Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Baha’i, Hindu, Shinto, Buddhist, Sikh and Native spiritual leaders will meet in Winnipeg June 21 to 23, just prior to the official G8 and G20 conferences in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto.
The news release rejecting violence is actually an attempt to cut through extreme polarization in Canadian debate over the G8/G20 summit in Toronto, Hamilton told The Catholic Register.
“We want to push the conversation and the dialogue at high levels,” she said.
Faith communities with churches and development agencies on the ground in poor countries have the opportunity to make the G8 and G20 meetings about serious issues rather than showy protests or meaningless sloganeering for and against the summit, said Hamilton.
The religious leaders discussions will focus on the Millennium Development Goals for cutting world poverty and halting climate change. A final communique from the faith leaders will be sent to the G8 and G20 political leaders.
Canadian Council of Churches rejects violence as protest
By Catholic Register Staff
The faith leaders meeting to discuss the G8 and G20 agendas are absolutely not going to bomb any banks and have rejected violent protest, said the Canadian Council of Churches in a news release.On May 18 activists bombed a Royal Bank of Canada branch in Ottawa causing $500,000 damage. A group calling itself FFFC-Ottawa claimed responsibility.
“In light of the recent acts of violence in Ottawa and Toronto by those protesting the upcoming visit of the G8/G20 to Canada, the Canadian Council of Churches, a member of the 2010 InterFaith Partnership, reiterates its belief in the importance of dialogue and conversation and rejects violence as a medium of protest,” said the release sign by CCC general secretary and 2010 InterFaith Partnership chair Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton.
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