Leaders of the largest faith groups in the UK have joined forces to highlight the importance of diversity in the Commonwealth.
In what they have described as “a display of religious unity”, 10 faith groups have sent messages of support for the Commonwealth Big Lunches, an initiative launched by Prime Minister Theresa May aiming to bring people together from across the Commonwealth.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Westminster and Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth are among the high-profile religious leaders supporting the initiative.
Their backing follows support from the Duke and Duchess and Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall, who all attended preparations for the lunches last month.
In a letter to all Diocesan Bishops, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “As part of the Anglican Communion, the body of Christ, we are connected with our brothers and sisters across the Commonwealth.
“The Commonwealth Big Lunch is a wonderful opportunity for parishes in your diocese to celebrate the Commonwealth diaspora in their local community, as the Big Lunch can be teamed with a street party, discussion, sports, debate, or other event to bring the community together.“
The communal events have been taking place since Commonwealth Day on March 12 and are expected to continue until April 22.
They coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is set to take place this week, where leaders from across the Commonwealth will gather in London and Windsor to work on creating a more prosperous, secure, sustainable and fair future.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, said: “I am sure that many Catholic parishes will be holding parish lunches. Special occasions like this can build enduring warmth, friendship and understanding between people.
“I hope many people will take part and I send my prayers and best wishes to all involved in organising it.”
The initiative, which builds on the Eden Project’s annual Big Lunch, aims to connect the 2.4 billion Commonwealth citizens that span across 53 countries.
Ibrahim Mogra, a representative of the Muslim community, said: “I am delighted to support the Commonwealth Big Lunches that facilitates the coming together of neighbours near and far.
“I am very proud that there are communities from every country of the Commonwealth living in the UK.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here