National Interfaith Forum
4 June 2007 at 3:27 pm
The Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations will hold a National Interfaith Forum, called "Australian Faiths: Building Community Together", in Sydney on 18 June 2007.
The APRO says that at a time when religious extremism and violence appear to be on the rise elsewhere, it is critical for religious communities to work together to build community in Australia.
The objectives of the forum – which organisers hope will become an annual event – are to:
– Bring together members of all faith traditions in Australia in order to facilitate communication and building of understanding about religions in Australia, how faiths function, how they are different and what they share
– Identify opportunities for strengthening relationships between communities through dialogue, interaction and cooperation
– Offer support to smaller communities with limited infrastructure and resources
– Develop strategies to deal with crisis management and help ensure social and religious harmony in Australia in the future
– Provide a series of recommendations that will inform policies and programs across government agencies and faith communities
Among the confirmed keynote speakers are Professor James Haire (Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture), Cardinal George Pell (Catholic Archbishop of Sydney), Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence (Senior Rabbi of the Great Synagogue), Professor Des Cahill and Professor Gary Bouma.
The forum will consist largely of working groups on specified topics, enabling comprehensive interaction between key people from different faiths, supported by invited experts and public officials.
The Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations is a peak-of-peak body that was established in 2003.
It is unique in that it comprises representatives of major faith bodies as well as national-level multicultural community organisations as associate members.
Member bodies include:
– National Council of Churches in Australia
– FECCA
– Australian Federation of Islamic Councils
– Council for a Multicultural Australia
– Executive Council of Australian Jewry
– Federation of African Communities Councils
– Australian Baha’i Community
– Australian Multicultural Foundation
– Buddhist Community
– Adult Multicultural Education Service
– Sikh Community
– National Council of Migrant Resources
– Hindu Community Centres and Migrant Support Associations
– World Conference on Religion & Peace
For further information about this forum, please contact Natalie Mobini-Kesheh on 9877 5826 mobile 0414 603 145. Registration on FECCA website: www.fecca.org.au
