With many events moving online over this last year, I was able to attend and participate in the Parliament of World Religions last month.
As one of the largest Interfaith events in the world, the parliament is an opportunity to connect with people of many different faiths, beliefs and traditions as well as to learn a lot about them. There were over 570 different sessions, networking opportunities and virtual lounges for meeting with people of many different faiths.
I took part in two panels at the parliament. One on Pagan discrimination hosted by Scottish PF Presiding Officer, Steffy Von Scott and including Linda Haggerstone, Scottish PF’s Interfaith Officer and Morgana Sythove, Pagan Federation International Lead. It was an interesting and enlightening discussion that I was honoured to be a part of. You can watch the panel at the link below.
The second panel was hosted by Morgana from PFI and was called “Pagans and Heathens – Where on Earth are we?” Morgana and I were joined by Selena Fox and Laura Gonzeles from Circle Sanctuary in the USA and Arild Aston-Eikrem also from PFI. You can watch the panel at the link below.
I was fortunate to be able to attend a further 10 sessions over the duration of the two days. One in particular stood out and that was an open conversation between a Heathen and a Christian Pastor. They spoke about their differences, what had brought them together and how they would like conversations between people of differing faiths and beliefs to go in the future. Definitely a conversation I would like to be a part of!
Overall, it was a humbling and emotional experience. So many shared their hopes and wishes for the future, and we were united in our wish to come together to face the current double crisis of pandemic and climate change. It showed what was possible when differences are put aside in the name of learning and collaboration.
Here’s to the next one in 2023!
Bright blessings,
Sarah Kerr
PF President