Paris, France—An interreligious conference was held online under the theme “Hospitality of Abraham.”
The webinar took place on February 7, 2021, to conclude World Interfaith Harmony Week.
The 95 participants came from France, Switzerland, Italy, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burkina Faso. To prepare the audience, UPF sent them a few texts on the topic from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran.
The program consisted of:
- a short presentation about World Interfaith Harmony Week by Jacques Marion, the regional co-chair of UPF for Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East;
- the reading of the poem "Red Brocade" by Naomi Shihab Nye, which we translated into French;
- readings of sacred texts, followed by comments by representatives of different religions: Monsignor Nicolas, Orthodox Patriarch of the Nations, Paris; Hajar Masbah, a doctoral student and a researcher in social sciences and Islamic studies; Venerable Michel Thao Chan, founding president of the Cercle de Réflexion des Nations; and Jean-François Moulinet, vice president of UPF-France.
This was followed by a 15-minute group discussion.
Participants were asked if they were interested in repeating this experience. The answers were very positive, so the next webinar was announced for March 7, 2021, on the topic "Discovering God in the Scriptures."