The Geneva spiritual appeal arose out of a suggestion that an interfaith service in St Pierre Cathedral would be an appropriate way to celebrate United Nations Day (October 24) in 1999. The international community is increasingly aware that all humanitarian work has a spiritual basis. Geneva has become the humanitarian capital of the world, with the presence of the headquarters of many organizations that work in this field. These include official bodies such as the UN itself, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, the UN commission on human rights, the office of the UN high commissioner for refugees, independent bodies such as the International Red Cross, and, of course, church organizations like WARC and the World Council of Churches.

While Geneva is thus a centre for humanitarian effort, interfaith contacts are also well established. Interfaith celebrations have been held in St Pierre Cathedral on many occasions, such as the visits of the Dalai Lama and of Kofi Annan, both of whom spoke at morning worship, and on a very emotional occasion when a service was held for the people killed when Swissair flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic off Canada.

These occasions are in no way syncretistic, but are based on the simple belief that if God is omniscient, then all prayers will be heard. Another impetus for this ability to organize worship together is the awareness that the fault lines are no longer between traditions but within each tradition, dividing those who are prepared to admit the sincerity of the other from those (integrists, fundamentalists) who believe that they alone "possess" the truth.

The group that met to organize the October 24 service became aware of the need for a common statement by people from different faith traditions that there are horrors that people of any religion can no longer tolerate. There are at least 56 conflicts in the world today that have a religious element - all too often exploited by evil politicians who do not see the consequences of their actions - be it in Ireland, Indonesia or India. A text was written. It went through no less than 16 revisions, but the final text was supported enthusiastically by all. The writers came from Protestant, Roman Catholic, Old Catholic and Orthodox traditions as well as the Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish communities.

On UN Day 1999, a packed cathedral saw the people sign the appeal. They were led by Mary Robinson, UN high commissioner for human rights, Cornelio Sommaruga, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Sadako Ogata, UN high commissioner for refugees, who had all agreed to sign the document in advance, and who were joined by UN officials, ambassadors (including Walter Gyger, the Swiss ambassador to international organizations, who was one of those who had the original idea for the service), representatives of other religions (Hindus, Ba'hais) and ordinary Genevans of all kinds.

Since then, the text has been signed by many thousands of people in Geneva and beyond. It is available in English and French on the world wide web and can be signed online there. It has been sent to many political leaders and the managers of the top 100 international companies. It is being used in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia and many other places. It has been supported by Abbé Pierre, the Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan and many other influential people. People can keep it for themselves or can send it to political or economic leaders of their choice. For instance, Dr Guardiri (a Muslim) and I presented a copy to President Wahid of Indonesia to encourage him in his efforts to combat "religious violence".

In the post cold war world, ethnic conflicts are legion and religion is often involved since it forms part of group identity. The ravages of ethnicity and nationalism with a "religious" tinge are simply the biggest political problem of our time. There are many causes, but many groups cannot cope with a plural world and religious fundamentalism is, alas, a part of this.

The Geneva spiritual appeal is an effort to bring together people of goodwill of all traditions to combat this evil.

William A McComish, Dean of St Pierre Cathedral, Geneva