Dear Readers:

Welcome to October 2012 issue of Salaam.

Thanks for your encouragement and support.

Pushpa Anbu SVD editor

Victor Edwin SJ managing editor

1.                Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me – Christian W Troll SJ

2.                Hizmet is rooted in the culture of dialogue - Victor Edwin SJ

3.                The Many Sides of Christian-Muslim Relationships – Prof Leo D. Lefebure

4.                There are more things that unite the humans than separate … Prof T. K. John SJ

5.                Assisi 2012 Where We Dwell in Common: Pathways for Dialogue in the 21^st Century – Prof Leo D. Lefebure

6.                Energizing Vision and Pioneering Mission: Jesuits in Pakistan – Victor Edwin SJ

Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me

Christian W Troll SJ

Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me more profoundly in South Asia, Christian W Troll SJ tells Francesco Pistocchini. An Italian traslation of this interview appeared in the POPOLI. Thanks to Pistocchini for providing us with the English text and also the premission to publish it in Salaam.

Pistocchini: At the beginning, could you briefly summarize the history of Jesuit involvement in Islam studies and in the dialogue with Muslim people?

Troll: Ignatius and his first companions understood the importance of reaching out to people on the frontiers and at the centre of society, of reconciling those who were estranged in any way. From the centre in Rome, Ignatius sent Jesuits to the frontiers, to the new world, to announce the Lord to peoples and cultures that did not know him as yet. The tradition of the Society included right from the beginning the concern to go among Muslims. However at the time the political realities made the work of missionary propagation in Muslim lands near impossible. An exception are the Jesuits missions to the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar of India and his immediate successors (late 16^th and beginning 17^th century). However, these missions to the Mughal Court did not lead then in the Society of Jesus to a lasting preoccupation with Muslims and Islam as such. This changed only much later, with the foundation of the Near East province and the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut (1881). Here was undertaken systematically, the study of Arabic language and literature and of Muslim faith and practice in past and present, as part of the overall objective to help the Christians of the Arab world in witnessing to Christ within the predominantly Muslim Arab societies of their countries.

Pistocchini: Is there any network of Jesuits among Muslims? If yes, how does it work?

Troll: In the wake of the Second Vatican Council several General Congregations of the Order dealt in a special way with Jesuit involvement in intercultural and interreligious Dialogue. The then General Superior of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Pedro Arrupe (Superior General from 1965-83), nominated a member of the order in Rome, knowledgeable and experienced in the field, to counsel him on questions relating to the apostolate of Jesuits among Muslims. In 1995 the 34. General Congregation of the Order asked the General Superior (a t the time:  Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach) to establish at the Jesuit Curia in Rome a Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue in order to further the initiatives and coordinate Jesuit activities in the field of interreligious dialogue as well as to organize formation programs in interreligious dialogue for Jesuits world-wide. The Secretary also published a Bulletin to serve the exchange of experience and theological reflection in the area of dialogue. As far as Jesuit-Muslim relations are concerned, over the years there have taken place different places meetings of the loose group or network ‘Jesuits among Muslims’ (JAM).  In 2009, Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, who had succeeded Fr. Kolvenbach as General Superior in 2008, modified this structure. The Secretariat was discontinued and instead advisors of interreligious dialogue were appointed who from their own involvement and study in the field would inform Fr. General about their respective area of dialogue. Once a year all the advisors come to together for a meeting with Fr. General to share with each other perspectives on dialogue on their different fields.

Having been appointed advisor on matters concerning Christian-Muslim Relations,  in 2010  I convened a JAM meeting, in order to renew the network after a break of several years. The man objective was to promote the exchange of information and to further shared reflection. Members of this network would be Jesuits who have given regularly a considerable amount of their time to this specific apostolate in its most varied forms: Spiritual/contemplative contact and study, research in the field of Islamic studies, teaching, formation, education, Christian-Muslim collaboration in social and related fields, in other words, Jesuits who have had the opportunity to study and reflect upon Muslim societies and Islam in a sustained manner, in the spirit of dialogue and collaboration as defined by the relevant Church documents since Vatican II. Younger Jesuits, preparing for this apostolate via studies and in other ways, were especially invited. Thus a meeting of 37 Jesuits took place at the Gregorian University in Rome from Sept 16-19, 2011. The overall theme was ‘Approaching Islam in the Light of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises’. The special objective of the meeting was to reflect upon the motives and the that would mark Jesuit engagement in dialogue with Muslims.

Pistocchini: Is there a specific Jesuit perspective in this field?

Troll: The Jesuits were founded as an apostolic group called to go where the needs were more universal and more urgent, and into frontier situations. We are supported in this apostolic drive by the Spiritual Exercises. The spirituality is marked by openness to the working of the Holy Spirit in and around us, not least in groups and religions outside the visible confines of the Church including the world(s) outside the visible Church. The approach will be marked by the ‘discernment of spirits’ which, when applied to interreligious realities, includes intimate familiarity with the world of faith, practice and religious thought of, in this case, Muslims in their great cultural and religious variety. It will also be marked by the effort ever anew to contextualize the Christian message and life in the various social and cultural settings that condition our world-wide apostolate. We should also mention here the particular call which has been addressed to us Jesuits by recent Popes, especially Pope Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI., to reach out in our day to people on the frontiers, where cultures and religions meet in a climate of tension and questioning. 

Pistocchini: You have been scholar in different parts of the world. Where did you more deeply develop your knowledge of Islam? 

Troll: I have had the privilege to meet Muslims from the late 1950’s onwards as co-students, as colleagues, as regular interlocutors in dialogue in the various parts of the Christian-Muslim world, wherever my extended years of study and then my teaching activities lead me. However, nowhere has the depth of Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me more profoundly than in South Asia, where I was privileged to spent 12 active years, after preparing for this in and from London University, where I studied under and with Muslims  Urdu language and literature and Islamic history.

Pistocchini: “Muslim ask, Christian answer”: could you explain what is it? What are its origin and goals?

This is the title of a relatively little book that now exists in seven languages. It also forms the basis of an interactive website answering questions by Muslims about Christian faith and practice (see: www.answers-to-muslims.com; www.risposteaimusulmani.com). This grew from my experience in Ankara/Turkey, where I taught in the Faculty of Muslim Theology as guest professor on Christianity, and where I saw that younger Muslims do have many questions about Christianity. It is their right to receive answers to these by us Christian believers. Furthermore, without sound mutual information, it would seem to me, no true Christian-Muslim dialogue on that level makes sense.

Pistocchini: What are the main questions? What are the most challenging theological and cultural arguments?

Troll: Besides the classical questions (incarnation, trinity; sin, salvation and redemption through the Cross of Christ) many questions concern issues of social ethics and bioethics, the structures of the Church, including papacy and the papal teaching office (magisterium), pluralism and truth claims in the context of contemporary democratic societies, family and celibacy.

Catholic Christians are, on the whole, little aware of the extraordinary gift God has bestowed upon them. They must be made aware of the moral duty to share, or at  least to desire to share, it in dialogical ways with persons belonging to another faith tradition such as Islam. Christians are called in the spirit of friendship to invite to fellowship with Christ. 

Pistocchini: You have a central role in the Catholic-Muslim Forum. Could you take stock of the initiative? 

Troll: The Church has regular meetings with various groups of Muslim representatives. Thus, the Pontifical Council of Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) over the past decades has established regular contacts with a number of important Muslim institutions world-wide: The Al-Azhar University in Cairo; the Muslim Call Society of Libya, Shiite clerical bodies in Tehran… More recently the PCID has formalized contacts with the group of Muslim leaders and thinkers who formulated and/or signed the famous ‘Common Word’ document of 2007 which set out and declared that the dual love commandment is as central and binding on Muslims and their tradition as it is to the Jewish and Christian religion. The main figures behind the ‘Common Word’ initiative were Prince Ghazi of the Royal House of Jordan, Prof. Timothy Winter alias Abdul-Hakim Murad of Cambridge, UK, and Dr. Aref Nayyed of Libya. 

After the first seminar of the Forum in Rome in 2008 the impression was that with the Common Word group of Muslims there had opened the possibility of entering more deeply and frankly into essential themes and of successfully expressing, with greater clarity and fidelity, that which unites and differentiates Christians and Muslims. The final joint declaration of the 2008 seminar contained important statements about respect for persons and their choices in matters of conscience and religion [and] on the equal dignity of men and women. In his speech to the delegates at the end of the first Seminar in November 2008 Benedict XVI invited the two sides to unite their efforts, with the goal of overcoming incomprehension, overcoming prejudices and correcting the distorted image of the other. He stated that the often bloody conflicts between Christians and Muslims in various parts of the world had made the dialogue complex and difficult, but that they must not hamper or stop it. Comparing the text of the final declaration of the first seminar in Rome in Nov. 2008 with the final declaration of the Second Seminar of November 2011, organized by Prince Ghazi in Jordan, at the Baptism site, clearly shows that certainly one is able to talk about the Christian and Muslims understandings of basic points of the teaching on matters as basic, broad and removed from everyday reality as  ‘Reason, Faith and the Human Person’, but that, on the other hand, one is not able to frankly discuss and even less to agree upon any concrete measures that would seem to follow from the double command of love of God and love of neighbor, such as for instance  the respect of individual religious freedoms and equal citizens rights. However, the Vatican will continue fostering colloquia on the international level, since they provide many opportunities for unique, informal exchanges. Such do constitute opportunities for mutual learning through conversation in small groups and under four eyes. There is no alternative to dialogue on that large international as well as on other levels, independent of how much or little palpable results they generate at the moment.

Pistocchini: Islam is taking a new role in the political turmoil of these months? How do you evaluate this role and the possible developments, especially in Arab countries?

Troll: Instead of saying ‘Islam is taking a new role’ I should formulate: Muslim individuals and Muslim groups and parties -- in the name of their understanding of what Islam means and demands in the given concrete situations -- have played and continue to play a significant role in giving shape to the developments in the Arab world that have been termed ‘Arab Spring’, ‘Arab revolution’ and the like. The overall situation is very complex and the constellations in different Arab countries vary considerably. Knowledgeable and experienced Christian partners in Muslim-Christian relations are challenged to discern on the basis of precise and comprehensive information the various trends and the programs that are being worked out by various religious-political parties. It is not easy to assess the respective weight of certain movements at the moment, and any predictions concerning the future would seem to be hazardous. The key question, however, remains wider open: will Muslim majorities emerge that seriously question and even effectively oppose the traditional pattern of political-religious Islamic synthesis; will a majority of Muslims develop a consciousness that accepts the basic Human Rights as spelled out in the Un Declaration of 1948. Will political parties win majorities who stand for granting to all inhabitants of Muslim-majority Arab countries equal rights to all its citizens, irrespective of ethnical and religious allegiance. In my opinion we are still far removed from the realization of these demands or even only the trend towards this. This fact has to be taken into account realistically.

Hizmet is rooted in the culture of dialogue

Victor Edwin SJ

Dr. Marcia Hermansen, the Director of the Islamic World Studies Program and a Professor in the Theology Department at the Jesuit Loyola University Chicago, presented a lecture on Hizmet Movement (here after HM) at Indialogue Foundation, New Delhi on 7 March 2012. Dr. Hermansen teaches courses in Islamic Studies and the academic study of religion. In the course of her research and language training she lived for extended periods in Egypt, Jordan, India, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. Her personal contact with the followers of HM made her lecture personally attractive. I am grateful to Ali Akiz and Ahmet for inviting me to this program. I was also given the happy opportunity to moderate the session which was enriching.

In this short article, I will spell out what I have learnt about HM and its founder. HM is a global movement that is inspired by the Turkish Muslim thinker and activist Fethullah Gülen.  He stresses that ignorance, poverty, and conflict are the three greatest enemies of humanity. He encourages his fellow citizens to root out these evils from the human family. The followers of Gülen in the HM through education and dialogue tackle these vices and work for a more humane society.

 

What impresses me most about Mr Gülen is that he is a moral exemplar. His words and deeds inspire followers towards action for the transformation of society through service to the less privileged. He motivates his followers to make sacrifices in their personal lives in order to serve others. This is seen from the fact that his followers volunteer to go to different parts of the globe, even leaving their families, to serve those who are in need. There is no discrimination at the schools and other centers established by HM. Moreover, the business men who finance these projects around the world do not just give from their excess but generously with a deep concern for the other. It could be said that their service is qualified by their commitment to the other.  As a Christian I cannot but notice the sacrificial content of such service that is also very much part of the Catholic Church’s devotion to humanity, which becomes truly holy when it is rooted in the personal element of sacrifice.

 

As a religious thinker Gülen does not confine himself only to religious issues but he also touches upon social, economic, educational issues. Thus he has developed a comprehensive vision of the world and persons in the world. Such an integral vision is operationalized only when we are involved at a personal level in terms of volunteering to working for others. His methodology is impressive. 

 

One needs to appreciate Gülen’s discernment in his work. When he began as a religious preacher he began to influence the minds of many young students and professors at the universities. Soon there were suggestions that he should establish more mosques for worship.  However, his keen analysis showed that his people needed more schools rather than mosques. This art of discernment is the fruit of a deep commitment to his faith and to his people. So he established schools and dormitories. Here was a novel idea that provided students with a caring place, when they were away from home. These dormitories were truly a home away from home! They provided women students with a safe place to stay during their education. They gave many women an opportunity to pursue a university education. In this way they promoted women’s education in a big way. This dormitory setup also helped students learn to live with one another, appreciating their many differences. Thus these student dorms’ were the seed-beds for HM’s dialogical mission. In the words of Dr Hermansen, Hizmet is rooted in the culture of dialogue.

 

Gülen’s vision is truly global. The volunteers of HM live and work in 154 countries! They plan to expand their operation to places where they have not yet reached. It is said that in the early years of his work Gülen placed a map of Turkey on his office wall and later changed it to a world map and finally replaced the world map with a picture of the globe from space. This photograph symbolically represents his openness to the whole world and emphasizes his passion to be at the service of the human family without any discrimination.  Gülen’s global vision challenges his followers to lose themselves in the collectivity of humanity. This vision prepares them for a truly international world view.

 

The idea of networking is fascinating in the life and work of the followers of HM. There are a lot of people doing good work. But often they remain isolated without bringing much desired fruit. How does one transform a good work into an outstanding work? Without hesitation one could say, by net working! The followers of HM are great net-workers. Net working produces synergy. It is said that one plus one in mathematics is two; but, in human relations, it could be two, four or more, it could also be zero. The answer depends upon the quality of relationships. It appears to me that the followers of Gülen provide an opportunity to multiply the impact of their service by great networking. They are good at identifying their talents and at shaping them for a quality service. 

Let us broaden out these reflections from the HM. Prof Tom Michel once wrote: “Many people see the need for interreligious and intercultural dialogue but are not sure where to begin. I have often been asked, ‘How do you go about starting up dialogue with others?’ Especially because I am a Christian who has lived and shared life with Muslims for many years, they ask, ‘How do you go about beginning a dialogue with Muslims? Where do you start?’ I believe that the first thing we have to do is to look around at the society in which we live to try to identify those who are our logical partners in dialogue. Who are the individuals and groups with whom we find ourselves sharing ideals, whose vision of the future is at least compatible with our own, whose value system intersects with ours at various points? Thus, for the Christian who wants to enter into dialogue with Muslims, the first step is to distinguish and recognize the movements, organizations and communities of Muslims who are open to dialogue with us, who have something to say to us from which we might learn something, and who are also ready to listen to us, to hear our stories, and to appreciate our religious and humane vision of life, even as they remain committed to their own spiritual path”. The followers of HM are one such group of people among many others whose vision is inclusive and consequently inspiring. I find them as my co-pilgrims in my dialogical journey. 

The Many Sides of Christian-Muslim Relationships

Leo D. Lefebure

Historical Background

Since the rise of Islam in the seventh century C.E., Muslims and Christians have related to each other in a wide variety of ways, ranging from friendship and cooperation to bitter conflict and military combat.  The great medieval historian R.W. Southern asserted, “The existence of Islam was the most far-reaching problem in medieval Christendom.  It was a problem at every level of experience.”  The major options for relationship were: “Crusade, conversion, coexistence, and commercial interchange.”  Meanwhile, theologically, “it called persistently for some answer to the mystery of its existence: what was its providential role in history?” (Southern 3).  Historically, Islam is the most successful competitor that Christianity ever encountered prior to modern secularism; most of the heartlands of early Christianity, the sites of the early church fathers and councils and some of the oldest sees, are today predominantly Muslim.  No other movement had this type of success on traditional Christian soil.  This left medieval Christians profoundly uneasy with Islam.  Christians could argue that the subordinate situation of the Jews demonstrated God’s anger at them for their rejection of Jesus; Islam, however, was from the beginning immensely successful in the military and political field. 

          In the early Middle Ages Muslim cultural and intellectual life far surpassed developments in Western Europe.  Islam had more vibrant cities, wealthier courts, better scientists and doctors.  Hrosvitha of Gandersheim (ca. 935-ca. 1002) described Muslim-ruled Cordoba as the most splendid of cities:

In the western parts of the globe, there shone forth a fair ornament, a venerable city, haughty because of its unwonted might it was a city well cultured, which the Spanish race held in possession, rich and known by the famous name Cordoba, illustrious because of its charms and also renowned for all resources, especially abounding in the seven streams of knowledge, and ever famous for continual victories. (Hrosvitha of Gandersheim, Passio S. Pelagii, verses 12-18; cited by von Grunebaum 57.)

The Christian tradition in general and the Catholic Church in particular have had a profoundly ambivalent relationship to Islam.  Dante Alighieri, perhaps the greatest poet in the entire history of Christianity, represents and symbolizes this.  Nearly a century ago, the Spanish scholar Miguel Asín Palacios demonstrated that in conceiving the Divine Comedy, Dante was directly dependent upon Muslim accounts of the Night Journey of Muhammad to heaven, where the prophet reportedly met and conversed with Abraham, Moses and Jesus (Asin Palacios).  The achievement of Dante would have been unthinkable without the contribution of the vibrant culture of early medieval Islam.  Yet when the great Christian poet describes Muhammad’s place in the afterlife, Dante finds the prophet in the Eighth Circle of hell reserved for schismatics.  The punishment Dante envisions for Muhammad is to be repeatedly split from the chin through his torso over and over again for all eternity (Inferno 28:22-36). 

Similarly, Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries developed scholastic theology in constructive dialogue with Muslim thinkers Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna).  Thomas deeply respected Ibn Rushd’s interpretation of Aristotle, and Aquinas accepted Ibn Sina’s distinction between existing and essence as a way to move beyond Aristotle’s metaphysics in understanding creation ex nihilo.  Nonetheless, Thomas, like Dante, could imagine no place in heaven for Muhammad, Ibn Rushd, or Ibn Sina.  For Thomas, implicit faith in the mystery of Jesus Christ and the Trinity could have sufficed for salvation prior to the time of Christ; but after the Incarnation, “when once grace had been revealed, all were bound to explicit faith in the mystery of the Trinity,” as well as in Jesus Christ (Summa Theologiae 2-2.2.8; 2-2.2.7).

A few medieval Christians had a reasonably accurate understanding of Islam, but the majority learned about Islam through polemics, lies, and slanders.  The last chapter of John Damascene’s book, Concerning Heresies, is entitled, “The Heresy of the Ishmaelites,” and describes Islam in insulting terms as the hundredth heresy.  John refers to Saracens (one etymology is that the word means “empty of Sarah,” i.e., driven out by Sarah from Abraham’s home) rather than Muslims and “the heresy of the Ishmaelites” rather than using term “Islam.”  John ridiculed Islam, charging that Muhammad fabricated stories of revelation to justify his sexual appetites and that Muhammad invented the teachings of the Qur’an based on instruction from an Arian monk (later named Sergius in Byzantine and Western legend, Sargis-Bahira in Syriac and Bahira in Arabic) (Daniel 15, 109-110).  Nicetas of Byzantium argued that the God of Islam is actually a devil.  Muhammad himself was vilified, often being portrayed as an epileptic who invented stories of an angel to excuse his fits.  Medieval Christians largely refused to understand Islam on its own terms and viewed it as a Christian heresy or schism.  As Christian and Muslim warriors encountered each other on the battlefield off and on for over a millennium, the threat of a decisive Islamic victory hung over Christian Europe.  In this context, Christian attitudes toward Islam were often bitter and fearful. 

          Toward the end of the Middle Ages, in fifteenth-century Spain, many Catholics respected their Jewish and Muslim neighbors and their religions.  One commented, in contradiction to the teaching of the Catholic teaching authorities of the time, “the good Jew and the good Muslim can, if they act correctly, go to heaven just like the good Christians” (cited by Kamen 6). At least at times, Christians, Muslims, and Jews gathered together to share their wisdom, exchange translations of ancient Greek texts, and make possible the spread of knowledge across religious boundaries.  The rebirth of Western medieval scholarship in the twelfth and thirteen centuries was made possible by the open dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Spain and the Middle East. 

          In various settings Jesuit missioners continued both sides of the earlier tradition.  Some, like Francisco Ignacio Alzina, S.J., who came to the Philippines in 1632, commented bitterly in his Historia about "that infamous sect of Mohamet, which has infected many of the islands of this archipelago before our true one arrived here."  Meanwhile, in Mughal India, Jesuit missioners participated in lively debates with Sunnis and Shiites, as well as Hindus and Jains, under the supervision of the Emperor Akbar.  Akbar personally supported the work of the Jesuits; but his goal was to establish an amalgam of the best of the world’s religions, with a particular focus on himself.  The Jesuits, for all their skill in debating and their acceptance at court, did not make major inroads into India at this time.  Nonetheless, the Jesuits’ scholarship and translation of Christian texts into Persian did have a major impact on the Mughal court and earned them the respect of their Muslim debating partners.

Contemporary Relations

In the current time of international tension, the vilifying of Islam continues unabated in some quarters, as the violence done in the name of Islam is identified with the center of the religion itself.  Nonetheless, in many areas Christians know Muslims as neighbors, co-workers, and friends.  Through first-hand knowledge, stereotypes can be set aside and healthy relationships formed.  Vatican II affirmed that Catholics and Muslims worship the one God (Lumen Gentium 16, Nostra Aetate 3) and called Catholics and Muslims to forget past animosities and “train themselves towards sincere mutual understanding” in the service of social justice (Nostra Aetate 3). 

Blessed Pope John Paul II clearly distinguished authentic Islam from the actions of the terrorists and was a leader in developing relations with Muslims.  On May 6, 2001, he became the first pope ever recorded to visit a mosque—the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, which was built on an earlier Byzantine Christian church honoring the grave of St. John the Baptist.  John Paul II said: “It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as communities in respectful dialogue, never more as communities in conflict.  It is crucial for the young to be taught the ways of respect and understanding, so that they will not be led to misuse religion itself to promote or justify hatred and violence. . . . In Syria, Christians and Muslims have lived side by side for centuries, and a rich dialogue of life has gone on unceasingly. . . . For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and offer each other forgiveness.”  The challenge echoes still.

References:

Asín Palacios, Miguel.  Islam and the Divine Comedy. Trans. and abridged by Harold Sutherland. London: Cass, 1968.

Daniel, Norman.  Islam and the West: The Making of an Image. 1960; reprint, Oxford: Oneworld, 2000.

Grunebaum, Gustave E. von.  Medieval Islam: A Study in Cultural Orientation. 2^nd ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953.

Kamen, Henry.  The Spanish Inquisition: An Historical Revision.  London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997.

Southern, R.W. Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press, 1962.

There are more things that unite the humans than separate …

Prof T. K. John SJ

There are more things that unite the humans than separate, tells Prof T. K. John SJ reflecting on his association with Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy to Victor Edwin SJ.

Edwin: Tell us about Pakistan – India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy?

T.K. John: The Forum is a typical sub-continental peace initiative. The Forum is addressing some of the issues that block our good neighbourly relationship with Pakistan, keeping always in our mind that we all were one country one people years ago. Untruth divided us and still keeps us snarling at each other as wolves do at potential prey. Can we engage in civilizing exercise and keep moving in a direction that will lead us all to justice truth and peace -- that is the question.     

“Defy the Divide – Unite for Peace’, “Meeting across Borders, Talking beyond Differences, Working to deepen Relationships, Peace building on shared Concerns, Reaching out against all Odds, Dreaming together of a Common Future,’ ‘Surely  We Can Talk Again’ – have been among the slogans raised on the occasion of the eight joint conventions of a very interesting peace initiative called Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy. These will already tell us about the nature goals and objectives of the Forum. The movement was born in 1994.

To get to the goals and objective of the Forum we have to dig deep into the history of a development that generates hatred of each other. It is called communal divide on grounds of religion. Several layers of encrusted divisive ideology of hatred have to be peeled off to come to discover the truth which should eventually rebind a divided people that we were once.

The first layer was laid when some Muslim scholars led by Shah Wali Ulla  began to voice the view that we in India are two different communities and cultures, namely, Hindus and Muslims. From the Hindu side Savarkar responded by singing the same song: ours is a Hind country and we must restore it to its original status. The second was the much-heightened tension at the political level between Congress and Muslim League regarding Partition of the Motherland on the basis of religion. It happened, unfortunately. The third was laid when the dry land in the north-west India was soaked with blood of the cris-crossing divided peoples that killed each other in thousands. The fourth we have in the ‘victory-defeat’ salt that is periodically being rubbed into the wounded memory of Pakistanis after two wars. And the ever-hot Kashmir issue stood in between, all along. The situation in the subcontinent was deteriorating. The economic, foreign, military and other policies of the two nations were dictated by the divide policy. Finances required to eliminate the abject poverty, stark illiteracy, the scarce health and medical care systems, impassable rural transport, drinking water and electricity for far of rural population etc,--- all basic needs of the two nascent democracies, were diverted to arms build up, military research, nuclear weapons development and such unproductive anti-civilizational projects. Can this process be halted and sanity restored, asked many in both the countries. 

It was then that Mr.Nirmal Mukerjee a former cabinet secretary and governor of Punjab and about ten scholars and human rights activists from India and a dozen similar men and women from Pakistan, led by Dr.Mubashir Hassan, a member of Mr. Bhutto’s cabinet, met in Lahore and shared their concerns. In 1994 they met again and decided on a larger convention of people of similar concerns from both sides. Accordingly a major convention was held in New Delhi February 24-25, 1995.

The Plenum at that first joint convention, attended by a hundred people from India and Pakistan, adopted a consensus document known as the Delhi Declaration. War, Demilitarization, Peace and Democracy in both the countries were the main themes of the statement with appeals to both governments and to the people that elect their leaders. Resort to war to resolve dispute should be avoided, both countries should reduce military build up, and a democratic solution to Kashmir dispute should be aimed at. This was the beginning of the great peace movement or people across borders. Just peace can be availed if sanity is allowed to have its way.

Edwin: What are the issues that find a prominent place in PIPFPD discussions and deliberations?

T.K. John: The objective of founding the Forum was civilizational in intent.  People to people exchange can create friendship and confidence, give priority in governance to the basic needs of the people, and maintain peace needed for constructive programmes at the national and regional level, all of which are blocked by constantly raked sense of hostility, and war hysteria. Military and industrial hawks, both at the national and international level, always prefer tension between countries, for their good.

Religious Intolerance in both the countries, need for gradual demilitarization and de-nuclearization, Governance that respects the will of the peoples, gender justice, and democratic process in Kashmir, Globalization and impacts nascent democracies, are among the themes discussed. For at the level of culture and religious harmony the Calcutta Declaration “Calls upon the educationalists and the people in general to work towards ways of inculcating values of cooperation, tolerance, harmony, through all possible means, particularly curricula and prescribed textbooks, print and visual media, undertake investigations of incidents of communal violence to bring the findings to the notice of the people, organize exchanges of children and teachers, and to be aware of and monitor possible misuse of places of worship and religious educational institutions for the promotion of preaching and promotion of hatred and intolerance”

There were eight joint conventions, held in New Delhi (twice), Lahore Karachi, Calcutta, Rawalpindi, Bangalore and Allahabad. Besides these, check on communal propaganda, promotion of trade and commerce across border, welcoming writers artists and agents of culture in each country –were among the objectives.

          Friendly exchange at people to people level was considered a very helpful means to the goal realization. Relaxation of visa rules will facilitate this, and be of great help for relations across the border to meet with each other, 

Edwin: Tell us about your involvement in PIPFPD ?

    

T.K. John: I was associated with the movement fortunately right from the beginning. It was a golden opportunity to meet people of all sections of the people from both the countries. Since it was intended to be a people-to-people dialogue, teachers, artists, peasants, trade union leaders, professors, politicians, human rights activists, lawyers, and traders, --all met and interacted.  The convention normally lasted two-three days with well-chosen cultural programmes. I served as Chair Person of the Delhi Chapter that had hosted the 7^th Joint Convention (Feb 25-27, 2005). It was a very good experience to work with people committed to the goal above.

Edwin: Kindly explain for us what happens during a Convention and how does it enhance friendship between India and Pakistan?

T.K. John: Much happens during a convention all of which make you feel: after all we have been one people and we re-live it. For example the Inaugural session. Right at the commencement of the Inaugural session we see spontaneous outbursts of revival and jovial scenes. We see a  couple of people walk to the dais, start dancing, a few more join and for the next forty-five minutes we find many from the audience come and  joining hands and dancing, singing, clapping of hands and embracing each other. Cameras capture these momentous scenes to be taken back to the place from which they hail and share with them the scene. Informal and spontaneous expressions like this really set the tone.

Then there is the address by the two co-chair persons, announcing of the dynamics of the days’ programmers etc. There is the key-note address on the second day, some one is chosen ahead to deliver it. A current issue is often taken for the theme. Reports of the two chapters are presented and discussed. Of course the reading and discussing the final consensus document known as Declaration is on the last day.

         

I have noticed that in group sessions as well as in general sessions there is a healthy mature and documented critiquing of the trends against peace and democracy in the respective countries. For instance, speakers from Pakistan will present a realistic picture of the issue in Pakistan. There is also the freedom to make observations in the other country too. This is welcomed and not resented. There is no fear of exposing one’s own country to outsiders. The prevailing sentiment is that ‘we should endeavour together’, that truth should make us free and that freedom of thinking and expression is the foundation for any democracy.

Edwin: How youth are involved in PIPFPD?

T.K. John: Youth involvement is considerable. In all the conventions it was the young people that gave extremely well-organized programmes—dramatic or other, depicting the issues.

         

For both Delhi conventions, that of 1994 and that of 2005 students of Vidyajyoti took part and made their contribution. Students of the colleges of Delhi too did support and collaborate. Youth from Pakistan come in good number and will have good programmes presented

         

A separate youth chapter was considered and even constituted. It has to grow and play distinct role in the movement.

Edwin: How do official machinery both in India and Pakistan view the activities of PIPFPD?

T.K. John: Two principles I invoke to answer that question. One: Abraham Lincoln said democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people. Therefore informed bureaucrats and politicians that man the governments in both the countries do co-operate and offer us support.  Besides, the collective voice of both the countries being made available to the ruling block is a golden opportunity to the rulers. They come to know what the people that elected them think and feel. Taking notice of the collective voice is welcome.

On the other hand there are also some who may forget that they were sent up to govern by the people. They may show less collaboration.

The Forum believes that creating public opinion is a responsible service of the civil society in a democratic country. Indeed, the impact of such public statements is being recognized by the ruling block in both the countries. On the occasion of the joint convention in Bangalore, April 6-8 2000, the Sate government, headed by honorable Sri.S.M.Krishna, currently the foreign minister, hosted a session and a dinner. Prior to that during the Calcutta Joint Convention December 28-31 1996 the late Mr. Jyoti Bosu then chief minister of Bengal invited the delegates for a special session and a dinner in the Assembly garden premises. These are important indicators of the attention the State gives to civil society articulations of the concerns of the country.

Edwin: Are Jesuits sufficiently involved in Civil Society activism?

   

T.K .John: The question needs to be attended to in a wider perspective. For that the following questions need to be raised.

For instance, is the Christian community involved in civil society initiatives? To what extent Christian community is involved in the political processes of the country? To what extent the Christian community is involved in the many people’s movements of the country? What is the nature of the civic consciousness of the Christian community? How far advocacy of human rights, justice and freedom, highlighted by the U. N. Declaration, is taken seriously and systematically by the Christian community?   

         

The answers to most of these questions may not be quantitatively high. For a religious programme of the diocese if appeal is made, attendance will be normally good. For funerals and other occasions response is quite good. Jubilee celebrations, of individuals or institutions also response from the community is good.

But in general Christian presence in the civil society affairs is quite dismal. For instance Delhi is a place where there is no scarcity of human rights, people’s movements, and other demonstrations seeking justice rights and freedom, campaigns, candle-light processions, fasts, etc take place. Displaced Adivasis come and register their protests. Gas affected people of Bhopal come, year after year, sometimes walking on foot all the way from Bhopal and make their pleas voiced in the capital. There have been cases of women, especially Dalit women, raped/humiliated in public and a few women’s organization take up their cause and come to Delhi. There was the case of a nun who was raped in Odissa and secular women’s groups organized demonstration in Delhi. People from North East do come to Delhi protesting against demolition of villages, killings by security forces, and some come to Delhi to have their grievances voiced in the national capital. The traumatized people of Kashmir come and demonstrate in many ways.

But the Christian presence and contribution to most civil society initiatives or people’s movements is quite limited, is rather minimum. You find a few here and there walking with them.

We Jesuits are largely in the institutions. Besides democratic culture is not our forte. For that matter Jesuit interest in civil society imitative also is not high. In internal exchanges like homilies, retreats, theology classes and exegesis exercises etc.’ Kingdom of God’ appears vigorously as a theme and as a task. But the gap between the internal exchanges and commitments and the open civil society some times appears as unbridgeable as the hiatus between Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom and the rich man (Lk16:26)!                   

         

It is gratifying to note after being part of it for the past nearly two decades that genuine democratic culture, non-violence, people’s participation, demilitarization to save money for education of the backward people, etc are the concerns of the Forum.

All these raise a puzzle. Muslims and Christians belong to Abraham’s heritage, yet they seem to stand apart. Mulims Christians and Hindus belong to Asiatic family yet they stand apart.  We have to create a platform where we can sit together dispassionately and look at our common heritage own them and plan a new future. There is plenty of goodwill, openness and freedom generated in the PIPFPD sharing. It can be widened to look beyond.  If people of two supposedly ‘ hostile’ countries can truthfully and objectively as well as honestly talk about our common problems and dream of a different future, the exercise can be repeated at other levels. ‘Aggrieved’ Hindus and Christians can come together, ‘aggrieved’ .Islamic and Christian world can come together.  There are more things that unite the humans than separate.    

Assisi 2012 Where We Dwell in Common:

Pathways for Dialogue in the 21^st Century

Leo D. Lefebure

Religious leaders and scholars from around the world gathered in the town of Francis of Assisi in April 2012 to discuss what it means for followers of different religious paths to dwell in common and how to journey together more fruitfully.  The conference was organized by the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network, led by Gerard Mannion of the University of San Diego in California, USA, together with an international committee.  Four intense days of discussions and prayer focused on Christian ecumenism, interreligious relations, and the relationship between faith and the world.

 

The prayerful atmosphere of Francis and Clare enveloped the entire weeklong assembly, as academic lectures and conversations intertwined with ecumenical prayers in the basilicas of St. Francis and St. Clare, as well as the former and current cathedrals of Assisi.  For the opening prayer, we gathered in the monumental Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which envelopes the small chapel of the Porziuncula (“little portion”) where Francis prayed and where he cut the hair of Clare, and also the nearby chapel of the Transitus (“transition”), where Francis died.  The sacredness of this and the other places of prayer profoundly enhanced the mood of the gathering, reminding us of the Franciscan heritage of seeking peace.  Each succeeding day began with “Soul Food,” a prayerful reflection on the lives and witness of Francis and Clare. 

There were presentations from senior veterans of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, including Paul Avis of the Church of England, William Rusch of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Peter Phan of Georgetown University, and many, many others.  While most participants were Christian, scholars from other traditions also contributed.  A major factor enriching the conference was the success of the organizers in securing funding that allowed many graduate students and junior scholars from around the world to come.  Thus senior figures with decades of experience intermingled with beginning scholars with much energy and enthusiasm.

          Dwelling in common is often complicated by tensions related to religious differences, and so Assisi 2012 repeatedly addressed the difficult challenge of conflicts where religion plays a role in legitimating distrust, animosity, and violence.  On the first evening, Paul Arthur, professor emeritus of the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland,  offered hope based on situations such as Northern Ireland, where religiously motivated conflict had long seemed intractable.  Speaking from the experience of the transformation of this conflict, Arthur stressed the importance of unofficial diplomacy in shaping the climate of understanding, as well as the creative role the arts can play.

         

The following day addressed the challenge, “What Remains Divisive?”  The speakers at the plenary morning session present a sample of the diversity and concerns of the assembly.  Bradford Hinze of Fordham University in New York City offered a stirring call to prophetic witness, challenging the imposition of Greco-Roman categories on all the world’s experience and calling for full recognition of work for social and political justice.  Mary Getui from the Catholic University of East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, addressed the challenge of the “postcolonial divide,” the painful legacy of inequality coming from colonialism.  Greek Orthodox theologian Elena Kasselouri-Hatzivassiliadi from the Hellenic Open University spoke about the ways in which gender inequality divides us and makes more difficult genuine conversation in Christian communities.  Responding to these three presentations was a native of Colombia, Deivit Montealegre, who is completing his Ph.D. studies in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

         

In another session, John de Gruchy, professor emeritus at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, spoke about tribalism and “the burdens of history,” exploring how to respond to difficult collective memories when reshaping a society.  Stan Chu Ilo, assistant professor at St. Michael’s College in Toronto, Canada, and editor of an online journal on African theology and social justice (www.theologyinafrica.com), explored the major cross-cultural factors at work in Africa today and how these factors influence the conflicts raging there.  Ilo proposed the African understanding of participation as a basis for interpreting differences as potentially powerful resources for dwelling in common.

         

Many sessions addressed points of difference among the Greek Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic traditions, seeking creative ways to understand ecclesiology in ecumenical contexts.  The third day addressed the topic, “Where We Dwell in Common.”  Jewish scholar Aaron Gross reflected on his own position teaching at the Catholic, Jesuit University of San Diego in California, USA, and on the transformation in Jewish-Christian relations in recent decades.  He called attention to the importance of clearing a space in which Jews and Christians can retain their differences and dwell “apart.”  Bahar Davary, who is also from the University of San Diego, reflected on the 2007 Muslim initiative, “A Common Word between Us and You,” based on the double command to love God and neighbor. 

         

The fourth and final day considered the challenge, “Re-energising the Ecumenical Cause.”  Theodor Dieter, Director of the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, posed the question of how Christians will mark the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017.  Mennonite leader Larry Miller, Secretary of the Global Christian Forum, noted recent developments in Lutheran-Mennonite relations, including a 2010 join statement on their past history together with a service of repentance and reconciliation, seeking healing for 500 years of conflict.  Other speakers explored aspects of the Baptist, Pentecostal, and Byzantine Orthodox traditions.  Roger Haight delivered the closing plenary address on “Ecclesial Spirituality as a Basis for Living with Other Religions.”  At the closing banquet, there was thunderous applause for Gerard Mannion and the committee who worked tirelessly with him.  Mannion announced that Ecclesiological Investigations is planning to hold the next gathering in 2013 in Belgrade, Serbia, in honor of the 700^th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, issued by the Emperor Constantine, who was born in present-day Serbia.