“How can we affirm our identity as Muslims, Jews and Christians not separately from each other, not opposed to each other, but in kinship and solidarity?”. To answer this question 21 youth from 13 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and America met at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches at Bossey (Switzerland) for a summer seminar in July. “The monolithic society – says a communiqué issued by the Institute -, created according to the traditional scheme ‘one nation, one culture, one religion’, is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. In this context, the programme of the seminar on ‘Building an interfaith community’ prepares the future generation of leaders of the churches, of other faith communities and of society in general to tackle the challenge of living in a peaceful way in a world marked by religious pluralism”. Each day at the seminar begins with a moment of spirituality, prepared in turn by the Christian, Jewish and Muslim participants. The programme alternates moments of daily life with meetings with experts and participation in the various services celebrated in places of worship – a synagogue, a mosque and a church – in Geneva.
