Thursday October 10, 2019

Interfaith celebration of peace

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Peace, climate change and lessons from Indigenous communities were the key areas of focus for an interfaith gathering to celebrate International Day of Peace on September 21.

Lindy McNamara

Thursday October 10, 2019

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Sixty people representing 12 different faiths, including Catholics, attended the Adelaide event that was jointly hosted by the Multifaith Association of South Australia and the Baha’i Centre of Learning. The global theme of the day was ‘Climate Action for Peace’.

Multifaith president Philippa Rowland said the event provided an opportunity “to cultivate peace within ourselves and our wider community, to pay respect and learn from the First Nations communities, and to act swiftly on climate change by Living the Change”.

“It was a privilege to gather as people of many faiths to celebrate our commitment to interfaith harmony and urgent climate action in Australia – just one day after the global student-led Climate Strikes,” she said.

Several presentations were made at the event, including a session focused on the global Living the Change climate initiative.

Ms Rowland said there was growing concern across faith groups about escalating climate impacts on the most vulnerable, and outlined the range of voluntary lifestyle changes (food, transport and energy choices) that could make a significant contribution to climate change.

“While individuals can make lifestyle changes and communities of practice can lead societal change, it is clear that pro-active policies are needed at the national scale to address the accelerating urgency of climate change,” she said.

“Over the next few months Multifaith SA will help individual faith groups run their own community workshops, setting up opportunities for shared learning and support. These workshops will all play a part in building a platform of practical action during the ‘Time of Living the Change’ (from September to December 2019).”

Faiths represented at the International Day of Peace celebration included Ahmadiyya Muslim, Anglican, Baha’i, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Latter Day Saints, Lutheran, Muslim, Unitarian, Uniting Church, with apologies from the Jewish and Sikh communities.