In the age of globalized human community and shrinking world, interfaith dialogue and action is no longer just commendable endeavor but a historical necessity. Dialogue is not mere communication of words, but a new way of understanding, thinking and reflecting on the religious belief of others and their meaning. The faith community now have to move further the agenda from inter-religious tolerance to understanding, acceptance, respect, celebration and action.  Developing a new initiatives and agenda for cooperation are essential in our age of history.

Issues relating interfaith, the dialogue among civilizations, ethnicity and cultural issues will complete in a world where food and energy crisis, ecological insecurity and global absolute poverty will add pressure to the need for development and change. From my personal engagement in the interfaith dialogue and action since 1976 initiated by CCA-URM in Colombo; and AFSC-SEAQIAR in Bali; and Friends Initiative in Hong Kong in 1977; ACFOD program in 7 countries in 1978; National Bishop Conference of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and Recife in 1979 etc, that by sharing peace culture, forgiveness, reconciliation and healing capacity among faith communities some are helped to move forward in their lives towards the creation of a more peaceful, just and humane society.

Dialogue and action should be a platform which enables the interfaith community to find ways to work together for the good of the respective religions and their communities, even for the nations, for humanity, and the universe as a whole. The way we conduct and develop  the dialogue should stimulate a sense of mutual concern and a spirit of togetherness, a sensitiveness to the need of fellow human being and all creatures (rahmatan lil ‘alamien).

The voice of misery across the globe are signs of the world’s leaders and faith community’s  failure to address problems and provide alternative solutions to the plight of humanity and to the continuing destruction of the environment. The faith community have a responsibility to the world, to fellow human beings, to fellow creatures to make our earthly common residence a decent, dignified and peaceful one (Darussalam/abode of  peace).

To each age of history human kind, and faith community, have to give answer to life’s mysteries and challenges; yet they can never consider their answer as absolute and final. They must go beyond boundary of their possibilities in order to find them selves. This is their openness to the future which characterizes their innermost existence  on the threshold  between the vanishing to day and the newly appearing future. Human kind are creature of hope, peace and justice. And there for we have to develop more deeper, sincerer interfaith dialogue and action for human fulfillment, peace, justice and integrity (Mukhlishina lahuddin, hunafaa).