by Stuart Brown

Stuart Brown is the Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. He has worked in interfaith relations for many years in both Africa and Canada and is the author of The Nearest in Affection.

Ce document est aussi disponible en français : La foi et la responsabilité.

Even as we continue to insist that we are weaning ourselves from the notion of a defining theme for each number of our magazine, we have noticed that the articles that we have gathered here for your pleasure and instruction can easily be grouped within a category that joins faith with responsibility. This seems especially appropriate in this fine season of new growth.

Indeed, this is a theme that we can find in virtually every religious discussion, from individuals across the dogmas of each denomination and each religion right up to our consideration of any interaction among Churches or among believers in any faith groups. We can say all we want about our declarations, but these will remain without effect and even harmful if they are not presented in a context of action, of "response" to their moral implications, which invite us, together with those who observe us, to explain the consequences, both intellectual and practical, of our words.

To start with the immediate future, we have two articles telling us about two very challenging meetings planned for the coming summer. First, there will be the Nidus Festival (nidus being the Latin word for nest) for young adults from various Churches who want to celebrate their faith and draw from the rich diversity of expression given to faith and Christian arts in the Canadian context. This meeting is to take place in southern Ontario at the beginning of August. A week later, in Toronto, Christians from across Canada will gather for a preparatory meeting just before the XVI World AIDS Congress. Two students with the Canadian Council of Churches, Rob Shearer and Nelson Rosales, have sketched the main questions and programs for us, with the help of Peter Noteboom, the CCC's Associate Secretary for Peace and Justice.

Our main course is a long and very deep presentation of the development of individual and collective consciousness by Professor Donald Guertin, which will stimulate serious reflection on the relationship between our beliefs and the schools which bear the primary responsibility for our social behaviour. Next, Pierre Pagé and Renée Legris outline the responsibility of the media with their perceptive analysis of the presentation of various events and issues of religious interest in the Quebec media. And to season our plate with a hint, both tasty and essential, of the diversity of our context, Professor Rukmani dispenses her Hindu perception of social responsibility.

Finally, for dessert, our friend and colleague, Brother Gilles Bourdeau, offers an enriched review of Richard Bergeron's book on dialogical theology and multifaith spirituality, two important elements in yet another aspect of responsibility.

I wish you happy reading, and I invite you to share your own thoughts, in the form of articles for our next issues.