SEARCH Journal

The Most Revd John McDowell, Archbishop of Armagh, speaking from his office on “zoom”, welcomed speakers and participants to SEARCH’s 2021 Colloquium, noting that the event was inspired by the World Council of Churches’ and Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue’s document, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity”. After thanking SEARCH for organising the event and drawing in speakers from three continents to share their thinking, he noted that the Good Samaritan parable chosen to illustrate the theme yielded many fresh insights in the area of mutual acceptance, respect and service, when used creatively in an inter-faith context. He went on to offer a warm welcome to the lead speaker of the first session “The Wounds of the World and God’s Call to Us”, Revd Dr Peniel Rajkumar of the WCC, co-author of the document, and to introduce supporting speakers Maureen Junker Kenny, Professor of Theological Ethics in TCD’s School of Religion, Duncan Morrow, Professor of Politics at the University of Ulster, and Revd Dr Patrick McGlinchey, lecturer in Missiology at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute.