The Jews and the Catholics and the Muslims and the Buddhists and the Evangelicals and the Episcopalians and the....

Today was an incredible day for religious life in El Salvador. This morning from 10am until Noon, the third meeting for the religious leaders of the country took place at the Jewish synagogue. This effort, spearheaded by a group of clergy and lay leadership, promotes communication and national peace despite what Episcopalian Bishop Martin Barahona stated as our "less than peaceful worldly circumstances." These meetings will take place once a month, rotating from church to synagogue to mosque to meeting hall.

A few blocks from the much-disputed Plaza Arafat, the Jews and the Muslims sat down at the same table and discussed their future relationship within the country. Evangelicals and Catholics shook hands and gracefully allowed Bishop Barahona to lead the precedings. The Buddhists and the Lutherans sat next to each other while congregation members from every faith filled in the empty spaces.

The Muslim sheik gave an opening benediction and hoped that "some day we might be able to live as our brothers and sisters once lived in Spain from 711 until 1492." Not even the Montsenior lifted his head from prayer.

The press was in full attendance and I sat back and watched the cameras go wild. Maybe it was the shock of seeing everyone at the same table, but I had a hard time taking notes and snapping a few pictures. The harmony was almost unreal and most definitely surreal. I guess only time will tell if meeting face to face alleviates the centuries of tension groups feel when the cameras and laudatory speeches disappear.