Azza Karam resigns as secretary general of Religions for Peace
RNS Religions for Peace, an international interfaith coalition that advocates for nonviolent solutions to the world’s conflicts, announced in a 16th June statement that Azza Karam, its secretary general since 2020, has resigned her position. Azza Karam on 23rd August, 2019. PICTURE: Christian Thiel/Religions for Peace The organisation’s executive committee noted in the statement its […]
Monkeypox outbreaks: How global organisations are mobilising faith networks to fight stigma
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports on how faith leaders from across religions are working with the World Health Organization officials in combatting monkeypox outbreaks…
Young people make their mark at Religions for Peace conference
RNS The 2021 Religions for Peace conference, which closed on Thursday, will be remembered as the first hybrid meeting, with most observers looking in via internet as 130 participated in person. It was also the most youth-oriented gathering in the 51-year-old interfaith organisation’s history. Nearly a quarter of those who came to this year’s conference, […]
Haiti’s diverse faiths bolster it against waves of tragedy
RNS Within hours of the earthquake that devastated Haiti’s Tiburon Peninsula in August, faith-based aid workers were on the scene, comforting victims and helping to pull survivors from the rubble, then providing food and water. “The most important thing in a disaster can be human contact,” said Rev Clement Joseph, head of the state-founded Social […]
Hybrid Religions for Peace conference takes focus on climate, conflict, coronavirus
RNS Religions for Peace, the international interfaith conference, began Monday, in a new hybrid format after a relatively low-key virtual meeting last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the event’s 1,500 participants are watching from home this year, as some 125 faith leaders from at least 16 countries come together in person to […]
WOW!: LOW-COST DNA KITS COULD DECREASE RATE OF UNREPORTED, UNPROSECUTED RAPES IN KENYA
ERIC J LYMAN, of Religion News Service, reports on how a Kenyan activist and a Canadian criminologist are working on an initiative, backed by churches and religious organisations, that they hope will change the way rape is treated in the developing world…
Interfaith group pledges to use religion’s influence to address climate change, poverty
Lindau, GermanyRNS The international interfaith organisation Religions for Peace introduced its first-ever female and first-ever Muslim secretary-general at its World Assembly on Friday and unveiled a joint declaration in which attendees vowed to join forces to confront an array of the world’s most difficult problems. The final day of the 20th to 23rd August Religions […]
POSTCARDS: GERMAN TOWN WELCOMES HUNDREDS FROM DIFFERENT FAITHS FOR FOOD, WORSHIP AND UNITY
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports from Lindau in Germany…
Outgoing Religions for Peace leader reflects on decades of interfaith cooperation
Lindau, GermanyRNS William Vendley, the outgoing head of Religions for Peace, said religions must learn to be “bilingual” in the future — becoming adept at addressing their own congregations while also speaking to the world around them. Vendley speaks from experience. He has led Religions for Peace, a global coalition of religions that acts as a […]
Woman chosen to lead Religions for Peace as others urge greater female visibility
Lindau, GermanyRNS On the same day that a prominent woman urged greater inclusion of female leaders in Religions for Peace, delegates to the 10th World Assembly of the interreligious global organisation elected their first woman secretary-general. On Wednesday, they chose Azza Karam, an expert who works with the United Nations on issues of religion and […]