Chicago Hosts a Parliament of the World’s Religions

On 11 September 1893, the World's Parliament of Religions opened in Chicago at the World's Congress Auxiliary Building, now home to The Art Institute of Chicago. The gathering was scheduled in conjunction with the World's Columbian Exposition, an international fair that drew visitors from across the globe. To capitalize on the massive public attendance, organizers arranged numerous specialized congresses, of which the Parliament of Religions became the largest. Developed as an initiative by Charles Carroll Bonney, a Swedenborgian layman and president of the World's Congress Auxiliary, alongside Unitarian minister Jenkin Lloyd Jones, the event was overseen by the clergyman John Henry Barrows, who had been appointed by Bonney as the initial chairman of the General Committee.

Running from 11 through 27 September, the parliament brought together delegates representing a diverse spectrum of traditions and emerging religious movements, and it is widely regarded as the first formal gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western religious traditions. The platform was designed to foster direct dialogue among different faiths on an unprecedented scale. Eastern traditions found strong voices at the sessions. The Jain jurist and scholar Virchand Gandhi addressed the crowd regarding Jain doctrines, conduct, and cosmology, receiving praise in contemporary newspaper reports such as the Buffalo Courier for the clarity and attentiveness his presentations generated among attendees. Representatives from Buddhist movements also attended, including Soyen Shaku of Zen and Anagarika Dharmapala, who spoke on behalf of Theravada Buddhism, which was then termed Southern Buddhism.