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Archbishop of Dublin Most Rev. Dr Michael Jackson said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the foreground an urgent need to define ourselves as neighbours to one another. New circumstances require new relationships and the seminar explored through the document jointly produced by WCC and Pontifical Council what this means from the interreligious perspective. International scholars and practitioners led the way in carving out new pathways inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan.”
The chief organiser of the colloquium, the Rev. Canon Dr Ginnie Kennerley, editor of SEARCH, said, “Coming upon this WCC-PCID document in autumn 2020, I knew this had to be the theme for SEARCH's 2021 Colloquium. The necessity to operate on Zoom turned out to be a blessing. We could enlist old friends and new from three continents to join in a day of thought-provoking and inspiring conversation. It is now time to put ideas into practice!”
Rev. Dr Peniel Rajkumar, WCC programme coordinator for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, who also delivered the opening address at the colloquium said, “This colloquium was a heartening example of the reception that the document on interreligious solidarity has received among our member churches. It reaffirmed in robust ways the inevitability of interreligious solidarity for a time such as this. As those called to love our neighbours as ourselves, the colloquium reminded Christians through different perspectives that working hand-in-hand across religious boundaries is for us both a gospel imperative as well as an integral aspect of our Christian identity.”
