Jesuit Georgetown Hosts Interfaith Conference

100 Religious Leaders from across the globe to speak on Georgetown's campus in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the historical Prayer for Peace held Assisi, Italy, in 1986, the Community of Sant'Egidio, Archdiocese of Washington, Georgetown University and The Catholic University of America, are happy and honored to invite you to the International Prayer for Peace: 'Religions and Cultures: the Courage of Dialogue,' in Washington D.C. on April 26-27, 2006.

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International Prayer for Peace Begins

The 2006 International Prayer for Peace will commence with opening ceremonies in Georgetown University's Gaston Hall on Wednesday, April 26, at 5 p.m.

The opening event will feature remarks by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington; Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia; Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio; and Karen Hughes, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Audience members also will hear personal stories from individuals who live in troubled regions of the world. And a panel of religious leaders will share thier insights during a discussion moderated by Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr., professor of public policy.

This year's Prayer for Peace marks the 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s historic interfaith gathering for peace in Assisi. This is also the first time that the annual event, the largest regularly-held interfaith gathering of religious and civic leaders in the world, will take place in the United States.

More than 100 speakers from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, representing all the major faiths, will address a variety of topics during keynote addresses and panel discussions on April 26 and 27. Panel topics include religion and terrorism, the fight against global poverty, and mass media and the portrayal of religion as a source of conflict. The conference will conclude with a dramatic peace procession, public ceremony and signing of an Appeal for Peace, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on April 27.
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Prayer for Peace Opens with Call for Dialogue

The bridge to peace is built not by ignoring religious differences, but rather by seeking to understand various faiths, said Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome.

"Our dream is that every true believer may discover his faith," and learn how to respect other's traditions, he told a Gaston Hall audience assembled for the opening ceremonies of the 2006 International Prayer for Peace on April 26.

The annual event, the largest regularly held interreligious gathering in the world, serves as a venue for leaders and followers from various faiths to come together in dialogue and prayer. For the first time in the event's 20-year history, it is being held in the United States.

"This is such an extraordinarily important occasion for all of us," said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of the Catholic archdiocese of Washington, "[to meet] in a city where we know something about peace and where we know something about the absence of peace."

In addition McCarrick and Riccardi, speakers included Karen Hughes, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs; Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia; and three individuals –- from France, the Democratic Republic of Congo and El Salvador –- who shared personal stories of how religious understanding has affected their lives.

The second half of the opening event featured religious leaders from Islam, Judaism and Catholicism who answered questions in a panel discussion moderated by Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr., professor of public policy.

"Our dialogue has never been more important," Hughes said, citing recent terrorist bombings in Egypt and violent acts done in the name of God.

Riccardi and others also cited the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism as reasons for everyone to learn about and respect various beliefs and traditions.

He mentioned a video recently released by "the world's most known terrorist," in which "[the] terrorist declared, 'Our response to dialogue is death.' "

"But our response to death is dialogue," Riccardi told the crowd.

The annual Prayer for Peace is planned by the Community of Sant'Egidio, a movement of more than 50,000 Catholic lay people throughout the world who are dedicated to interreligious dialogue, peace and justice. Georgetown is co-hosting this year's event, along with the Archdiocese of Washington and the Catholic University of America. Religious leaders representing all of the world's major religions are on hand for the conference.

Sant'Egidio began hosting the annual Prayer for Peace following Pope John Paul II's historic gathering in Assisi, Italy, in 1986, during the height of the Cold War.

"The Pope understood that religion could be the fuel the flame of conflict or the water that extinguishes the war," Riccardi said. "The community felt it had to take the spirit of Assisi seriously because it was a great source of peace."

Several speakers told the audience about their interpretation of the "spirit of Assisi," and the impact it could have on the world.

"The spirit of Assisi is building bridges," Riccardi said. “Living together in peace and respect. ... It's not just dialogue between experts, but it is showing the good of living together."

But he admits this is no easy task, given the history of religious and ethnic clashes in the Middle East, Africa and Northern Ireland. Another speaker, Busime Mudekereza, told of her experiences with war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She said poverty and displacement have caused people to turn to violent extremism. In order to combat this kind of violence, she said, leaders must first combat rampant poverty.

In the panel discussion, Dionne asked the three religious leaders to address whether they believe interreligious dialogue is really possible following the 9/11 attacks and war on terrorism.

Rabbi Shean-Yashuv Cohen, chief rabbi of Haifa and president of Ariel Institutions in Isreal, said it is vital that people start talking with one another.

"How can we ignore the fact that this was done in the name of religion?" he asked, adding that religious and political leaders must fight the established practices and self-interest.

American Muslim leader Imam Warith D. Mohammed and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland, agreed. They said religious leaders must go to the basic message of their religions, a message of love and peace.

Mohammed, whose father founded the Nation of Islam, said people should focus on "lifting up the human identity."

Martin said the violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland escalated because the two religions changed their messages from that of love to that of tribalism. They focused on their differences and stopped talking with one another, causing closed-minded hatred and violence.

When people focus on religious differences, and "fixing" other faith traditions, they tend to fear people who believe in other religions, rather than talking with them.

"We have to search for something that binds us together," Cohen said, adding that followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity all pray to the same God, base their beliefs on the same writings and place value on the same holy sites. "These are things that should bind us together."

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Religious Leaders Sign Appeal for Peace
The intersection of 36th and O streets in Georgetown became the meeting point for mutual respect Thursday evening as high-ranking leaders from the world's major faith traditions rejoined one another after taking part in separate prayer sessions.

Dressed in formal robes, traditional suits and colorful headdresses, they filled the intersection and then began their slow procession to Georgetown University's Main Campus for the closing ceremonies of the 2006 International Prayer for Peace.

Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., walked arm-in-arm with Chief Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen of Haifa. They were surrounded by Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoists, Jews and Christians of numerous denominations.

More than 850 people from various faith traditions, religious scholars and civic leaders from around the world met at Georgetown on April 26 and 27 for the annual Prayer for Peace conference. The event is planned by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a movement of more than 50,000 Catholic laypeople throughout the world who are dedicated to interreligious dialogue, peace, justice and service.

"Men and women of different religions have shown their will to not be dominated by fear," said the community's founder, Andrea Riccardi. "Dialogue chases away fear."

The closing ceremonies capped off a day of prayer sessions and panel discussions on topics such as religious pluralism and religious freedom and the role of the faithful in combating poverty, genocide, HIV/AIDS and war.

"We may not be in agreement on everything," Riccardi said, "but this meeting shows the civilization of co-existence, of living together."

Following Riccardi's remarks at the closing event, dozens of religious leaders and representatives signed a proclamation appealing for peace in the world. The Rev. Constance Wheeler, protestant chaplain at Georgetown University, read the proclamation to the audience. It included these sentiments:

"Humanity is not made better by violence and terror, but by faith and love. Fundamentalism is the childhood disease of all religions and cultures, for it imprisons people in a culture of enmity. This is why, in front of you young people, we say to those who kill, to those who sow terror and make war in God's name: 'Stop! Do not kill! With violence everyone loses! Let us talk together and God will shine on us!' Only peace is holy! Let us have and advocate serious, honest dialogue."

The "Appeal for Peace" is a regular capstone of the conferences, which became annual events following Pope John Paul II's historic interreligious gathering in Assisi, Italy, during the Cold War. Since then, the Community of Sant’Egidio has sponsored the Prayer for Peace in numerous sites worldwide, including Lisbon, Bucharest and Jerusalem. The event drew its largest crowd in 1989 in Warsaw, Poland, which was still under communist rule.

This year the community brought the Prayer for Peace to the United States for the first time in the event's 20-year history. Georgetown University co-sponsored the event, along with the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the Catholic University of America.

The conference fits in well with Georgetown's mission, said the Rev. Philip Boroughs, S.J., the university's vice president for mission and ministry.

"This responds to our commitment to interreligious dialogue and it fulfills our pastoral mission," he said in an interview. "Georgetown was the first Catholic school to have a rabbi (37 years ago) and the first to have a Muslim chaplain. The university has always been a center of interreligious dialogue and social justice."

Panel Says World Leaders Should Focus on Poverty
The Catholic archbishop of Douala, Cameroon, whose voice could put James Earl Jones to shame, spoke of what he knew.

"I come from a developing country," Cardinal Christian Tumi told an audience in Riggs Library. "To make poverty history, we have to see what that means, and what it really means is to make misery history. As Christ said, the poor you will always have, but the misery should not exist."

Tumi moderated one of more than a dozen panel discussions that took place April 27 during the 2006 International Prayer for Peace conference on Georgetown University's Main Campus. Panelists from the world's major faith traditions and charitable groups joined prominent scholars and civic leaders for discussions ranging from religious freedom to religions facing terrorism to solving the AIDS crisis.

Panelists of Catholic, Muslim, Protestant and Jewish faiths joined Tumi to explore the topic, "To Make Poverty History: A Challenge for the World."

Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said that the people in Riggs Library that day possessed a lot of power and potential to address poverty.

Georgetown's Carol Lancaster, director of the Mortara Center for International Studies, said she also sees great potential in the university's students.

"I've seen an extraordinary rise in interest on the part of our students in the issues that we're talking about here today -- in the issues of poverty and the issues of peace," Lancaster said. "It makes me very optimistic about the future, because it tells me that our students have something beyond themselves, beyond their own immediate gratification, their own interests that they wish to work on and contribute to."

Lancaster noted that she and Georgetown President John J. DeGioia have been teaching a course on ethics in global development.

"We try to talk about the ethical and religious ideas behind the notion … that we, the elite of this world, we, the rich of this world, have an obligation to help the poor," Lancaster said.

El Hadj Idriss Kone Koudouss, president of the Cote d’Ivoire National Islamic Council, said that all Muslims set aside a portion of their assets for an annual contribution to help the needy.

All panelists agreed that governments and religions worldwide should show solidarity and work together to eliminate poverty.

Giuliano Amato, former prime minister of Italy, said that the key to ending poverty is not just to give money to the poor, but rather to help them become self-sufficient, so they are in a position to earn their own incomes.

Amato told the audience that one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals aims -- by the year 2015 -- to reduce by half both the number of people living on less than a dollar a day and the number of people who suffer from hunger.

"For the first time in centuries," he said, "economies can double or triple their living standards within one generation. These are signs that tell us that we can do it. We can take care all of them."

The panel also featured presentations from Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus; the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World; and Paola Piscitelli of the Community of Sant'Egidio in the United States.

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