The responsibility of religions with regard to humanity

On the initiative of the Foundation Charles Léopold Mayer for the Progress of Humankind (FPH), in co-operation with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the World Council of the Religions for Peace (WCRP), an interreligious consultation took place in Geneva from the 4 to September 8, 1999, in the Center of the Cenacle.
The goal of this consultation was to allow about thirty people of various religious and philosophical traditions (moslems, catholics, protestants, orthodox, hindouists, jews, buddhists, taoists, confucianists, bahaï) constituting a balanced representation, to dialogue thoroughly on the responsibilities of religions with regard to humanity.
In an increasingly interdependent world, humanity and societies which make it up have to live together and to manage planet together. How to organize this management, on which principles should it be founded? The religions have a considerable influence within the societies, that confers a responsibility to them regarding the world challenges for tomorrow. Can they and do they want to recognize and assume this responsibility? Can they and do they want to collaborate and be committed together?
During this consultation, each participant spoke in his proper name in a spirit about shared fraternal dialogue. The meeting made it possible at the same time to better understand each other and to outline prospects for concrete labour between various philosophical and religious traditions. The richness of the discussions and the diversity of the remarks showed how much it was difficult to agree on a single text, so much the concerns were different from one religion to another, but that did not prevent a process of joint work.
Catherine de Bretagne took part to the whole meeting and accepted to voluntarily prepare the report of this consultation.