Catholics, Hizmet bring faiths closer in the US

Fr. Leo D. Lefebure
Fr. Leo D. Lefebure


Date posted: February 14, 2012

In the view of doomsday reports from the US, it does not come as a surprise how ordinary Americans from all faiths, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, have worked meticulously to bridge the gap and sheer absence of dialogue between these three Abrahamic religions especially in the context of post 9/11 world.

SAURABH KUMAR SHAHI | New Delhi, February 13, 2012

Leo D. Lefebure, a Catholic priest by training and Professor at Matteo Ricci Chair, Department of Theology at Georgetown University, who has been instrumental in this initiative, was in town to share his experience about his interaction with followers of Fethullah Gulen and his Hizmat movement in the US.

Lefebure recounted how in the post 9/11 days, different communities worked in co-ordination to deal with the fall-out and how it subsequently lead to a wider interaction between the communities that helped further in understanding each other’s belief in a positive environment.

But it was not always easy. Lefebure maintains that a trilateral dialogue in the United States was sort of impossible just a decade or so ago. While the Catholics and Muslims could talk in amicable environment and with a basic level of trust, and so do Catholics and Jewish theologians and clergy; any such dialogue between Muslims and Jews were either a non-starter or even if they started, it quickly turned into an emotional outburst mostly due to the boiling down of the Arab-Israel conflict. It was amidst this kind of negative environment that followers of Hizmet movement, popularly known as Gulen movement, stepped in. A completely different kind of approach, mixed with the genuine urge to invite people of all faiths for dialogue made Hizmet’s initiative popular in the states.

The frontal organization for such interaction in the United States was Rumi Forum. Hizmet movement takes Rumi’s teachings as one of its core theological ideas and interprets the world through such a constructive prism. Not for nothing the forums for inter-faith dialogues by Hizmet started seeing Jewish clergy presence too, something that was unthinkable just a few years ago.

“I have seen events that have previously been unseen in the states. Once a group of Whirling Darvesh came to our DC area and gave a presentation of their ideology. It struck a resonance with both Catholic and Jewish audiences. It was shortly followed by the performance by the same group in a synagogue. That, I was told, was the first time in history that Darvesh performed in a synagogue. Some months after that there was an Iftar organised in a synagogue. Another first,” recounts Lefebure.

It is interesting how these dialogues end up finding issues of mutual respect and understandings. Mother Mary, a figure revered both by Catholics and Muslims often acts as the bridge. There is an entire Surah of Quran on Mary and the very fact has thrilled several Catholics who were previously not aware of the fact. Similarly St. Francis of Assisi, a clergyman part of the Crusader Army, who dared to start a dialogue with the then Ottoman Sultan, becomes another such figure.

Source: The Sunday Indian http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/Catholics-Hizmet-bring-faiths-closer-in-the-US/117/29898/


Related News

Religious leaders, politicians have iftar in Nigerian capital

10 August 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN The Ufuk (Horizon) Dialogue Foundation hosted a Dialogue and Peace Iftar Dinner last week in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. The event was attended by Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwanbo, Nigerian Information Minister Labaran Maku, Finance Minister Yerima Ngama, Abuja’s Roman Catholic Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Anglican Archbishop Nicholas […]

Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) bridging Eastern, Western worlds

The GYV was founded in 1994, and the mission and work of the foundation is inspired by its Honorary President Fethullah Gülen. Gülen, known for his teachings of hizmet (service), tolerance and dialogue, has attracted a large number of supporters in Turkey and Central Asia and increasingly in other parts of the world.

GYV’s Istanbul Summit and Peace Projects presented in New York

A reception was held by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) on September 30, 2013 in New York to promote its two international projects, Istanbul Summit and Peace Projects. Numerous representatives to the United Nations (UN) who came to New York to attend the 68th UN General Assembly meeting as well as journalists, academics and foreign diplomats were hosted at the GYV office on the 5th Avenue.

US assures private schools are under legal protection against closure

Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) Executive Director Mark Gibb has said no one, not even President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has the authority to close down Turkish schools in the US in response to the Turkish government’s bid to close down schools opened by entrepreneurs affiliated with the faith-based Gülen movement, which is also known as the Hizmet movement.

Huntsville’s Peace Valley Foundation sets annual Dialogue Dinner and awards

A specialist in comparative theologies, Professor Loye Ashton, will deliver the keynote address at the 2013 Peace Valley Foundation’s Dialogue Dinner and Award Ceremony in Huntsville on Thursday, April 18, 2013. The annual dinner, sponsored by the non-profit organization dedicated to solving educational, cultural, environmental, social and humanitarian challenges, provides an opportunity for building bridges between people […]

Financial Times publishes Fethullah Gulen’s Op-Ed

Financial Times published an op-ed by the Turkish Muslim scholar and writer Fethullah Gulen*. His article is titled “Violence is not in the tradition of the Prophet” Gulen says “Muslims pray each day: “O Lord! Keep us on the straight path.” It is a prayer to help us move away from the extremes and maintain […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Turkey’s New Maps Are Reclaiming the Ottoman Empire

Love and Tolerance Conference, Abuja

Is it a parallel triangle or square?

Wife says dismissed police chief left to die of colorectal cancer in İzmir prison

Former US Ambassador Ricciardone: Hizmet members not terrorists

4th Legislative Reception in Richmond

In rare interview: Fethullah Gulen rebukes Turkish regime

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News