A Day of Remembrance, A Day of Hope

September 11 is a day of remembrance at the Parliament.
Every year, we celebrate the first gathering of Western and Eastern faith traditions took place on another September 11, 1893, at the first World’s Parliament of Religions, and the lives that were forever changed by this historic event.
Every year, we also mourn the lives lost from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and we condemn the rise of hate and violence against the perceived religious “Others” that followed in the wake of it.
9/11 is a bittersweet day in the global interfaith movement. A day that reminds us of the power of interreligious dialogue and understanding. A day attesting that people of diverse faiths and backgrounds can come together in dialogue and understanding of one another, and highlights the cost of living in a world where interfaith understanding fails to breakthrough extremist views around the world.
On this September 11, the Parliament of the World’s Religions celebrates not just the birth of a movement but the hope that interfaith action, rooted in understanding and respect for life between the world’s faiths and spiritual traditions, can foster a more peaceful, just and sustainable world.