Catholics play a key role at Parliament of Religions in Toronto

GANLEY: Margaret Atwood calls on people of all faiths to work together for the planet

Opinion Nov 22, 2018 by ROSEMARY GANLEY SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

St. Basil's Catholic Church is one of Toronto’s oldest churches. The city recently hosted the Parliament of Religions. - Rick Madonik/Toronto Star file photo

Readers have been asking for some more detail about that great gathering in Toronto last week, the Parliament of the World Religions.

Let me describe three.

In one airy hall, there was a beautiful installation: hundreds of colourful, fluttering ribbons tied to rows and rows of string. It was the Climate Ribbon Project, and everyone stopped to participate. On a nearby table, were markers and foot-long ribbons, each about three inches wide. We were asked to answer the question: "What do you love and hope to never lose in climate chaos?" and write it on a ribbon.

The answer came readily to me: "The well-being of my grandchildren." I wrote, and silently attached it. Then we were invited to write the same hope on a second ribbon and tie it to our wrists for the duration of the conference, and beyond, if we like.

It could be done anywhere by any group. Marian, who was standing nearby, said to me, "The tying of names and hopes to a living tree is an ancient ritual that has been practiced across diverse human cultures for thousands of years."

I also promised to "cover" Catholic presence at the Parliament.

The choirs of the internationally renowned St. Michael's Choir School on Bond Street offered a free performance of Gabriel Faure's Requiem Mass in D Minor with orchestral accompaniment. Also on this program was De Profundis by Arvo Part, Psalm 130, Out of the Depths, I Cry to You, O Lord.

There were influential individual Catholics, usually not identified, but some in monastic garb. The important writer Mathew Fox, a former Dominican priest who years ago criticized the idea of original sin and wrote Original Blessing, for which he was tossed from the Church, celebrated a "cosmic mass."

Jesuit Robert Allore from Vancouver gave a session on the 2016 letter of Pope Francis on the environment, Laudato Si. That letter was widely praised at the assembly.

I chatted with Fr. Thomas Ryan, a Paulist priest from New York who has visited Canada several times. He told me he was "relieved "to be back. He is director for interfaith relations for his community and a well-known yoga instructor who has written 11 books on the subject of bodily spirituality. I ordered one for my son, the coach, called Wellness, Spirituality and Sports.

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Then I went to a session sponsored by the Archdiocese of Toronto entitled Catholic Women on the Front Lines. Three panelists, two of whom teach in seminaries, defended the official church bio-ethical principle. I had to utter a respectful word of dissent. The teaching is that life is sacred from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death (declared in 1869).

This rather limits one's bio-ethical thinking. Modern Canada has legislation about both ends of this spectrum, with which I agree, and which challenge this idea.

The Margaret Atwood session drew one thousand people into a big hall for a lively interview with the great writer, now age 79.

Ever sardonic, Atwood started by saying her friends were amazed she had accepted to be at a gathering of religions. "You are a skeptic," they reminded her.

But to me, her work shows a holy concern: women (The Handmaid's Tale) and the earth (The Year of the Flood).

Ever a scientist, she spoke of "ooho," a container for water which can itself be eaten. Even though she has written powerfully about dystopian societies, Atwood now writes a blog of hope. "We are moving to a culture of renewables and a culture of stewardship. Of course, not without problems.

"Religion is misused in service of totalitarianism and fundamentalism," she said, "yet there is a new realization that unless people of faith get involved in mending the planet, it's not going to happen. Differences among denominations, even great religions, seem irrelevant with what we face now."

It was time for some circle dancing with the wiccans, to awaken the right side of my brain.

Rosemary Ganley is a writer, teacher and activist. Reach her at rganley2016@gmail.com

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