A biblical tent as a place of dialogue and reconciliation against violence and terrorism. It was unveiled today in London by Prince Charles before the leaders of the major religions of the UK. The tent is located in a symbolic place within the City, the business heart of the British capital, which hosts the ruins of the Protestant Church of St. Ethelburga, which was destroyed by the IRA, the Irish Republican Army, in 1993. People wanted the church, a mediaeval church that survived the London Fire and the World War Two bombings, to be rebuilt as a centre of inter-religious dialogue. Beside the church now stands the tent, designed as a place of dialogue between Christianity and Islam, which will host conferences, concerts, spiritual meetings and lectures for educators, religious people and simple passers-by. The official opening was attended by the Catholic Primate, card. Murphy-O’Connor, London’s Anglican bishop, Richard Chartres, the head rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, and Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu leaders and representatives of other religions. The tent, designed by London-born artist Keith Critchlow, has sixteen sides all covered in goatskin woven in Saudi Arabia as in the tradition of the Bedouin tents, and decorated with coloured windows with the symbols of the different religions.
