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Leaders from Ten Religions Gather at CUHK this Friday for the First Ever Parliament of World Religions in Hong Kong
With the theme of ‘Hearing each other, Healing the Earth’, the Parliament of World Religions (Hong Kong Events) will be held this Friday (6 November) on the campus of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Co-organized by CUHK Department of Cultural and Religious Studies (Project of Harmony in Diversity), Institute for Global Civilization, Hong Kong-America Center, and the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, the event is held in association with the 2009 Parliament of World Religions to be held this December in Australia.
The first cross-religion occasion gathering leaders from ten different religions in the local territory, the event is comprised of an academic symposium on ‘Religion and Economic Crisis’ and an interfaith musical evening. Details are as follows:
| Event | Religion and Economic Crisis Academic Symposium | Hearing each other, Healing the Earth’ Interfaith Musical Evening | |
| Date | 6 November, Friday | 6 November, Friday | |
| Time | 2:00-5:00PM | 6:30-9:30PM | |
| Venue | Cho Yiu Hall, CUHK | Shaw College Lecture Theatre, CUHK | |
| Details | The academic symposium brings together the confluence of two different modes of discourse – economics and religion – to examine timely questions such as: what is the economic situation we are in and how did we get here? What is the relationship between religion and economics, and the role of religion in economic crisis? How can we help each other from the standpoint of religion? The symposium aims to offer new hope and ideas for sustainable material and spiritual progress, and ultimately highlight the fact that the two spheres may actually be closely interconnected after all. | A unique evening of diverse devotional and artistic performances, with contributions from different local religious communities, including: the Bahá’í Faith, Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Protestant Christianity, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. The evening will involve a sharing of different local religious communities’ devotional and sensorial dimensions, be it as prayer, scripture recitation, chanting, singing, music, dance, or on-stage ritual. | |
| Guests of Honour | Prof. Lai Chi-tim, Prof. Leslie Young, Prof. Kung Lap-yan, Prof. Kong Siew-huat, Prof. Ellen Zhang, Prof. Ivette Vargas- O’Bryan, Prof. David Palmer, Dr. Glenn Shive, Dr. Ed Irons, Mr. Christophe Bongars, Prof Avron Boretz |
The Rt. Rev. Thomas Soo (Christianity), Mr. Lai Sze Nuen( Buddhism), Dr. Tong Yan-kai (Confucianism), Mr. Ng Yiu-tung (Taoism), Iman Uthman Yang Xing Ben (Islam), Rev. Dr. Ha Keloon Louis (Catholic), Ms. Rosalie Tran (Bahai), Mr. Avtar Singh (Sikhism), Mr. Jal Shroff (Zoroastrianism), Ms. Bhavatarini Devi Dasi (Hinduism) |
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| Keynote Speech – Economic Perspective | 2:05-2:45PM | Prof. Leslie Young, Department of Finance, CUHK | Not applicable. |
| Keynote Speech – Religious Perspective | 2:45-3:25PM | Prof. Kung Lap-yan, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, CUHK | |
During the interfaith musical evening, a ‘Declaration to the Parliament of World Religions’ signing ceremony will take place. The declaration, to be signed by leaders from ten different religions, teachers and student representatives, promotes global interreligious harmony and dialogue, and the positive role of religion in the globalized era.
The Parliament of World Religions is the first instance of global dialogue between the religious and spiritual traditions of East and West in human history. Convened every 5 years, the Parliament of World Religions brings together the world’s religious and spiritual communities, their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious understanding and cooperation. Members of the public are welcome to attend both events. The CUHK Department of Cultural and Religious Studies has set aside some tickets for the public. Interested parties may contact Miss Esther Cheng (Tel: 2609 6463; Email: esther@cuhk.edu.hk). For further details, please visit www.igh.hk/events/upcoming-events/ppe.
