Jakarta,
February 25--March 1, 2013
(Fr. Kasmir Nema, SVD)
Theme: “Bringing ‘A common Word to
Common Action for justice in Asia”
I. Background
On October
13, 2007, 138 Muslim Scholars issued an open letter addressed to Christian
World Leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI and General Secretary of the World
Council of Churches (WCC), entitled: “A
Common Word between Us and You!”. Some responses have been made at the
international levels, such as the statement of the first Catholic-Muslim Forum
issued on November 6, 2008 and the statement of “International consultation
Transforming Communities: Christians and Muslims Building a common Future”
jointly organized by WCC, the World Islamic call society (WICS) issued on
November 4, 2010.
Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) warmly welcomed this initiative and felt the need for religious leaders in Asia, particularly Muslims and Christians, to respond to this call from Asian experiences and perspectives. In order to achieve this goal, Indonesia was chosen as a possible venue for the Asian Conference. The steering committee was made, which consists of the Bishop’s conference of Indonesia, (KWI), The Indonesian Community of Churches (PGI), International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS) , Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) as well as Muslim Friends in Indonesia.
Apart from
the possible misunderstanding in comprehending religious teachings, there are
other factors contributing to social conflict and other conflicts among
believers. Many times, power interests are couched in religious terms, whereas
in fact, the truth of the reality is far from that. We must place religion
above all other interests. For this reason, efforts to build harmony among
religious followers must begin from within each religion with the goal of
reducing conflict in this region of the world, and together with others
promoting peace and justice for all people and the whole of creation.
II. Participants of Conference
Total
participants of the conference: 109, coming from fourteen countries namely:
Phillipines, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Taiwan, Timor Leste, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Afghanistan, and
Indonesia. The composition of the participants according to religions:
Catholics: 29, Protestants: 42 and Moslem: 38
III. Aim of the Conference
There are four main objectives of
the conference, namely:
1
To become familiar with the letter which had been written by
138 Muslim scholars to Christian leaders, and explore ways to understand it
from the religious and cultural perspectives in Asia.
2
To share in respectful manner the diverse ways of ‘love of
God and love of neighbor‘ that are practiced by Muslims, Catholics and
protestants in Asia, including the varied effects of this;
3
To discuss the possibility of common collaboration in
implementing this divine mandate within the Asian context, especially with marginalized
and poor sectors of the society
4
To promote deeper personal friendship among religious
leaders of Asia.
