Potre Diampuan (pictured above), URI’s Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (SEAPac), hosted the discussion, titled “Interfaith and the Future of Our Earth: Exploring the Visions of Different Faiths in Protecting Our Planet.”
The event, held Feb. 7 in Pasay City, Philippines, included 20 participants from many different faith traditions, including several key government officials. Each participant received a URI-SEAPac flier, a copy of URI’s Preamble, Purpose and Principles, an eight-page document, “The Critical State of Our Mother Earth” and a series of inspirational quotes about the environment.
Potre began the discussion by introducing URI as a United Nations-accredited international non-governmental organization that strives to “promote enduring daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.”
She also discussed World Interfaith Harmony Week, now in its third year of celebration, which originated with the convergence of the Abrahamic faiths in “The Common Word Initiative” in 2007. This was later expanded to embrace people of all faiths, including those without faiths.
Each participant brought his or her own perspective on Earth stewardship to the table, including the wisdom of each faith and spiritual expression with regards to caring for and protecting the environment. Each of those teachings pointed to the responsibility and accountability of humans to protect Nature, since its destruction would also be the destruction of humanity. The responsible, moderate use of Nature was a central concept in each religion and spiritual expression.
The participants concluded that countries such as the United States, China and India must work to reduce or eliminate their carbon dioxide emissions. They also agreed that dialogues like the roundtable were an effective means for discussing important issues and bringing about interfaith understanding.
“We see hope in how religions can address climate change,” Potre said. “When man is pushed to the wall and in vain, he turns only to God!”
More photos from this event are available at URI's Facebook page.
