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Prince Charles calls for inter-religious cooperation
The visiting Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, has urged for closer ties between Great Britain and Indonesia, especially Yogyakarta, and has called for inter-religious dialogues as a means to address various global issues
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The visiting Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, has urged for closer ties between Great Britain and Indonesia, especially Yogyakarta, and has called for inter-religious dialogues as a means to address various global issues.
He discussed the matter during a meeting with Yogyakarta Governor, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and members of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) of the Gadjah Mada University (UGM).
The meeting was held in the Gedung Jene Hall of Yogyakarta's Sultanate Palace on Tuesday.
Yogyakarta was included in the prince's itinerary as it is a center of culture and, with UGM, Islamic studies.
Prince Charles was greeted with the royal gamelan suite, Rajang Manggolo Pelog Limo, which is specially performed to greet guests of honor.
At his special request, the palace also presented the prince with the Golek Menak Putri Rengganis Widaninggar royal dance, which was created by the late Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX on the occasion of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales' visit to Yogyakarta in 1989.
"We discussed inter-religious dialogue during the meeting. Apparently we (Yogyakarta) are renowned for promoting religious tolerance", Hamengkubuwono X said.
The meeting will likely be followed up with further dialogues at Oxford University, which has conducted research with ICRS.
ICRS director Bernard Adeney said Yogyakarta was chosen because, according to Prince Charles, inter-religious ties there were better compared to other places.
Bernard said the prince claimed that many people were unaware that Islam has provided extraordinary insights in our surroundings, and that many people have learned ways to interact with the world and overcome existing problems from the religion.
"One of the things that is very interesting is that we can learn what unites, rather than what divides", said Bernard, citing the prince.
Inter-religious ties will be jointly spearheaded by the ICRS and the Oxford Center of Islamic Studies, where Prince Charles serves as patron.
"The British Embassy will contact me when they are ready to meet", said Bernard.
After the meeting with Hamengkubuwono X, Prince Charles visited the Krapyak Islamic boarding school in Bantul, Yogyakarta.
"Prince Charles also paid a visit to the Krapyak Islamic boarding school, as a show of his commitment to the promotion of inter-religious discussions", Hamengkubuwono X said.
The prince also visited the Borobudur's Buddhist Temple and held talks with a number of Muslim clerics in Magelang, Central Java.
Upon arriving in Jakarta at the Halim Perdanakusumah Airport on Saturday, Prince Charles visited the country's largest mosque, the Istiqlal Mosque, and held a discussion with leading Muslim leaders, including Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin and noted scholars Azyumardi Azra and Tarmizi Taher.
In addition to inter-religious issues, Prince Charles showed his interest in nature by visiting a forest restoration project at the Harapan rainforest in Jambi on Sunday.
