An experience in social justice, ecology, spirituality...
Nérée St-Amand, School of Social Work
From July 7 to 13, 2004, I had the privilege of participating in the Fourth Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona, Spain, during which I presented a paper entitled A Vision of a Oneness-World.
The event, attended by 8,000 participants from over 80 countries offered over 500 seminars, meditation workshops, videos and discussion groups on social justice, personal transformation and economic development.
The Fourth Parliament was a gathering of all the major world religions where participants sought ways to provide justice, harmony, sustainability and respect amid the world’s diversity. As part of the opening ceremony, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi linked the practice of religion to the preservation of cultures. Prominent spiritual and inspirational figures such as Deepak Chopra, Karen Armstrong, Rosemary Radford Ruether and Tariq Ramadan also shared their vision and concern for global unity, as well as linking the spiritual, ecological and political dimensions of both local and world peace.
The discussions led to the adoption of four major resolutions pertaining to creating access to clean water, eliminating international debt, offering support to refugees and overcoming religiously motivated violence.
This conference was part of a much larger event entitled The Universal Forum of Cultures held in Barcelona from May 2004 to September 2004. This 141-day forum brought people of all ages, faiths and cultures to discuss some of humanity’s most pressing problems – water, education, justice, local development and cultural diversity amidst globalization pressures and financial obligations. Included among the 1,500 invited lecturers were the Dalai Lama, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Paolo Coelho, Alain Touraine, Jacques Delors and Mikhail Gorbachev.
Other countries, including Canada, have expressed an interest in holding a forum of this kind in the future.
