Baha’is from Australia and four other continents will deliver presentations at the Parliament of the World’s Religions to be held in Melbourne from 3-9 December 2009.
Thousands of participants will attend the event, which will be addressed by 1000 speakers including prominent international figures.
Held every five years in a different city, the Parliament is the world’s biggest multi-faith event. In Australia for the first time, the event has as its theme “Make a World of Difference: Hearing each other, Healing the earth”.
Prominent among the Australian speakers will be Aboriginal elder Uncle Bob Randall, former deputy prime minister and now ambassador to the Vatican, Tim Fischer, and the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell.
Speakers
The Baha’i speakers at the Parliament will come from Africa, North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Their topics will be equally diverse.
From Africa, Lucretia Lally Warren, the chairperson of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Botswana and a speaker at the past two Parliaments, will participate in a session on “Interfaith and the Future of Africa”.
Native American Kevin Locke, described as the world’s leading performer of the Lakota Hoop Dance, will present a spectacular session titled “There are no back row seats in the Hoop of Life”.
Professor Brian Lepard, a human rights specialist from the University of Nebraska, will examine from a Baha’i perspective the concept of a human right to development. Dr A. K. Merchant, a Baha’i from New Delhi, will speak at the same session.
British authors and scholars, Moojan and Wendi Momen, will present a panel discussion on “Building Peace in the Pursuit of Justice: A Baha’i Approach”.
The national secretary of the Australian Baha’i Community, Arini Beaumaris, will speak on “Spirituality and Women’s Leadership”.
Australian Baha’is
Spokesperson for the Australian Baha’i Community, Natalie Mobini, said that Australian Baha’is would be closely involved in the Parliament.
“The big representation of members of the Baha’i Faith at the Parliament demonstrates how committed Baha’is are to enhancing harmony between the world’s religions,” Dr Mobini said.
“This is inspired by the injunction from Baha’u’llah to ‘consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship’,” she said.
Dr Mobini said there would be musical performances by recording artists Shadi and Shidan Toloui-Wallace as well as presentations by other Australian Baha’is on topics including:
- the journey of the soul
- the design of an environmentally-friendly Baha’i centre
- climate change
- the role of women in inter-faith and institutional work
- the persecution of Baha’is in Iran.
The Baha’i Community of Victoria will host a spiritual observance open to all participants at the Parliament. To be held in a tranquil environment, it will have a program of live music, audio-visual screenings and readings from the Baha’i Writings and other sacred texts.
During the Parliament, the Victorian Baha’i Community will host an evening of music, drama and dance displaying the talents of national and international Baha’i performers.
Visit the Parliament’s Web site