In mid-May, nearly 1,500 participants gathered at Seidenweberhaus conference center in Krefeld, Germany, for “Dialogue Day 2014,” an event full of Christian-Muslim dialogue. The day’s festivities also included art, music, text study, and other activities.
Sylvia Löhrmann, the Deputy Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, was a keynote speaker, opening the day by saying, “An event of this nature is long overdue! The similarities and the exchange on which religions are based are an important component to the functioning of our society.”
Hannelore Kraft, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, was a major sponsor of the event. The Christian-Islamic Society was also a key organizer, working in partnership with a wide range of Christian and Muslim initiatives.
The significance of the event becomes pronounced in the light of a recent study of the University of Leipzig that claims 50% of the German population view Muslims in an unfavorable light.
Taking this finding into account, a day of interfaith encounters and respectful dialogue is very significant, sending a signal to the German public: Christians and Muslims can live together in peace as brothers and sisters; they can enrich each other and respect each other.
Diversity can be a source of beauty, as the day’s events proved. In a market of possibilities, about 25 dialogue initiatives were present. URI was represented with a booth of eight members of URI Europe and URI Germany, who were able to offer dialogue books and other educational resources.
The booth’s visitors were interested in learning about URI as a worldwide network with over 600 member groups in more than 80 countries. URI activists explained the concept at the foundation of URI: its member groups, also called Cooperation Circles, gave information about ongoing events and activities and met with a lot of interest and favour. So in the end all participants agreed: this dialogue day was a big success!
