Cape Town’s Interfaith leaders pray for peace
The City of Cape Town held its annual Interfaith Dialogue with religious leaders representing all the major faiths at the Cape Town Civic Centre on Tuesday.
In light of major conflicts raging in the world – in Mali, in Sudan, in Ukraine and particularly in the Middle East – interfaith leaders committed their voices to the following joint statement:
“We reaffirm that Cape Town is a city with a proud commitment to diversity, inclusion and tolerance, where all residents, of every faith, have the constitutional right to worship freely, to pray as they choose, and to gather peacefully without feeling threatened.
We reaffirm the precious value of each human life, regardless of faith or background, and the special human duty we all share to protect children in particular. There is no cause or belief system that could ever justify the harming of innocent children.
In upholding the constitutionality inscribed principle of free speech, we celebrate the diversity in being and belief which shapes discourse that is compassionate and welcoming of difference.
We acknowledge that, as Capetonians, we hold different views and differences of opinion and that this can place us in discomfort.
We recognise that we need to embrace this discomfort as an invitation to self-reflection and engagement with communities that differ from our own.
We call on Capetonians of all faiths to demonstrate the very best of our faith traditions and the best values of our city community and to lean into discomfort as a practice toward tolerance of difference, care for one another, celebration of diversity, and the rejection of those who seek to peddle hate.
ALSO READ: Inside King Charles’ 75th birthday celebrations
We pray for peace in our world and between faiths, and for an immediate end to violence in the Middle East.
We pray especially for the peacemakers, for their bravery and wisdom, that they may reach across divides, to bring even centuries-old conflicts to a peaceful and just end.”