Author: Marcus Braybrooke
Publisher: SCM Press, London, 1992

Pilgrimage of Hope is a mass of facts and names which tells the story of the first hundred years of world interfaith dialogue. The fact that all this dialogue does not seem to have led anywhere in particular, other than to give rise to further dialogue, is clearly not a reason for Marcus Braybrooke to give up hope, as the title suggests.

One touching example of interfaith hope, the Temple of Understanding, had its beginnings in Connecticut in 1959. It arose out of a dream to build a temple dedicated to the religions of the world, and was erected on an 18-acre site outside Washington purchased for this purpose in 1966. Between 1968 and 1983 the would-be temple managed to organise six 'Spiritual Summits', eventually leading to the Global Spiritual and Parliamentary Forum on Human Survival, in which religious leaders and politicians met in Oxford in 1988 and again in Moscow, with the celebrated presence of Gorbachev, in 1990. The Global Forum has since run out of funds and direction, and the Temple of Understanding has joined forces with Britain's World Congress of Faiths, publishing World Faiths Encounter three times a year. The Washington site remains empty.

The interfaith story holds few surprises, being full of worthy people doing worthy things. Nevertheless I discovered that some of the most successful and largest interfaith gatherings of recent years have been sponsored and organised by the Unification Church (the Moonies), that the first interfaith meeting, the World Parliament of Faiths held in Chicago in 1893, lasted sixteen days and brought together over seven thousand people, and that the annual budget of the International Asssociation for Religious Freedom rose from $60,000 to $600,000 between 1972 and 1987, apparently by subscription from associated religious groups.

Since 1893, there have been hundreds of international meetings, laboriously catalogued by Braybrooke. One wonders where all the money comes from for some of these huge gatherings. For example, the Moonie-backed Council for the World's Religions and Global Congress of World's Religions attract large numbers because they are held in exotic places and everyone's air fare and accommodation is paid for by the Unification Church, which demonstrates that there is never a shortage of people for a freeby, and that religious leaders love to speak on a platform. It also raises questions about the funding of interfaith activities in general which Braybrooke fails to address, although he concedes that some interfaith people are uncomfortable with the Moonie money.

Many see interfaith dialogue as a threat to traditional claims for uniqueness or finality in their own religion. The original World Parliament of Religions was considered by its organisers to mark a new era of Christian triumph. Although Christians were prepared to learn from other faiths, they saw Christ as the fulfilment of all other religions. This approach to interfaith was still evident at the 1975 Assembly of the World Council of Churches which defined interfaith dialogue as 'both a matter of hearing and understanding the faith of others and also of witnessing to the gospel of Jesus Christ', and went on to say that there will never be a time 'when the tension will be resolved between belief in Jesus Christ and unbelief' (all unbelievers take note). Interfaith worship continues to be a real problem area for some, especially Jews and Christians - how do they participate in another's act of worship without compromising their beliefs?

In awareness of these fears most interfaith organisations consider each religion to be valid and distinct, contributing to the richness of human culture. They do not attempt to bring them into a single world religion. However, many of them, including Braybrooke, do recognise an underlying unity and favour a convergence of religions. As Sir Francis Younghusband, who founded the World Congress of Faiths, said, 'God reveals himself in many ways. To the followers of other religions than our own may have been revealed much that may be of value to us.' WCF sees dialogue as a truth-seeking exercise which may lead to a truth which transcends any one religion.

Besides the World Congress of Faiths, there are dozens of interfaith organisations with World or International somewhere in their name, such as World Parliament of Religions, World Fellowship of Religions, World Fellowship of Faiths, World Congress of Faiths, World Thanksgiving, World Interfaith Association, World Conference on Religion and Peace, Inter-Religious Fellowship for World Peace, International Religious Foundation, International Association For Religious Freedom, Council for the World's Religions and Global Congress of World's Religions.

Among these, the World Conference on Religion and Peace and the International Association for Religious Freedom stand out. The IARF had its beginnings at the 1893 World Parliament, which was really a Christian assembly with a few guests of other faiths invited, but where Vivekananda was a big hit. He caused alarm by saying that Hindus accepted all religions as true and openly challenging the assumption of Christian superiority. After all the excitement of the Parliament had died down, its organising body grew into the International Association for Religious Freedom, with the particular support of Unitarian Christians. In recent years the IARF held major congresses in Montreal in 1975, Oxford in 1978, Holland in 1981, Tokyo in 1984, Stamford University in 1987, Hamburg in 1990 and Bangalore in 1993. The 1996 congress will be held in Korea.

History records that the inaugural meeting of the World Conference on Religion and Peace coincided with the very day of the outbreak of the First World War. The meeting had to be cut short, and as the participants hastily made their way back to their countries, some in real danger, they must have wondered if it had been worth the effort. The cruel contradiction between worthy aims and sad reality is at the heart of the interfaith movement. The WCRP survived the First World War but was not in time to avert World War Two. It finally held its first World Assembly in Japan (where the interfaith money seems to be these days) in 1970. It has since held five more Assemblies and become a significant forum for the meeting of religious and political leaders. Its concerns now extend to human rights, environment, development and religious fundamentalism, with its existing focus on disarmament and building peace.

What has all this dialogue achieved? Is there any point in good people meeting to make good declarations to each other, such as 'There will be no world peace without peace between religions,' when the bad people just carry on being bad? Or is there truth in the saying that all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing? I leave it to you to decide. Marcus Braybrooke is in no doubt and his effort to chart the ground is clearly a labour of love. For the rest of us, Pilgrimage of Hope will be heavy going but a useful reference work for those who need to know the details. I for one am grateful to Marcus Braybrooke and his interfaith friends for lighting a candle and failing to curse the darkness.

Ranchor Prime

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