Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the current Bishop of Rochester, gave a talk last week in the Michaelhouse, on how his experience has shown him that religious groups and communities can live in peace together, providing that there is cooperation and mutual respect.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the current Bishop of Rochester, gave a talk last week in the Michaelhouse, on how his experience has shown him that religious groups and communities can live in peace together, providing that there is cooperation and mutual respect.
"Religion in a Plural Community" was an important and timely talk on the challenges and problems faced by religions which have to co-exist in modern communities.
Bishop Nazir-Ali is an alumnus of Ridley Hall (1970) and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (1976) where he is now an Honorary Fellow.
He was born in Karachi, Pakistan to Christian Punjabi parents but with a Muslim family background. His father had converted from Islam.
He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1976 and worked in Karachi and Lahore, and became the first Bishop of Raiwind in West Punjab (1984-86), at the time, the youngest bishop in the Anglican Communion.
When his life was endangered in Pakistan, Robert Runcie, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, arranged for his refuge in England where he was an assistant to the Archbishop at Lambeth and assisted with the planning of the 1988 Lambeth Conference.
He was General Secretary of the Church Mission Society 1989-1994 and concurrently Assistant Bishop of Southwark. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester in 1994, and in 1999 entered the House of Lords as one of the "Lords Spiritual" by virtue of his seniority in episcopal office.
His talk to a packed audience also included a discussion of the importance of women in religious communities.
The talk concluded with a brief question and answer session with the Bishop.
The talk was organised by Dr Amineh Hoti and Reverend Dr Andreas Loewe of the Society for Dialogue and Action. The Bishop had paid tribute to the Society for Dialogue and Action's work with women from the different Abrahamic faiths in 2006 through a series of classes.
In a closing statement Dr Hoti quoted the Quran on the significance of the key biblical and Quranic figures, such as Noah, Moses, Abraham and Jesus being one Umma or one community.
In the light of current global events, the Society for Dialogue and Action, based ayt Lucy Cavendish College, aims to promote dialogue and understanding among members of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other communities.
Especially encouraging the participation of women and young people, the Society aims to promote positive change through peaceful co-existence within our multicultural communities.
The Society is dedicated to dialogue and practical action that will bring about peace and progress. The Society does so especially through work in dialogue research and teaching. See the website at the link above right for more information.
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