Today, people living in pluralist societies are changing the way they understand religious identity. Various facts signal these changes: many individuals keep a distance from their traditional communities, develop an individual approach to religion, have a growing interest in foreign religions, do not hesitate to turn to esoteric teachings, and very often lose interest and trust in their traditional religious institutions. But many questions remain unanswered at this stage. How should we understand the plurality of religions? Can we practice more than one? Is one better for me, or is one better than the other ones? Am I free to chose or should I turn to some authority for guidance, and to which? But also: Should everyone be free to practice his or her religion as s/he pleases? What is the root of conflicts between religious communities?

Last November, the World Council of Churches and the Geneva Interreligious Platform proposed a joint event entitled “My neighbour’s faith and mine. Religious identities: for better or for worse?” to address these issues. The primary objective was to have the local public come together, experience and discuss religious identities in various ways. The program included an intergenerational forum, a public panel discussion with local religious and political leaders, a multireligious celebration at St Pierre Cathedral, a colloquium with local and international speakers, and as a conclusion an invitation to share in the spirituality conveyed through whirling dervishes from Konya in Turkey. The partnership, sponsored by Pictet & Cie, a local bank celebrating its 200th anniversary, was a premiere in the history of the WCC and the Platform. In fact, the difference in the structure and scope of both organisations made the collaboration sometimes difficult. But eventually we, the Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim members of the mixed Steering Committee, managed to create relationships of trust and all in all it was an enriching experience.

The exchanges were plenty. It is impossible here to recount all of them but one can have an impression of the weekend from a few, particularly inspiring contributions.

In his presentation on religious identity and religious pluralism, Prof. Perry Schmidt-Leukel of the University of Glasgow told that one way to deal successfully with religious pluralism is to consider religions not as opposites, as we have been doing for centuries, but as complementary – something like different maps or travel guides. Some are just more helpful than others at different junctions of our spiritual journey. Schmidt-Leukel’s point is crucial because it calls for honesty in the way we approach other religions. If we move on from tolerance, where we only accept coexistence with other religions, to a true appreciation of these, can we honestly not wonder whether they are “just good enough” for others and could not also help us on our spiritual journey? As a Catholic acquainted with Buddhism, Schmidt-Leukel is convinced that we can very well manage multiple religious identities as a result of this eclecticism.

Another speaker at the youth forum, French rapper Abd al Malik, told his personal itinerary as a Catholic-cum-Muslim-cum-Sufi. As a teenager, Malik converted to what the French call « suburban Islam » but he soon grew dissatisfied with the strict dogmas and praying rituals, aggressive proselytising and calls to violent acts. He then turned to Sufism, where he found the spiritual depth he was longing for. His testimony speaks for numerous Western Europeans weary of the rigid, ritualistic, and dogmatic ways of institutionalised traditions, who opt for more introverted, self-transforming spiritual teachings. Many look for a genuine spirituality in the inner or esoteric dimensions of traditional religions, where they find a sense of deep universal harmony, which is both soothing at the individual level, and answers the question of religious plurality. The testimonies of many mystics show indeed that despite differences in the external dimension of religions (dogmas, rituals, etc), they share a spiritual heritage common to all of them. As such, traditional esoteric resources may prove powerful catalysts for mutual understanding between religions.

One speaker at Saturday night’s public conference, Geneva's former chief rabbi Marc-Raphaël Guedj, went as far as suggesting to youth and any believer that they should challenge their religious authorities to introduce a “pedagogy of the mystic” in their teachings. I think the advice is sound: as an answer to the yearning for genuine spirituality and to conflicting dogma and customs, the interest for esoteric teachings should question the way many traditional authorities tend to hide or depreciate them.

As we see, both Schmidt-Leukel and Malik envision an evolving identity that is shaped by multiple religious sources. Participants in the youth forum shared this understanding of religious identity not as a fixed character but as a flux. Identity, as they see it, is always a result of negotiations between different social and psychological factors, or as Atefeh Sadeghi, a young woman from Iran put it, between our heritage and our desire to transform that heritage. In any case, religions are no longer seen as static bodies with whom we have to identify fully, but rather as various sources of understanding we can tap. Once their complementarity is mastered (and Schmidt-Leukel calls for a commonly agreed set of criteria to determine relevant teachings and dogmas), their multiplicity is likely to become a potential for a more complete knowledge of spiritual realities instead of a source of confusion and conflict. A text drafted for the occasion by the multifaith think tank “Thinking Together”, “Religions: fortresses to be defended or spiritual wellsprings?” expresses this vision of religions as dynamic entities, and their variety as a richness and not a menace.

These contributions indicate a powerful wind of freedom blowing among on European and on Middle Eastern youth. Although participants in the youth forum reckoned that interaction between heritage and transformation varies with cultural contexts and generations, they asserted in unison their common right to think freely and choose for themselves, whether it results in appropriating what their parents and elders have passed down to them or not. They clearly want to use their free will and thinking (heart and mind) to single out relevant teachings and teachers, and they already have a few ideas on the criteria – a good teaching should make us better human beings and contributors to peace, and a good teacher should offer guidance (not authority) and show deep humility, universal kindness and witness to constant self-searching.

Youth also had interesting criteria when deciding on how to make sense of religious plurality in an increasingly secular world. To them, we need not only integrate our religious identities, but also our non-religious identities: gender, culture, employment, nationality, etc. when we decide who we are. The task may seem daunting: how can we make sure that all we identify with is really a part of us? Very pragmatically, they suggested that we only truly endorse a specific identity when we have identified the rights and responsibilities associated to it, and act accordingly.

I had attended interfaith celebrations before, but the various symbolic acts performed during the multifaith celebration at St Pierre's Cathedral offered a diversity unseen in these premises. Some of the symbolic acts were performed for the first time in this high place of Calvinism: Indian classical dance (bharatanatyam), the call of the shofar (a primitive trumpet made of a ram's horn), a Muslim call to prayer, and a Baha’i devotional song. At the end of the ceremony, some 500 participants were given origami cranes especially brought from Japan by a lay Buddhist organisation, then gathered on the Cathedral square to throw them into a brasero as offerings to peace.

Reflections at Monday’s colloquium revolved around a rhetorical question: in plural societies, how much tolerance of the other can we take? Is there enough tolerance for other faith, ethnic, racial, or national communities, etc. to feel at home in their country of adoption, or are social tensions and conflict caused by too much tolerance? The circle was closed with a discussion on the tangent point where tolerance becomes respect, and on the conditions for this metanoia to happen.

This long, intense weekend has undoubtedly answered some questions about religious identity. But it has also provoked new ones. How can we integrate other religions, our own esoteric teachings and non-religious identities in our religious identity? How do we best exert our individual freedom and responsibility when selecting teachings? How can we celebrate together without undermining our respective traditions as providers of a genuine spirituality? The answers we give to these questions will determine our future as believers in an ever-more globalised world.

The Youth Interfaith Forum’s report is available from WCC’s Office for Interreligious Relations and Dialogue (IRRD) at 150 route de Ferney, PO 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2 Email

A member of the Geneva Reformed Church, Ariane Hentsch Cisneros was a part of the interreligious weekend Steering Committee. She helped planning and implementing the programme, with a special focus on the Youth interfaith forum.

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