Global House Fills with Activity

Source: Elijah Interfaith Institute

The Global House of Friendship and Hope has seen a recent surge in activity and in visits, thanks to the presence in Assisi of a diversity of religious leaders, who attended the 40 th anniversary commemoration of the first Assisi interfaith prayer for peace meeting, organized by Sant Egidio.

Consider how special it is to have received on the same day a high level delegation of Shia clerics from Baghdad and Pakistan (affiliated with the Al Khoei Foundation), the ambassador of Israel and leading Lutheran clerics and theologians, affiliated with the World Lutheran Federation, and two Shinto priests from Kyoto. These are the kinds of opportunities that the Global House makes possible, and with them the development and reinforcement of bonds of friendship.

Global House Becomes Venue for Meetings

Following requests from visiting groups to hold events at this unique venue, we have made some adaptations to the spaces at the Global House in order to accommodate this need. This will make the Global House even more vibrant, allowing it to serve visiting interfaith and other groups, who seek to be inspired by the unique ambience.

The following report by Father Cyprian Consiglio, of the Benedictine Order, tells the story of one such evening.

On Monday evening October 26th, on the edges of the grand celebration honoring the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Peace in Assisi, the Global House hosted an intimate evening of music and meditation sponsored by Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIMMID). There were three presenters. The first was Cyprian Consiglio, the Secretary General of DIMMID, who offered several interreligious interactive musical pieces. One was based on the Bridharanyaka Upanishad with verses from the Bhagavad Gita of the Hindu tradition that included a call and response refrain. A second piece, called “The Ground We Share” quoted from the Psalms of the Jewish Scriptures, the New Testament and the Qur’an, all references to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Then Mara Arizaga from the United Nations in Geneva who spoke about the “United and Present” initiative, bringing mindfulness to diplomatic work. “Contemplative practices – whether mindfulness, prayer, silence, or ritual – may help with stress and resilience, but they also go further,” she told the assembled. “They are ways of reconnecting with what is most human in us: presence, compassion, and a sense of belonging.” She recalled how one colleague had described it to her: “In the middle of constant urgency, even two minutes of silence changed the tone of the room. We could breathe again.” Fr Laurence Freeman, Benedictine monk and spiritual leader of the World Community for Christian Meditation, spoke on simplicity before leading the group in a period of meditation. He recalled how much we can learn from children, and quoted some he had worked with. “When I meditate I feel like God is sitting next to me,” he reported one describing the experience to him. Another unwittingly echoed the Buddhist teaching saying that when she meditated, “my mind stops jumping around like a monkey.” Cyprian ended the evening with a musical setting of the Buddhist metta sutta, the dedication of merit.

The guests of honor among the participants that evening were three Theravadan Buddhist from Laos, but we were also joined by a small group of Franciscan friars from across the way at Santa Maria degli Angeli, a couple of pilgrims who wandered in and a few local folks who had just spotted the publicity for the event. Given that both music and silence have a universal language that can cross religions and cultures, it was a great grace––and fitting––to assemble in such a welcoming, universal and inclusive space as the Global House of Friendship and Hope. As the theme for night stated, so the team at the Global House knows: there will be no peace in the world if there’s no peace within our hearts.

Saints Across Religions

The Elijah Interfaith Summer School focused on the historical reality and spiritual legacy of saints from six different religious traditions.

Acknowledging that the concept of “saints” is based in Christianity, in Roman Catholicism, scholars from Judaism, Islam, the religions of India (Hindu and Sikh), and our Buddhist scholar found parallels in their traditions and described how the outstanding spiritual individuals in history and of today influence the lives of followers and leave a legacy for all of humanity.

Fr Francis Ticho, who also contributed to a Christian understanding of “sainthood” (see the previous newsletter), explained how Tibetan Buddhism in particular, has a well- developed theoretical understanding of the outstanding individuals who would be acknowledged as “saints” but also relies heavily on the biographies of such individuals and their acclamation by followers.

There are multiple streams of Hinduism. Our scholar, Prof Jeffery Long, is a follower of the Vedanta stream, deeply shaped by foundational figures such as Adi Shankara (historically) and Swami Vivekananda (who popularized Vedanta in the West). He mentions them and other “saintly” figures and describes the process and the qualities that create “saints” in Hinduism.

Professor Timothy Gianotti introduced the qualities of “saintly” people in Islam, describing the practices that may be required to achieve the closeness to the Divine that would enable one to be considered a “saint.” He also alluded to the values of having a saintly person in a community, in their ability to bring Divine protection to those around them, too.

After analysing the other presentations and noting that the discussion had many dimensions, from the linguistic to the sociological to the theoretical to the spiritual, Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein concluded that we were unable at this point in the conversation to assess how central the idea of “sainthood” was in any particular tradition. He shared that many students had said that there is no “sainthood” in Judaism. He responded:

Praying Together in Jerusalem: "Living with Uncertainty"

We invite you to join us for Praying Together in Jerusalem on Thursday 5th November at 5:00 pm Jerusalem time. Our theme will be "Living with Uncertainty." The gathering will take place at St George's College, 33 Salah Ad-din Street (Salah El-Deen Street), East Jerusalem, where we will be hosted by Rev Richard Sewell.

Join us in person or on Zoom.

Please note upcoming gatherings: Our next gathering will be on December 10th and will celebrate Chanukah - "Dedication."
The venue will be the Conservative Yeshiva on Agron Street and we will be hosted by Rabbi Joel Levi and Dr Jane Kruger.

In January, we also will not be meeting on the first Thursday of the month,paying respect to Orthodox Christmas.
We will meet on January 14th and, as we approach the New Year for Trees in the Jewish calendar, we will return to the theme of "Climate Repentance." Our host will be Rev Sari-Johanna Kuittilo at the FELM Centre.

Rev Richard Sewell

Peta Pellach Moderator

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