Following an inter-religious seminar in the IofC centre at Caux, Switzerland, in July 2003, seven from the Inter-religious Council of the Netherlands visited Sweden in April 2004. Representing Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Bahai, the group was invited by two Swedes, Elisabeth Hamrin of St Lars parish, Linköping, and Harry Ferngren of Spånga parish, Stockholm, and was welcomed by the Church of Sweden (Lutheran) councils of both parishes.
In Spånga the group visited a local school, the voluntary association 'Livstycket' where immigrant women print and produce cloth, and the Children of Abraham Foundation for Religious Education of Christian, Jewish and Muslim children in Rinkeby library.
In Stockholm the group visited the Cathedral, the German church, and the Forum for Living History which deals with the issue of genocide, as well as the central Mosque which is a former electricity station built in Moorish style by the famous Swedish architect Ferdinand Boberg.
The Dutch guests took part in the Sunday service at the 800-year-old Spånga parish church. Later, at a public meeting entitled 'Can religions be partners in peace-building?”, representatives from the Jewish congregation and the Catholic Church also took part. The introduction to the meeting was given by professor Karl Birnbaum, former head of the Foreign Policy Institute of Stockholm.
The group spent a whole day in the historic city of Linköping . They were invited to participate in a mass led by the Lutheran bishop Martin Lind in the mediaeval Cathedral. Afterwards the bishop met the Dutch group as well as participants from the Spånga parish council at a lunch with Edgar Almén, chair of S:t Lars parish council and others. They were also received at the mosque of the Islamic Society of Linköping.
In the afternoon a public meeting was arranged with the theme “Inter-religious dialogue today and for the future” which started with a piece of “raga music” by a famous Indian/American sitar player Roop Verma.
At the meeting the Dutch delegation spoke about their experiences in overcoming prejudices and aiming to create teamwork for change in society. Representatives for an inter-religious network in Linköping and a neighbouring city Norrköping gave practical examples on promising activities in their area, such as working with exhibitions and in schools.
The Dutch group, led by Hennie de Pous-de Jonge, with its humorous and nonconformist appearance made a great impression on the Swedes and many friendships were formed. As the Swedish organizers wrote afterwards, “We found we had many problems in common concerning integration of refugees and immigrants in our societies. But also that it is important to work for inter-religious understanding both locally and nationally in order to contribute to world peace.”
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