(From our correspondents in Sydney) The ecumenical meeting was followed by an interreligious one, with the participation of some forty representatives of fifteen different religious confessions, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrians and Sabeans (a confession present in Iraq and hence also practised by the communities of Iraqi immigrants). The Vatican spokesman expressed Benedict XVI’s appreciation for the words spoken at the meeting by the Jewish exponent and by the representative of Islam, who proposed the "fundamentalism of love" as an antidote to the "fundamentalism of hate". "Very positive too", said Fr. Lombardi, were the frequent references to WYD, which "help us to experience this event in a unified way. The Pope, lastly, "expressed on several occasions his satisfaction and enthusiasm" about the meeting. The programme of his visit is now continuing with lunch together with a representative group of young people from the USA, New Zealand, Spain, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, France, Korea and Australia.
