The Parliament of the World's Religions closed its third
gathering in the modern era
By Jaume de Marcos, Co-Founder of the Sociedad
Unitaria Universalista de España
Date: 2004/07/21 Language: English
 The
Parliament of the World's Religions closed its third gathering
in the modern era (the fourth including the now almost legendary
1893 Parliament) last July 13th with the thundering of the
Japanese drums of the Taiko Ensemble. Over 7,000 participants
from 85 countries gathered for seven days celebrated their
diversity and living and working together in spite of (or
even because of) their differences.
Among more than 500 panels and workshops, the panel on Michael
Servetus was particularly noteworthy and had a remarkable
attendance of 60+ participants who completely filled the room
that had been assigned for this activity. The panel was co-organized
by the Unitarian Universalist Society of Spain (www.suue.org)
and the Michael Servetus Institute of Studies (www.miguelservet.org).
Panelists included Unitarian minister and Hon. Secretary
of the World Congress of Faiths, Rev. Richard Boeke, who unfolded
a very suggestive speech on the Servetian concept of the "Breath
of Life", and several distinguished Spanish Servetian
scholars. Dr. Fernando Solsona, an eminent physician and biographer
of Servetus, talked about Servetus as a Renaissance sage with
many different and deep areas of knowledge such as medicine,
theology, geography, and astrology. Prof. Ana Gómez Rabal
concentrated on the importance of textual analysis in Servetus
as a way to discern religious truth. Finally, Prof. Ferrer
Benimeli explained on the importance of Voltaire in the rediscovery
of Servetus as a key figure in the struggle for freedom of
conscience and belief.
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