From The Wisdom of the Labyrinth

Acclaimed cultural historian, cosmologist, Passionist priest, and Earth scholar, Thomas Berry, was among the first of our world’s religious leaders to suggest that the earth ecological crisis is fundamentally a spiritual crisis. Thomas Berry dedicated his life to The Great Work of our time which he described simply as “moving the human community from its present situation as a destructive presence on the planet to a benign or mutually enhancing presence.” Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker and Dr. John Grim, co-founders and co-directors of The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale and The Thomas Berry Foundation, join host Robin Bradley Hansel to share their stories and reflections on Thomas Berry’s life, his work, his writings, and his passionate dream for our Earth community.

Click here to hear the broadcast.

World Religions Get Down to Earth

by Trebbe Johnson

“Sensually, it was a panoply of colorful raiment, ceremonies, liturgies, and languages from around the world.  Spiritually, the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions, held December 3-9 in Melbourne, Australia, had the feeling of a quest, or rather thousands of individual quests pursued by people who came together not just to espouse their own beliefs but to explore together how to solve some of the world’s most grievous problems.  “Making a World of Difference: Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth” was the theme of this gathering held in the soaring, light-filled Melbourne Convention Center on the bank of the Yarra River, int he ancestral homeland of the aboriginal Wurundjeri people.  For a week, six thousand participants from eighty countries, representing religious and spiritual traditions old and new, shared one another’s worship services; attended 662 talks, panel discussions, and films; and exchanged ideas, prayers, and email addresses.

The first Parliament of World Religions took place in Chicago in 1893, the second not until one hundred years later, again in the Windy City.  Cape Town, Barcelona, and now Melbourne have hosted subsequent gatherings.  Since the beginning, the concept of what the parliament has to offer, and to whom, has changed radically.”

Click here to download the full article (pdf)

Trebbe Johnson is the founder and director of Radical Joy for Hard Times, a non-profit organization devoted to finding and making beauty in wounded places. She writes frequently on the relationship of myth, nature, and spirit and is the author of The World Is a Waiting Lover: Desire and the Quest for the Beloved. She lives in rural Pennsylvania.

Speaking at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, Imam Afroz Ali presents an Islamic perspective on the issue of climate change and the (over)use of the world’s resources. He questions whether economic models based on growth can be consistent with sustainability and protection of the global environment. Imam Afroz Ali is the Founder and President of the Al-Ghazzali Centre for Islamic Sciences and Human Development. Melbourne, December 2009.

This program from the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions, Melbourne is presented in its entirety by Slow TV.

Kusumita Pedersen discusses the impact of the 2009 Parliament in Interreligious Insight: a Journal of Dialogue and Engagement!.  The article highlights issues of climage change, Indigenous peoples, women in Afghanistan, and the maturing of the interreligious movement.

Kusumita P. Pedersen is Professor of Religious Studies at St. Francis College in New York, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Center of New York.

Click here to read the full article (pdf).

Mary Evelyn Tucker of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology was a prominent speaker at the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia.

The link below includes a report from Tucker and John Grim, as well as links to video of presentations at the Parliament by Tucker:  “Thomas Berry and the Great Work of Our Time” and “The Human Face of Climate Change.”

http://fore.research.yale.edu/publications/newsletters/January2010.html

The Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh’s powerful and timely address to the parliament: A Collective Awakening for the Future of Our Planet.  Click Here to watch the talk.

Following the presentation of the talk at the parliament, Brother Phap Kham presented a short video documenting recent events concerning the Bat Nha community in Vietnam.  A link to that video can be found here.

Watch more videos on our video page.

Former Irish President and Presidential Medal of Peace winner Mary Robinson addressed the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions via video on Thursday, 3rd December, 2009 on the subject of Climate Change and Climate Justice.  “The justice comes in because of the stark injustice of who has created the problem and who is suffering,” Robinson said.  “It is those of us with more developed lifestyles based on carbon that have caused greenhouse gas emissions.”

Click here to watch the video.

The Age has written an article on Parliament major speaker the Venerable Dharma Master Hsin Tao.  Recounting the Master’s personal experiences as a child soldier for Kuo Min Tang, the piece also describes his monastic vocation and ongoing interreligious work and activism.

Speaking on climate change, Hsin Tao observes that “if we can achieve a common understanding of the real problems — the ecological problems facing the earth — then the other problems will solve themselves.”

To read the full article, click here.

In an op-ed published today in one of the United States’ most prestigious publications — The Washington Post — major speaker Katherine Marshall extols the fact and potential of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.  By focusing on topics such as poverty, climate change, the role of women of faith and indigenous peoples, Margaret presents a vision of “a fresh determination to mobilize the energies and creativity…”

To read the full story, click here.

Australian newspaper The Age has published an editorial arguing for a robust international response to climate change from the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.  The piece references a 60-meter-long scroll signed by delegates from the Parliament of the World’s Religions.  The scroll will be sent to support efforts in Copenhagen.  Climate change is a subject of central importance at this year’s Parliament as reflected by the theme of Healing the Earth with Care and Concern.

The end of the Parliament of the World’s Religions will overlap with the beginning of the Climate Change Conference.

To read the full editorial, click here.