“The one religion of God ‘eternal in the past, eternal in the future’* unfolded before our eyes,” said Ilona Weinstein, one of the nearly 500 audience members who attended the dynamic interfaith gathering recently held at the Chapelle des Franciscains in Montreal.
Organized through the secular NGO Initiatives of Change, the Montreal Peace Center, the World Conference of Religions for Peace, and the Franciscan family of Quebec, this event was the latest in a series of public gatherings put on in Montreal under the name “Veillées spirituelles pour la paix” (Spiritual Gatherings for Peace). At this 27 October event, sacred prayers and practices from eight different spiritual traditions were featured in the program including: First Nations, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Sikh, and Bahá’í.
The seating at the Franciscan chapel was completely filled for the event and over the course of the evening overflowed with latecomers who stood at the back to watch. But for all those present, a palpable spirit of peace and unity pervaded the diverse display of sights and sounds which unfolded.
A First Nations ceremony with sweet grass, Hindu prayers, Buddhist chants, Jewish readings, Christian hymns, Islamic Sufi dancing, Sikh music, each in turn, featured participants in colorful traditional dress. The final presentation, by the Bahá’ís, demonstrated the reality of unity in diversity in a different way, as the Bahá’í presenters themselves came from many different races and further recited and sung verse from their holy writings using many different languages.
In the words of one participant, “Even though on the surface [religious groups] all seem very different, when we are able to come together and know each other on a spiritual level, we realize we are all united.”