An interreligious seminar on property Jewish, Christian and Islamic views on property as a moral concept. The present day economic and financial crises are partly due to individuals irresponsible dealings with their property. Property is not only a financial or legal concept. It is also a moral concept, embedded in a system of norms and values. With rabbi Albert Ringer prof.dr. Eduard Kimman sj dr. Marzouk Aulad Abdellah prof.mr Tymen van der Ploeg

The students committee of the Comparative Religions Department in the Hebrew University is organizing an Interfaith Day in the Hebrew University, to mark the World Interfaith Harmony Week during the first week of February. The Interfaith Day will take place in the Hebrew University on February 1st. There will be lectures, panels, information, dialog workshop between the religions in Jerusalem. More to come...

Political debate on the future and funding of the nascent interreligious park. Representatives from Christianity, Islam Hinduism and Buddhism will put forward their point of view to the political representatives on the Provincial level. As the park is threatened with closure there is a major public effort to save and broaden the former Catholic park, to represent all major religions, and emphasize religious tolerance, wich is under pressure in the traditionally tolerant Netherlands.

Rio+20 - Launching "Spiritual Cooperatives" - A TRIBUTE CONCERT To STAN GETZ PIONEER OF COOL, BOSSA NOVA & MODERN JAZZ - Sponsored by: Spiritual United Nations The powerful connection and unifying connection of our global community will come through the international language of music. Spiritual United Nations, will sponsor a concert, "We Remember Stan Getz,"Thursday, 2 February, 12:30-2:30pm at the Church of the Holy Family in New York City. The event will bring awareness to the Rio+20-UN Conference on Sustainable Development, June 20-22 in the UN community and also invite civil society. Vegetarian lunch included. (Tickets required for all non - UN Missions, Staff guests) This event coincides with World Interfaith Harmony Week declared by the United Nations. The General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously passed Resolution A/65/PV.34 to establish World Interfaith Harmony Week. The Resolution identifies the first week of February as a time to reaffirm that “mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a "Culture of Peace." C:Documents and SettingsOwnerMy Documents

Transforming Prejudices into Acceptance and Understanding Christian-Muslim Relations in India India is a home for different religions, cultures, languages, traditions and ways of life. These cultural and religious traditions are woven in such a way that every culture and religion keeps its uniqueness and yet is genuinely integrated with others. As a result the Indian landscape presents a rich mosaic of varied colours and patterns. Christianity and Islam, the two major religions that emerged from the West Asian soil found their home in India. Christians and Muslims have contributed in a large measure to India in the fields of education, health, art, architecture, music, painting, administration, and literature and in this way helped towards the cultural and religious harmony among all peoples. They added beauty to existing plural nature of India. In short, unity in diversity defines India. How do Christians and Muslims relate with each other in India? There are references for harmonious relations between them in the early Christian-Muslim history. However, the Jesuits’ debate with Muslim theologians and Lawyers in the Mughal court (from February,1580) and later protestant missionary Karl Gottlieb Pfander’s (1803–1865) debate with an Indian Muslim theologian, Rahmatullâh Ibn Khalîl al-'Uthmânî al-Kairânawî (1818-1891) impacted Christian-Muslim relations adversely. Both Christian and Muslim debaters wanted to establish the truth of their own religions and they undermined the faith of the other. Scholars like Christine Schirrmacher demonstrate that these debates deepened prejudices and mutual suspicion for one another. These negative experiences continue to affect Christian-Muslim relationships even in the present times. Christians and Muslims need to ask themselves how to build up relationships afresh for the present times. They will fail in this venture if they allow the burden of the past to encumber them. One way of overcoming misunderstanding and ignorance is to reach out to the other. Every year the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue reaches out to Muslims wishing them on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr. In India, the Islamic Studies Association (ISA) founded at a Consultation called by the Dialogue Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India in March 1979 reaches out to Muslims by establishing contacts with Muslims through its quarterly Salaam and its bi-annual conventions. The members of ISA especially Fathers Christian W Troll SJ, Paul Jackson SJ, Desiderio Pinto SJ and Pushpa Anbu SVD through their writings and teaching Islam and Christian-Muslim relations in many Catholic seminaries help Christians to understand Muslims and their faith better in the light of the teachings of the Vatican II. The important aspect is reaching out to Muslims. In November 2004 His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordon launched the Amman Message to clarify to the world what true Islam is. The Message denounced violence that is propagated in the name of Islam. Following the Amman Message, in July 2005, His Majesty King Abdullah II once again issued another document called the Amman Interfaith Message intending to establish full acceptance and good will between Jews, Christians and Muslims. These two documents were endorsed by a large number of Muslim scholars and Muslim theological Institutions. Following these important historical developments, on October 13, 2007, 138 Muslim leaders signed and sent to 28 Christian leaders including the Pope a document entitled A Common Word Between Us and You inviting them for dialogue between Christians and Muslims and to work for peace in the world. These exchanges are beautiful examples of Christians and Muslims reaching out to one another. They underline the importance of mutual understanding and the need to work together for justice and peace in the world. While reaching out to the other they will learn and discover afresh the other. The pre-judgments and prejudices will vanish while a personal relationship is established. The workshop entitled: Transforming Prejudices into Acceptance and Understanding: Christian-Muslim Relations in India to be held on January 2, 2012, at St Xavier’s School (4 Rajniwas Marg, Delhi 11054) will explore the challenges in Christian-Muslim relationships in India. The workshop will take into account the generally acknowledged four types of interreligious dialogue: Dialogue of Life where believers from different religions living as neighbours, share each other's joys and sorrows; Dialogue of Deeds where believers from different religions cooperate for the common good in accord with shared values; Dialogue of Theological Exchange where believers from different religions seek to understand each other’s religious heritage and Dialogue of Religious Experience where believers from different religions share their spiritual riches, the fruits of their contemplation and prayer. The presentations and discussions in the seminar will explore the different dimensions of dialogue and relationship between Christians and Muslims in order to emphasize the importance of reaching out to one another in openness, respect and mutual appreciation. Transforming Prejudices into Acceptance and Understanding Christian-Muslim Relations in India Registration and Coffee - 9.00 am Prayer A reading from the Qur’an A reading from the Christian Scriptures Introducing Islamic Studies Association and Francis Xavier Movement – Prof Leo Fernando SJ Inaugural lecture - 9.30 am By Rev. Dr Packiam Samuel Director, Centre for Study of Religion and Cultures, New Delhi Moderator: NA Questions and clarification - 10.00 – 10.15 am Book Release Windows on Dialogue - 10.20 am Coffee - 10.30 am Paper Presentations - 11.00 am Moderator: Prof. George Gispert-Sauch SJ (Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi) Dr Reeta Bagchi: Interfaith Understanding in a Global Society Dr Desiderio Pinto: Muslim and Sufi Contributions to the Indian Cultural Heritage Dr Ambrogio Bongiovanni: Islam in Italy Dr Gudrun Löwner: The presence of Islam in Germany [30 minutes for a presentation and 15 minutes for questions and clarifications] Lunch -1.30 pm Panel Discussion - 2.30 pm Moderator: Fr Thomas V Kunnunkal SJ, (President Islamic Studies Association, Delhi) Prof Farida Khannam: A Reflection on Muslim-Christian Dialogue in India: Troll and Wahiduddin Khan Ahmat F. Hayderi: Gülen Movement and its dialogue with Christians Victor Edwin SJ: Reaching out to Muslims – A reflection on Dialogue of life [20 minutes for a presentation and 10 minutes of questions and clarifications] Clarification, Questions and Gathering the fruits - 4.00 pm Tea and Snacks – 4.45 pm

You are cordially invited to join us for a celebration of the unifying power of the world’s religions Ottawa’s 12th Annual World Religion Day “Water-Drawing from the Sacred” Sunday January 15, 2012 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Jean Piggott Place, Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West Keynote Speaker- Louise Profeit-LeBlanc, member of the Nacho Ny'ak Dan First Nation There is no cost to attend this event. Light refreshments will be served. The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Ottawa www.bahai-ottawa.org https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/209440475801804/

This event provides a workshop that gathers people with varying beliefs to discuss what good life is and enjoy the traditional musical performances. The event is focused on “Love of the Good, and Love of the Neighbour. In this year, Caisa will celebrate the ethics of sustainable development. There will be talks also about the up coming UN Conference on Sustainable Development RIO 20+. The celebration is organized by Suomen Uskontodialogiverkosto, The interfaith dialogue network in Finland that consists of The Religions for Peace Women of Faith Network in Finland, Living together in cities and URI in Finland: The Forum of Religions in Helsinki and The Faiths Without Borders in co operation with Kehys ry., The Finnish NGDO Platform to the EU. The Interfaith network in Finland gives annually the Golden Rule Award. The photo has been been taken at last year´s event when there was for example performances from Hindu tradition.

We will celebrate all of our faith traditins, of all our neighbors, at this regular meeting of a local Christian community, Open Hearts Gathering. We'll meet together on Feb. 4, 6:30 PM, at New Hope Baptist Church, 2024 Redbud Dr., at the corner of Redbud Dr. and S. New Hope Rd. in Gastonia. Enter in through the S. New Hope driveway. See http://www.nhbc-gastonia.org/New_Hope_Baptist/Home.html for further info. on New Hope Baptist, and http://www.openheartsgathering.org for further info. on Open Hearts Gathering. People from other faiths- Jeiwsh, Muslim, etc.- will be participating as well!

Details: SOP 2012 is a 14-week living/learning experience for 20-25 young people in Asia coming from different faiths, ethnicities and political positions. The course seeks to help build understanding, provide skills for engagement and dialogue and help participants develop cooperative strategies for building communities of interfaith justpeace. Participants range in age from 20 to 30. the SOP is held in Bangalore, India

INFACT will launch with an Induction Day on February 5th to start UN Harmony week, followed by weekly sessions every Wednesday from 7pm-9pm at the JHub in West Hampstead, for 8 weeks. The whole programme is free. The programme is open to volunteers aged between 16-25. No prior experience is necessary; we are looking for people who are enthusiastic and passionate about the cause. The programme will easily fit alongside full time work or study.