Great American Events/Universalists
The World Parliament of Religions, 1893
The World Parliament of Religions, held in conjuncture with the 1983 WorldÕs Fair in Chicago, was the first formal gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. Today, it is recognized as the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide. The 1863 Parliament ran from September 11 to September 27 and was the largest and most spectacular event among many other parliaments in the WorldÕs Fair. The WorldÕs Fair, or Columbian Exposition, was a large trade fair held to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
The
organizing process of the Parliament began after Charles Carroll
Bonney, a
layman in the Swedenborgian church and the president of the World's
Congress
Auxiliary, appointed John Henry Barrows to administer the General
Committee on
the Congress of Religion, which eventually was called the World's
Parliament of
Religions. Under Barrows' leadership, the Parliament was expected to be
Òthe
most important, commanding, and influential, as surely it will be the
most
phenomenal fact of the Columbian Exposition.Ó
In
June 1891, more than three thousand copies of the Preliminary Address
was sent
out to the world, informing the plan of the 1893 Parliament and
inviting
religious leaders from all over the world to attend to it. Among those
invited
was Augusta Jane Chapin, an ordained Universalist minister. Chapin
served as
chairwoman of the WomenÕs Committee and was the only woman to preside
over a
session of the Parliament. She addressed both the opening and closing
sessions.
The
1893 Parliament must be recognized as a great achievement within the
modern
civilization in general and the Western American culture in particular.
As
Marcus Braybrooke said, Òit remains a remarkable pioneer event, and no
subsequent inter-faith gathering has come near to it in size or
complexity.Ó
The glory of the Parliament was most obvious in the opening ceremony,
on
September 11, 1893. More than four thousand people had gathered in the
Hall of
Columbus, when at ten o'clock a dozen of representatives from different
faiths
marched into the hall hand in hand. At the same time, the Columbian
Liberty
bell in the Court of Honor tolled ten times, honoring the ten great
world
religionsÑConfucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The inaugural
ceremony began
with Òan act of common worship to Almighty God,Ó in which Isaac Watts'
paraphrase of the hundredth Psalm was sung:
Praise
God, from whom all blessing flow;
Praise
him,
all
creatures here below;
Praise
him
above,
ye heavenly host;
Praise
Father,
Son
and Holy Ghost.
Afterwards,
Cardinal Gibbons led the crowd in the Lord's Prayer, which
interestingly became
the Òuniversal prayerÓÑto use Barrows' wordsÑthat marked the
beginning of each day during the seventeen days of the Parliament.
Statistically
speaking, the Parliament was dominated by English-speaking Christian
representatives, who delivered 152 of 194 papers. The opportunity for
the
leaders from other religious traditions was limited but significant; 12
speakers represented Buddhism, 11 Judaism, 8 Hinduism, 2 Islam, 2
Parsis
religion, 2 Shintoism, 2 Confucianism, 1 Taoism, and 1 Jainism.
Swami
Vivekananda, a Hindu monk, gave three eloquent speeches that introduced
the
American public to Hinduism and undoubtedly drew the most attention.
When
Vivekananda addressed the audience as Òsisters and brothers of
America,Ó the
7,000-person audience greeted Vivekananda with a three minute standing
ovation.
Vivekananda celebrated toleration and condemned fanaticism and its
ills: ÒI am
proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance
and
universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but
we
accept all religions as true.Ó
Swami
Vivekananda
Click here to learn more about the Chicago's World Fair (Columbian Exposition)
Harvard Square Library 2011