The Roman Catholic Church is attempting to get all religions to come under her influence. In order to do this, she holds frequent interfaith ecumenical events. Other churches also follow her example and do similar ecumenical events, such as the recent “interfaith network” event for “Peace and Unity” at Manchester Cathedral.
Hindu prayers, Sufi meditation, Urdu Christian songs and Chinese children’s dancing, were just a few of the wide variety of eclectic religious and cultural activities on offer.
The event comes just two months after a terror attack at Manchester Arena which killed 23 people and injured hundreds of others. The goal of the ‘Peace and Unity’ event is to celebrate the cultural diversity of the city, which counts over two hundred different linguistic and ethnic groups.
Rogers Govender, the dean of the Anglican cathedral, which was hosting the event said, “This is the second year in a row that he has helped to organize such a cultural event to bring people together from the city’s diverse religious communities.”
“In the face of the terrible events that have taken place in Manchester and beyond, with the intended desire to divide communities, this ‘Peace and Unity’ event wishes ‘to affirm our diversity and to celebrate it’ instead. It is “a great tragedy,” said Govender, “when terrorists, and others on the far right and so on, seek to divide our community.”
He says the various faith communities in the city “work very well together,” adding that he is involved in a number of interfaith events, aimed at encouraging the different communities to engage in the life of the city.
“In the aftermath of the atrocity [at Manchester Arena],” added Govender, religious communities and faith leaders “worked very hard together” with Town Hall authorities and local and national governments to hold the community together. “I would like to think that we have largely succeeded in doing that.”
Directly after the attack, Govender says he hosted a meeting at the cathedral where political and religious representatives prayed for all those affected by the tragedy.
In the new world order, distinctiveness is ok, so long as it isn’t exclusive. Bible truth is not the center of unity. Like the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church uses painful tragedies to promote more ecumenical ties and friendships. And as ecumenism has spread beyond the Catholic Church, it reduces resistance to the false teachings of the major churches and religions. Ultimately, it prepares the churches to accept the authority of Rome.
“All the world wondered…” Revelation 13:3.
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Please pray for India and for Sijo and his ministry in India. Rising persecution is creating stress on the Hindu nation, especially for Christians. The government enacts repressive laws against Christianity. Persecution is especially difficult in the north where there are killings and torture of Christians, the spread of anti-Christian propaganda. India apparently intends to abolish Christianity in India by 2020.