The “Latin America and Israel Interreligious Forum” was successfully held

A touching celebration closed the “Latin America and Israel Interreligious Forum” with colorful dace presentations from different cultures and religions, Hebrew and Christian chants, presentations from parts of the holy Koran and a Hare Krishna mantra.

Differents religious leaders gathered and danced to the sound of Hebrew songs

The Forum took place on October 28th, 29th and 30th, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and it brought together many religious leaders and participants of several creeds in order to debate about the importance and the role played by religion in our lives, in society and in the States, as well as its valuable contribution to the building of peace.

Religions such as Judaism, Islam, Christianity (Catholic and Evangelical), Buddhism, Hare Krishna and Spiritism were all represented there, and approached 12 themes: history of the religions; the importance of religion within the society; religious plurality; doctrines and dogmas in each religion; convergence points among the religions, ethics and moral, the doctrinaire fundaments in relation to modern society (abortion, homosexuality, drug addiction etc), poverty and violence, women and religion, scientificism, Israel and what it represents for the religions in general, the Israeli nation (nation vs. state).

The distinguished characteristic of this event was the presence of spiritual leaders who have been trying to implement actions of respect and fraternity, teaching the important lesson of living in peace. During the Forum, many common points among the religions were highlighted, as, for example, love for your brother, a fundamental value present in all creeds. Still, the leaders highlighted the importance of mutual knowledge as the foundations for building respect for the different creeds.

The “Jerusalem Cultural Center”

One of the most outstanding proposals was presented on the second day of conferences, at the ecumenical chapel of the Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro (Pontíficia Universidade do Rio de Janeiro – PUC), when the Sheik Armando Saleh gave an important suggestion for peace in the Middle East: raising a new generation, proposing a 25 year truce between Israel and Palestine in order to invest on education. “If we separate the people and create a new generation with a different mind through education, I believe we would reach a consensus and achieve peace” added the Sheik, restating his commitment with the dialogue and understanding among the several creeds. The proposal was accepted by the judge of the Israeli Rabbinic Court, Rabbi Eliahu Baribaum and supported by the remaining participants of the Inerreligious dialogue.

Rabbi Eliahu Baribaum was also responsible for one of the most applauded and acknowledged moments of the event, when he said: “This encounter is not just a encounter of peace, it’s an encounter of Shalom, it’s an encounter of harmony, an encounter which evokes the name and the presence of God with the word Shalom, in this dialogue present within each one of us.”

Dr. William Soto  during his closing speech

Many touching moments permeated the event, but the best one was at the end of the second day of conferences when Jewish, Muslims, Catholics and evangelicals gathered and danced to the sound of Hebrew songs, displaying the harmony and the understanding reached during the Forum.

The closing ceremony took place in the “Jerusalem Cultural Center”, the world headquarter of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God”, where there is a replica of the city of Jerusalem at the time of the second temple.

The president of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the bishop Jeronimo Alves welcomed all the religious leaders and said: “we need to leave it here singing our hyms, the mantra and all we believe in. Bring peace and life to those closest to us, because many times we want to bring peace to the world and we forget to care for it within our own homes. This encounter was unique and I’m sure there will be many to follow it”.

In his closing speech, the International Director of AMISRAEL, Dr. William Soto, thanked the support of all those who attended the event and highlighted the openness of the several leaders to achieve an understanding, respect and reconciliation, stating: “During the Interreligious Forum we could clearly see a change in the paradigms, a new tendency arises of prioritizing the common points among the different creed, and forgetting the differences.”

The dance group Lehakat AMISRAEL at the closing ceremony

“Moses, Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha and many other religious leaders have been an inspiration for several ways of expressing spirituality, preaching love. It’s up to us to make good use of their words in a constructive way, not a destructive one.”

The Forum had as one of it’s main objectives to create an interconfessional network of multi thematic studies, thus generating an environment of mutual respect and knowledge, based on each religion’s need.

The event was closed with a prayer, a language which contains all languages, and also laughter and companionship among the people who sought mutual understanding and respect among these diverse cultures. Each left with the commitment of working towards peace among the religions and the desire of meeting again in the next Forum.

Text: Gabriela Lara
Photography: José Tilleria, Anna Paula Marques, Luíz Rocha
English Version: Patrícia Mamede

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