Religious leaders meet in Healdsburg to work for peace

United Religions Initiative meeting brings religious leaders from 21 countries to Bishop's Ranch

By BERT WILLIAMS, Staff Writer

Yehuda Stolov, an orthodox Jew based in Jerusalem, and Mohammed Mosaad, a Psychiatrist and Muslim living in Cairo, continued a growing and productive friendship last week at Bishop's Ranch south of Healdsburg.

The two men have worked since 1997 to engage Jews, Christians and Muslims in constructive dialogue toward peace in the Middle East.

Both men are trustees of the United Religions Initiative, an organization founded in San Francisco in 1996.

According to the organization's charter, "The purpose of the United Religions Initiative is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings." The board - 41 members, from 21 nations - was meeting at Bishop's Ranch retreat and conference center for its annual Global Council.

The seeds of URI were planted in 1993 when the Right Reverend Bill Swing, Episcopal Bishop for the Bay Area and surrounding counties, was approached by a representative of U.N. Secretary General Bhoutros Bhoutros Gali. The U.N. was developing plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the U.N. Charter in the San Francisco Opera House. Swing was asked to form a committee and plan the religious component of the anniversary celebration.

The resulting committee of 20 created a celebration involving 26 religious traditions. Rita Semel, now chair of the URI Global Council and Executive Director Emeritus of the Jewish Community Relations Council, was on Swing's planning committee. She remembers standing on the steps of Grace Cathedral as the celebrants were departing, wondering aloud with Swing if anything more would come of it.

"I woke up the next morning," said Swing, "and devoted the rest of my life to being a catalyst for the creation of a 'United Religions' that would be a spiritual parallel to the United Nations."

"The nations of the world had met together every day for 50 years to seek the good of the world," said Swing. "I realized that, during that time, the religious leaders of the world hadn't met once."

Swing took a sabbatical from his work and, with his wife, traveled to meet religious leaders around the world. He met with nearly 50 leaders including the Dalai Lama, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Pope, the Grand Mufti in Egypt, the Chief Rabbi in Jerusalem, the Shankaracharya of India and many others.

"I asked if they would consider deputizing people to sit down and work to create peace among religions," said Swing.

The answer, to summarize, was no. It was not the response Swing had anticipated, but his travels had brought him face-to-face with reality. The religious hierarchies of the world would not support the vision of peace to which he had devoted himself.

"It dawned on me at that point," said Swing, "that if there is ever to be peace among religions it is going to have to start at a grass roots level."

Swing gathered together a group of 53 people to discuss alternatives. The result was a fledgling organization that attained non-profit status in September 1996. It took nearly four years after that to arrive at the current structure.

URI's charter was signed on June 26, 2000 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It called for an organization whose power resided not in a hierarchical structure but in Cooperation Circles initiated locally throughout the world.

Semel, a member of Congregation Emanu-el in San Francisco, explained the criteria for cooperation circles: Each group must include at least seven people representing no fewer than three religions, and it must accept the principles and purposes of the URI Charter. Each Cooperation Circle has autonomy to undertake local initiatives. The network of Cooperation Circles is now expanding on five continents.

Joyce Ng'oma, a Presbyterian and member of a Cooperation Circle in Malawi, East Africa, has developed a weekly AIDS-awareness radio program broadcast throughout the country. The Malawi Cooperation Circle has received a $1 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to further its work empowering women to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Mahinder Singh of New Delhi, India, is a member of the Sikh religion. His URI Cooperation Circle celebrated the Dalai Lama's birthday on July 6, 2000 by organizing 10,000 school children planting 10,000 trees in the city.

The project honors the Indian tradition of earth as mother. "A tree will give blessings for the rest of its life," said Singh.

For the work of Stolov and Mosaad, the global dimension of URI is invaluable. "Working in the Middle East is very hard," said Stolov, "URI gave us an umbrella to work under."

Stolov is Director of the Interfaith Encounter Association in Jerusalem Mosaad is Director of the Egyptian Interfaith Association in Cairo. There is a related Jordanian Youth Forum. The three groups are URI Cooperation Circles who, together, have formed the Middle East Abrahamic Forum.

"Much secular peace building tries to stay away from religions, thinking they are the problem," said Stolov. "but often what divides people is politics. Religion can unite people. Religion is often used by politicians for divisive purposes."

"We do not talk only about peace," said Mosaad. "We talk about the religious problems -- for example, the three religions in Jerusalem. ... We invite many fundamentalist Muslims and ultra-orthodox Jews (to dialogue). Once they meet each other and start to talk, they discover that there is a wholly different story that they have never heard before. ... These people who are talking are rethinking their religion."

Mosaad described one participant who, following such dialogue, began writing articles in a Muslim newspaper in Cairo, promoting peace among Muslims and Jews.

It is a tenet of Islamic faith, Mosaad explained, that the end of the world will come in a conflagration between Muslims and Jews. "This writer does not deny the prophecy, but he recontextualized it." said Mosaad.

The prophecy about the end of the world is still valid, Mosaad suggested, but this is not the end of the world. In our time there is no reason that Muslims, Jews and Christians cannot live in peace.

Mosaad said the Egyptian Interfaith Association currently numbers 40 to 50 members, and is growing. Stolov's Interfaith Encounter Association in Jerusalem now has a mailing list of nearly 5,000.

"We are also trying to build partnerships with groups in other parts of the world," said Stolov.

Swing said that, when he visited world religious leaders in 1995 the attitude of many seemed to be, "Now sonny, you have a lot of things to learn about the real world." His goal is that the United Religions Initiative will force world religious leaders to rethink the need for peaceful cooperation. "A rising tide lifts all ships," he observed.

A year ago there were 100 Cooperation Circles worldwide. Currently there are more than 200, encompassing 25,000 members. In another year, Swing expects there will be 400 active Cooperation Circles.

Before September 11, 2001 the URI website received 30,000 visits per month. Following 9/11 the number jumped to 300,000 monthly. Now the average is 1 million visits each month.

Swing is pleased by the growth of URI which is now active in 56 countries on five continents. "To go from nothing to where we are, in three years, is a phenomenal journey," said Swing. "In the world of religion, we are now a legitimate player.

"But the need outpaces how fast we can grow," he observed. "Your supply lines have to keep up with your advance."

Swing envisions, among other dreams, a worldwide communication network including a daily internet newspaper.

With a current budget of $1.6 million, URI accepts no donations from organized religions. There are several large donors -- both individuals and foundations -- who make annual contributions of $100,000 to $400,000. Swing said this currently comprises the majority of URI's funding. "But," he insisted, "someday we'll have five million people giving $25 each. That will make a difference."

URI's first Global Assembly took place last summer in Rio de Janeiro. The next one is scheduled for Seoul, Korea in 2005.

Reverend Charles Gibbs, URI's Executive Director, foresees an organization that will remain rooted in local initiative, but will have an increasingly global impact.

"If this succeeds it's going to have an impact on every area of human life," Gibbs said. "We need the wisdom of people in business, media, the arts -- people who work from a deep value base that grows from their faith."

"We have got to get beyond victimhood and build a better world," Semel insisted. "If that sounds like a platitude, well so be it, but that is why I am here."

For more information about the United Religions Initiative visit www.uri.org. For more information about the Interfaith Encounter Association visit www.interfaith-encounter.org.

Bishop's Ranch is a retreat and conference center on Westside Road, about five miles from Healdsburg. It provides meeting facilities for non-profit, religious and educational groups, and has been operated since 1947 by the Episcopal Diocese of California. For more information about Bishop's Ranch visit www.bishopsranch.org.

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