The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and leaders of different faith groups reaffirmed their commitment on Monday to multi-religious efforts to help combat poverty and achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Dr Williams welcomed members of the largest multi-religious coalition, Religions for Peace, of which he is co-president, to his official London residence, Lambeth Palace, for the meeting.
In his address, he told the leaders, “Mobilising the world’s religious communities in common action is critically important at a time when the human family faces grave threats to peace, such as violent conflict, extreme poverty, and climate change.”
The Archbishop announced last month that Church of England bishops and religious leaders will join together in a Walk of Witness through London on 24 July to demonstrate their determination to see global poverty eradicated.
Dr Williams encouraged religious leaders to unite in their efforts against poverty.
“If the international community is to meet its collective commitment to halve poverty and hunger by 2015, religious communities must work together on the basis of shared moral concern and marshal their considerable capacity for advocacy and for service delivery, particularly in the field of education, to alleviate poverty,” he said.
The Archbishop went on to highlight the potential of faith-based education to create a culture of peace and spoke out against violence targeting religious communities and institutions.
The Moderator of Religions for Peace and Director of External Affairs for the Orthodox Church in America, the Very Rev Leonid Kishkovsky, meanwhile encouraged religious leaders to use their positions of influence to speak up on issues of concern.
“When prominent religious leaders of all faiths, like the Archbishop of Canterbury, exercise their moral authority by speaking out and acting together, they can have a decisive impact on issues such as violent conflict, extreme global poverty and deteriorating food security,” he said. “Multi-religious cooperation is essential for building peace wherever it is threatened.”
