Country: United Kingdom
City:
Dr Abraham Karickam is a former Principal of Mar Thoma College, Tiruvalla, Kerala
(affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University), where he worked for 28 years in the
Department of English. He holds PhDs in English and also in Inter-Religious studies.
Dr Abraham is a Graduate of Bossey Ecumenical Institute (affiliated with Geneva
University) and has attended several summer institutes in Peace Studies at the Eastern
Mennonite University, United States. He is the coordinator for the URI South India --
Sri Lanka Zone and Secretary-General for the URI Asia Region. Dr Abraham has
authored fifteen books and edited several books and journals. His important works are
―The Concept of Salvation in the Upanishads, the Bible and the Qur'an‖ and the
interfaith novel ―Super Souls Revisited‖. He also organises the International
Conferences on Holy Books at regular intervals in different parts of the world.
He represented Mar Thoma Church and URI in three General Assemblies of the World
Council of Churches (Canberra, 1991, Harare, 1998 and Port Allegre, 2005). He has
been a fellow traveller of Taize Community, France from his student days. He has
been engaged in interfaith dialogue for more than thirty years. He is the founder of the
global campaign One Billion Youth for Peace. Dr Abraham shared about his initiative
One Billion Youth for Peace. He mentioned that Children are like angels who can
change the world. He emphasizes the importance of sharing the value of interfaith with
younger generations and making them understand that we are one.
María Crespo is very active in the Roman Catholic Church in Argentina. She has been
involved in many interfaith activities and programs at the local, regional and global
levels. She teaches ―Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue‖ at two different Catholic
Seminars in Buenos Aires. María Crespo is Director of Member Support at the United
Religions Initiative, an organization that fosters interfaith cooperation to prevent
religiously motivated violence and create cultures of Peace, Justice and Reconciliation.
This organization brings together in a network more than 1,100 interreligious groups
in more than 110 countries around the world called Circles of Cooperation. Maria
explained about the working of United Religions Initiative and its impacts on
grassroots level peacebuilding initiatives. Her dream is to see more young people
involved in peace process.
Sylvia is a facilitator of, advocate for, and believer in peace leadership. She is a CoFounder and Board Member of Sarus, a peacebuilding nonprofit that equips and
26
accompanies the next generation of peace leaders in Asia. Her work is centered on
community-led peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and peace education, and has
experience in philanthropy, community reconciliation, compassionate communication,
and organizational capacity building. She holds an MA in Coexistence and Conflict
and an MBA in Social Impact. Sylvia currently serves as the Head of Programs and
Strategy at Euphrates Institute, an organization that equips, connects, and uplifts
peacebuilders worldwide. Sylvia shared about Euphrates Institute and how it support
peacebuilders through Peace Practice Alliance program.
Fr Prasad Joseph, a Carmelite Monk. Serving as Rector& Superior, Sacred Heart
Philosophy College& Monastery, Aluva, Kerala. He is the Secretary of Commission
for Dialogue and Ecumenism Commission of Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council
(KCBC). Fr Prasad share about the need of appreciating the value of life and existence
in our own planet. He encourages youth to come back to the nature and celebrate the
beauty of life.