars of civic pride. Monterrey, they said, for the 80 days of the World Cultural Forum, is the cultural capital of the world. And they see Monterrey as being at the leading edge in promoting the theme of respect. The opening program had also a series of careful prayers and blessings, offered by a Catholic Church official and a Sikh leader. A challenge for most interreligious gatherings is to stress the common elements that bind people and faiths together (including reverence, ritual, and prayer), but to avoid any sense of blurring boundaries among faiths or advocating one's own faith at the expense of others. This gave a rather sober quality to much of the evening, until its rousing finale.

The talk at the opening (and throughout the day) was of the interreligious movement and its significance. The people who are here in Monterrey are part of a rich diversity of organizations dedicated in one form or another to interreligious dialogue. They see an explosion of interfaith work, programs, institutions, initiatives, in many forms. The role of film is much on display here, with an opening video that looked to different spiritual experiences in California (Rick Nahmias is the produced), and two film screenings, one called Rumi Rising, the other "God and Allah need to Talk" (more on those later). So is the community, with many assertions that what really matters is people to people contact.

The Forum and Parliament embrace indigenous cultures and the most dramatic and evocative moments yesterday centered on indigenous people. A spiritual and cultural pilgrimage of indigenous cultures began September 12 and culminated at Monterrey yesterday. It brought a wide range of different groups together, from Mexico, Central America, South America, and the United States. The end of the "Caminata", as it was termed, was vividly colorful, with the participants in traditional dress. They were joined by many from the Interreligious Forum (which includes several participants representing indigenous traditions, including Paganism). There was a ceremony, successive dances, and, here too, a rather lengthy series of speeches. The speeches carried the message of respect and the equality of mankind, and especially cultures: no culture is superior to others.

The opening ceremony was stirred, also, by a concluding dance by the indigenous group. It left the audience on their feet, calling for more.

The more sober work of the Interreligious Forum begins this morning. It will consist of spiritual observances by different faith traditions, presentations which introduce faith traditions, life stories, and a series of presentations on themes of the Encounter. I will be on a panel on HIV/AIDS and give a presentation on the Millennium Development Goals and religion as part of the theme "Religion at the Crossroads."

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