On Wednesday, February 3, 2021 GEII hosted “Paths of Peace to Heal Open Wounds”: Interreligious Encounters with Fratelli Tutti, a webinar convening distinguished scholars and leaders of different faith traditions for an interreligious dialogue inspired by Pope Francis’s latest encyclical and moderated by Father Brian Terry, SA, Minister General of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, that included a panel and small group discussions.
The webinar was hosted by Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute (GEII) in collaboration with The Interfaith Center of New York, The Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, Religions for Peace USA and The Thich Nhat Hanh Program for Engaged Buddhism. A recording of the webinar will be available soon.
Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti (“brothers and sisters, all”), released on October 4, 2020, develops at length a call for a “culture of encounter,” promoting earnest dialogue among people, communities and religious traditions. Genuine dialogue can be, according to Pope Francis, a transformative path of “peace to heal open wounds.” He concludes his encyclical with an appeal to all religions to become cultivators of universal fraternity grounded in a familial love.
We encourage viewers to read at least some of Fratelli Tutti, available here, prior to watching the event as well as to read the Friars’ own statement about the Pope’s latest encyclical.
Panelists
Dr. Pritpal Kaur (The Sikh Coalition)
Pritpal Kaur serves as Education Director at the Sikh Coalition, the nation’s largest Sikh civil rights organization, and as a Co-President of the World Council of Religions for Peace. Born and raised in England, Dr. Kaur holds a PhD in Sikh Studies from the University of Birmingham (UK). She now lives with her husband and daughter in Orange County, California.
Dr. Mona Siddiqui (The University of Edinburgh)
Mona Siddiqui, OBE, is Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at the University of Edinburgh and specializes in classical Islamic law and Christian-Muslim relations. Alongside her academic works, she is a public intellectual who regularly contributes and broadcasts for a wide variety of media. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the American Academy of Arts and a recent recipient of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Hubert Walter Award for reconciliation and interfaith cooperation.
Rev. Kosen Gregory Snyder (Union Theological Seminary)
Rev. Kosen Gregory Snyder is the Senior Director and Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies at Union Theological Seminary where he oversees the Master of Divinity degree program in Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement as well as the Thích Nhất Hạnh Program for Engaged Buddhism. Rev. Snyder is an ordained Zen Buddhist priest and dharma-transmitted teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He co-founded and is currently the senior resident priest at the Brooklyn Zen Center and Ancestral Heart Zen Monastery in Millerton NY.
Rabbi Burton Visotzky (Jewish Theological Seminary)
Rabbi Burton Visotzky, PhD, serves as Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York. There, he directs the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue. Rabbi Visotzky is author of ten books and the editor/ contributor of another seven volumes, the most recent: JUDAISM vol. 1: History; vol. 2: Literature; vol. 3: Culture and Modernity (Kohlhammer; 2020-2021).