MY NEIGHBOUR'S FAITH AND MINE
Religious identities : For better or for worse?

An interreligious encounter in Geneva
12-14 November 2005

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YOUTH INTERFAITH FORUM
"Generations talk about identity"
12-13 November 2005

The Youth Interfaith Forum aims at creating a dialogue between young adults and the generations on themes related to religious identities in religiously plural societies and how different generations deal with these issues. Plenary sessions, workshops and informal events will give young people unique opportunities to engage in a dialogue with leaders in the religious and inter-religious fields so as to contribute to building a society more in tune with their spiritual vision.

The following topics will be discussed in three thematic workshops: the transmission of religious identities, the construction of meaning in pluralist societies, and youth's definitions of the spiritual authorities; and three geographic workshops where young people from Geneva, Europe and the Middle East will discuss these topics in relation to their geographic contexts.

It is hoped that these discussions will be open and honest, but also critical; their content will be reported in the plenary sessions and at the international colloquium on 14 November, and a final report drafted.

DESCRIPTION OF WORKSHOPS
Affirming that today’s ultramodern societies are undergoing an acute crisis in the tranmission of their core values has become a common place. According to French religion sociologist Danièle Hervieu-Léger, « each and every institution that ensured a connection between generations, is now losing importance to the profit of shared experiences, direct communication, and ponctual commitment. » As an institution in its own right, religious identity is equally concerned by that observation. Rather than to " the conformity to institutionalized religious truths", current observations point to an evolution in religious identities grounded in personal experience and an authentic quest along four lines : community, ethics, culture, and emotions. When only one axis is followed, the sense of belonging in traditional communities is at risk.

In Western Europe, observers note a deep yearning for spirituality among youth, a tendency not to be understood in a strictly religious sense, but in a wider sense, as a permanent an active quest through the "avalanche of meaning" that caracterizes our societies. Along that quest, young people disconnect their beliefs and practices from institutionalized religion and dogmas, rites and religious practices, following a conscious move towards autonomy.

Young adutls, religious leaders and professionals of interreligious dialogue will address these questions in 6 different workshops. Each participant remains in the same workshop for the whole duration of the Forum.

THEMATIC WORKSHOPS
Religious identity in the making : How do we become who we are ?
What are the creation, stabilisation, evolution processes of our religious identity ? Are religious identities transmitted like heritages, or do we create them freely through our personal affinities for various religious traditions ? Should we understand our religious identities as trajectories along the lines of different communities and beliefs, or rather as fixed conglomerates thereof ? Can we « believe without belonging » or « belong without believing » ? This workshop invites young people and representatives of religious institutions to confront their understanding of religious identity.

Making sense in a plural world : What strategies do we use ?
How do we understand the mundane, the spiritual and ourselves, today ? What questions do we need to address to find meaning in our life, our relationships, our spiritual quest ? At what level(s) – personal, institutional, or universal – do we appropriate answers to these questions ? What role do other religions and their representatives play in formulating questions and answers ? In this workshop, youth and religious representatives will share about how they understand spirituality and how they make sense of the world, based on how they identify questions and answers in this field.

Religious and spiritual authorities : Who are our models ?
Today, what are the sources of meaning (institutionalized or not) ? Do we freely chose to tap them, or to submit to them ? How do we name a religious and/or spiritual authority ? What are our marks of trust and loyalty to the authority ? How do we recognize relevant religious and/or spiritual teachings ? This workshop will give youth and their elders an occasion to come face to face and address the important questions of spiritual and religious affinities and loyalty.

GEOGRAPHIC WORKSHOPS
Similar topics addressed with an emphasis on three different contexts : Geneva, Europe and the Middle East.

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PROGRAMME

FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER : LANDING TOGETHER
20h00 Social gathering (optional)

SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER

WELCOME PLENARY
9h00-9h10 Welcome addresses

Introduction to the forum
9h10-9h50 Lecture on "Religious plurality and religious identity"
9h50-10h30 Testimony: a young adult's spiritual search in Europe
10h30-10h45 Introduction to WCC text: "Fortresses Into Wellsprings"
10h45-11h00 Break

WORKSHOPS
1. Voicing our common vision
11h00-11h15 Meditation : A Sikh voice
11h15-13h00 Group work
13h00-14h15 Lunch

2. Listening to the witnesses
14h15-14h30 Meditation : A Muslim voice
14h30-16h15 Group work
16h15-16h45 Break

TAKING STOCK PLENARY
16h45-17h25 Reports of group discussions
17h25-17h30 Closing remarks
17h30-18h00 Meditation : A voice from Japan

PUBLIC CONFERENCE (NB: in French)
20h00 “Religious identities: for better or for worse?”

SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER

WORKSHOP
3. Towards a new understanding
10h00-10h15 Meditation : A Christian voice
10h15-12h00 Group work
12h00-13h30 Lunch

COMING TOGETHER PLENARY
13h30-13h45 Meditation : A Jewish voice
13h45-14h15 Reports of group discussions
14h15-15h15 General discussion
15h15-15h30 Concluding remarks
15h30-15h45 Meditation: A Baha’i voice
15h45-16h00 Break

INTERRELIGIOUS CELEBATION : DIFFERENT, THOUGH UNITED
18h00 At St-Pierre Cathedral

MONDAY 14 NOVEMBER

INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM: “AN END TO TOLERANCE?”
9h15-17h30 Report of youth forum’s discussion (c. 15 min.)
20h00 Performance: whirling dervishes from Konya (Turkey)