Wales Interfaith Conference – Faith and Citizenship
Reflection after Well Done
WHO: The Onyx Link Foundation
WHAT: Conference Success and Newport Declaration on ‘Faith and Citizenship’
WHEN: 1st May 2019
WHERE: Coldra Court Hotel – By Celtic Manor Resort - Newport
The Onyx Link Foundation (OLF) announces with pleasure the great success of its second annual interfaith conference on “Faith and Citizenship” that took place in Newport, South Wales on the 1st of May 2019.
The conference was addressed by the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip Jane Hutt AM who praised and supported the work of the Onyx on interfaith relations and asserted the commitment of the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) to work with faith communities and the Wales Interfaith Forum that was established by WAG in 2001.
The conference was also greeted by the guests of honour Deputy Lord Mayor of Newport Phil Hourahine and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Gwent Andrew Tuggey CBE.
Dr Abdalla Mohamed OBE, chair of the OLF presented the vision of his foundation on moral-based approaches for engagement of the government with citizens on matters of freedom & liberty, securing peace & justice, and engaging people in the democratic process.
Faith representatives addressed the conference on their perspectives of citizenship and the notion of a ‘good citizen’ on grounds of faith principles of morality. The following are participants to the theme of the conference:
Representative of the Church in Wales, Reverend Canon Dr Mark Dimond; Representative of Sikhism, Mr Hardeep Singh, Deputy-Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations; Cllr Neeta Baicher, a Sikh active in social wellbeing and serve as a Justice of Peace, Vice Chair of Newport Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE); Representative of the Bahá’i faith, Mr Vivian Bartlett, a Bahá'i representative on the Interfaith Council for Wales; Representative of Hinduism, Dr Sibani Roy, Hindu Chaplain at Bangor University and Berwyn Prison, Founder/Chair of Networking for World’s Awareness of Multicultural Integration; Representative of Wicca, Jemma-Jane Thompson, High Priestess of two Covens - The Mirror of Hathor in South Wales, and the Coven of the Rising Star in Glastonbury; Rabbi Ben Abrahamson, Jewish representative and guest speaker, director of the Al Sadiqin Institute, an association of Muslim and Rabbinic scholars dedicated to researching the common heritage of Islam and Judaism; Representative of Islam, Sheikh Mohamed Toulba, Muslim scholar, Imam and religious teacher & advisor at both South Wales Islamic Centre in Cardiff, and Brighton Mosque & Muslim Community Centre.
These faith representatives have agreed and signed the following declaration:
“We, the faith leaders and communities meeting at the ‘Wales Interfaith Conference’ in Newport, 1st May 2019, on Faith & Citizenship: From our Shared Values to our Shared Citizenship, agree on the following:
World religions and beliefs have a deep concern for maintaining the wellbeing of both the family and society upon their time-honoured moral values.
Hence, citizenship, from a faith perspective, may be modelled with the family system. The faith-based values underpinning family bonds, family order, and commitment to family responsibility, may be extended to strengthening community relations, maintaining social order, and observing civic responsibility.
A ‘good follower of one’s faith’, i.e. one who adheres to the values that underpin the wellbeing of family and society, is indeed a ‘good citizen’. Such a person will respect the rights of fellow humans, treat the other as one’s self, maintain peaceful coexistence with all people, observe the civic responsibility, and advance the ‘common good’.
Our agreement on the above will ensure our civic responsibility and pave the way for our wilful collaboration in the ‘common good’ including community engagement, participation in the democratic process, and caring for the environment”.
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