SITTING on a divan inside a Beduin tent, the Prince of Wales called for greater respect between religions yesterday and gave warning that too much literal interpretation of religious tenets could lead to fundamentalist extremism.

His plea for understanding and tolerance was familiar, an echo of his recent calls to senior Muslims in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The setting was not. The tent, architectdesigned, waterproof and woven from the finest goat hair in Saudi Arabia, was tucked among skyscrapers on a bombsite at the back of St Ethelburga’s, the oldest medieval church in London, which was destroyed in 1993 by the IRA Bishopsgate bomb and rebuilt as a centre for reconciliation and peace. It must be the only Arab tent pitched in the City.

Flanked yesterday by the Bishop of London, the Chief Rabbi and leaders of seven other world faiths, Prince Charles inaugurated the exotic new centre for interfaith dialogue — an intimate, 16-sided structure designed by Professor Keith Critchlow to represent sacred geometric and astrological rather than religious symbols. It is carpeted with rugs woven in conflict areas and build by volunteers and craftsmen partly trained in the Prince’s workshops.

It will be used by people of all religions, or none, for meditatation, worship, storytelling and discussion of religious conflicts, social issues, spiritual authority, women in faith, suffering and other issues.

This was Prince Charles’s second visit to the centre, which he opened officially in 2002. Yesterday he also unveiled a plaque to the Rev John Rodwell, the Rector of St Ethelburga’s from 1843 to 1900 and an orientalist who published the first reliable translation of the Koran in English.

Representatives in Britain of the Baha’is, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Jews recited prayers, read passages extolling tolerance and ceremonially laid copies of their scriptures on a table at the centre of the tent.

President Clinton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the U2 singer Bono and the President of the World Jewish Congress sent messages saluting the centre’s use of religion to underpin dialogue and replace conflict with understanding. Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, and who has been the driving force behind the rebuilding of St Ethelburga’s, noted that the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam began in desert tents.

Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, spoke of the significance of the tabernacle — a form of tent — in the Old Testament.

This tent, paid for by an anonymous benefactor and with windows inscribed with motifs and messages in Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic, Japanese, Hebrew, English and Inuit, is a far cry from the desert, however: it will be heated in winter, is able to withstand the London rain and will be pitched permanently in one of the world’s most densely populated cities.

Prince Charles told the faith leaders: “We are all trying to explain the nature of mystery and, in a sense, it is almost impossible to explain. If only we could understand each other’s gropings to understand the mystery, not try to overdo the way in which we decide that we know everything, we might, perhaps, reduce the level of conflict and violence and misunderstanding.”

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