The Toledo Dialogues
In April 2022 a group of Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars and students will assemble at the Discalced Carmelite Priory of Toledo which will be the base for a three-day inter-religious dialogue. The Priory is built into the city walls of the great city and commands wide views over the surrounding plain. Here they will reflect, dialogue and pray together as well as visiting sites associated with the three cultures, these will include the mosques, synagogues and churches of the city. By bringing students and experts to the unique atmosphere of Toledo we hope that the medieval spirit of dialogue will be renewed amongst us.
Here are some of the talks’s titles:
-Spiritual Dialogue in the footsteps of Pope Francis
-Wisdom of the Heart: Julienne McLean Towards Sacred Union
-Contemporary Dialogue Experiences
-St Teresa of Avila and some Carmelite Perspectives
-The Blessed Virgin and the Mother of the Book: The Marian Archetype in Islam and Christianity
The following outcomes are anticipated from the dialogue:
- To foster renewed inter-religious dialogue and be the basis of ongoing encounters
- To develop our understanding of Spanish medieval co-existence of the religions and how it may be relevant to the 21st Century situation
- Reflect on the current crisis of radicalisation and how this can be counteracted in the future
We shall be posting the outcomes of this dialogue on this post over the coming months.
We would like to thank St Mary’s University, in Twickenham London, for their help in organising this dialogue.
This venture has been made possible by the kindness of an anonymous donation
Speakers
Sister Jo Robson OCD
St Teresa of Avila and some Carmelite Perspectives
“Thus he told me and wanted me to see clearly that he is always present in conversations like these and how much he is pleased when persons so delight in speaking of him.”
Canon Anthony Ball
Contemporary Dialogue Experiences
Canon of Westminster Abbey and assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Egypt, with responsibilities across the new Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria.
Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi
The Blessed Virgin and the Mother of the Book: The Marian Archetype in Islam and Christianity
Theotokos: Mother of God
Umm Abiha: Mother of her father
Umm al-Kitab: Mother of Revelation
All three are symbolic expressions, at different ontological levels, of one supra-cosmic archetype: the maternal ‘Womb’ which contains the seeds of both Creation and Revelation. One of the clearest expressions of this maternal archetype is what is called in the Hindu scriptures, Hiranyagarbha, ‘golden [hiranya] womb [garbha]’. According to one of the Puranas (Manu Smriti), Brahma [the ‘Creator’, masculine form, one of the Trimurti, not neuter] is said to be born from a golden egg.
“The Divine Mâyâ—Femininity in divinis—is not only that which projects and creates; it is also that which attracts and liberates. The Blessed Virgin as Sedes Sapientiae personifies this merciful Wisdom which descends towards us and which we too, whether we know it or not, bear in our very essence; and it is precisely by virtue of this potentiality or virtuality that Wisdom comes down upon us. The immanent seat of Wisdom is the heart of man.”
[Frithjof Schuon, In the Face of the Absolute, p. 144.]
