Volume 3, Foreword

In 1893, the World Parliament of Religions gave birth to an organized religious summit and marked the beginning of a dialogue between the religious traditions of the East and West. A century later, in 1993, the Parliament of World Religions was reborn in Chicago, and the dialogue intensified. Over eight thousand people from around the world came together to explore religious and spiritual responses to critical issues that confront the international community. This gathering powerfully celebrated the role of diversity in creating harmony among peoples.

In 1999, it was no coincidence that the Parliament of World Religions conference was held on the African continent in Capetown, South Africa. Many felt it was a testimony to emerging patterns of unity in the world. South Africa represents a microcosm of the rest of the world, and its history in the last decade of the twentieth century is a testimony to the capacity of people to work together to create new levels of material and spiritual liberation for society. As it pursues the thorny path of reconstructing its society in the next decades of the new century, South Africa is forging new ways for people to live and work together. This process embodies the spirit and purpose of the Parliament of World Religions, and South Africa proved a fitting matrix for the expression of our purpose as the new millennium dawned.

The 1999 Parliament of World Religions conference brought the religions of the world together at a most critical moment in human history. As the twentieth century ended, some of the greatest problems facing humanity were those of sectarianism, racism, tribalism, nationalism, gender conflicts and religious fanaticism. These problems are fragmenting the planet and decimating the foundations of human societies the world over.

How critically important, then, it was for religious people and institutions to come together to confront these planetary adversaries through the sharing of perspectives and spiritual solutions, and the initiating of practical initiatives for change. The wider circles of unity created at the Parliament are even now unleashing a collective will to combat the problems of the age and develop a world that preserves the honor and destiny of every soul.