Inter-faith worker returns

Press, 8 March 1989, Page 13

Inter-faith worker returns

Most religions shared some similar greath truths, according to an inter-faith worker,. Miss Patricia Morrison. Miss Morrison recently returned to Christchurch after spending five years as the general secretary of the World Congress of Faiths based in London. The congress aims to increase inter-faith communication by organising lectures, courses and other educative programmes as well as providing an advisory service to people on other faiths. She said people did not need to convert to another religion in order to more fully understand others’ beliefs. By sharing beliefs one realised there was a lot of common ground and people often felt a renewed sense of their own faith after examining other religions. A Presbyterian, Miss Morrison said her contact with other religions had strengthened her own beliefs while increasing her tolerance and understanding. Miss Morrison agreed that those who were keen to learn more about others’ faiths were per-

haps not among those who needed to learn tolerance most. But she said that what these people learned was shared with others and spread into the wider community. Miss Morrison recently returned from a World Conference on Religion and Peace Assembly at Monash University in Melbourne. The seven New Zealand delegates plan to meet in Wellington soon to discuss how they can implement more interfaith work in New Zealand.