Exciting News: Italy Edition

Hello, friends!

In what seems like the beginning of a trend, this short post will again focus on two important pieces of news out of the same country--and today that country is Italy! (Hey, I did major in European Studies, after all.)

The first comes straight from the pope, who gave a homily the other day that is getting a lot of attention. During a religious service, he used biblical references to explain why everyone is eligible to go to heaven, not just those who accept Jesus as the son of G-d. Wow. He specifically even mentioned atheists could be good people and be "saved," a point of contention in many Christian circles. (Thanks to everyone who brought this news to my attention! I love getting messages with interfaith news.) Even though the Vatican tried to clarify his comments afterward--claiming that atheists can do good things, but if they ignore the "true faith" of Catholicism it still is not good--that does not mean that the pope himself actually agrees with the official comments which show a bit of a reversal on his very accepting homily.

Pope Francis' comments really hit home with a lot of people, like me, who are not Christian. I imagine I am not the only one to harbor a fear that many of my conservative Christian friends secretly think I am "in trouble" because of my rejection of Christian doctrine. So to have a leading Christian world leader come out to say something so accepting means a lot, if only because he is again exhibiting his propensity for interfaith relations just by recognizing that there are people of other faiths out there. This recognition is critical, because ignorance and keeping religious communities isolated from one another and not talking can be dangerous. I was taught as a child to never talk about politics, taxes, or religion. As the girls I have lived with at college over the past two years can certainly attest, I break those rules regularly (sorry, Mum and Dad!). But that's what a lot of interfaith work is: opening the door to communication, broaching those difficult topics but in fruitful, respectful ways.

News like this, which is again showing the new pope's propensity for interreligious communication, has some of us hoping that he will live up to the sizable legacy that Pope John Paul II left behind. For those who might not be aware, JPII was an inspiration to many--he played a key role in trying to ease tensions between the Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, for example. For this and other reasons, he is on track to beatification (isn't that a cool word? It means to be made a saint) faster than most. Hopefully Pope Francis will continue down the same path--and so far he certainly has seemed to exhibit not only what a good Catholic should aspire to be, but also what a good person should be: unassuming, humble, respectful, understanding of other faiths. Amen!

Which brings me to my second piece of Rome news today. It is something much more personal to me, but it will certainly influence my blog writing over the course of the next year: I am moving to Rome. Yes, I graduated two weeks ago (wow, time flies) and I just found out this past week that I was granted a Russell Berrie Fellowship. What does this mean? It means I will be spending a year living and studying Interreligious Studies in Rome with nine other pro-interfaith people at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. If you're thinking it sounds like a Catholic university, that's because it is, but the program I will be doing is specifically about interfaith relations.

The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Classes like "The Jewish Concept of Jesus" and "Female Priesthood in Ancient Christianity and Paganism" may be on my plate for the next school year, from September-June. I imagine I will be learning a lot to share here, due to the fact that I will be (I think) the first Jewish person to ever participate in this year-long certificate program, and that I will probably be significantly younger than most of the participants (many of whom will be priests, ministers, or nuns). Plus, it will be an international group, so I may be in class with ministers from Africa or nuns from Asia. Who knows? I speak Italian, though, and I studied abroad in Italy back in 2011, so I am less worried about culture shock and more excited/nervous because this will be a very long time to live alone in another country. But this opportunity really is a blessing, and I hope to use this opportunity to make the world a better place. Plus it's nice to finally have a response to people when they ask, "So what are you doing now that you've graduated?" For all my fellow 2013 graduates still searching for your next big thing, I feel you. #solidarity. That was me four days ago.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

The Importance of Helping Your Neighbors

Hello, friends.

Sometimes people randomly help out other people. These moments are truly magic, and it always makes my heart swell to hear about someone helping out another without expecting any reward. We're now just a few days out from when I head over to Europe for a month-long adventure (which will certainly feature visits to multiple houses of worship, and maybe even a religious service or two), so I thought I would share a recent story that really makes me happy.

As with many religious groups, as populations shift, sometimes Jewish congregations face dwindling numbers and financial difficulties. A synagogue near me on Long Island recently closed its doors...and almost immediately became a church. Well, one Jewish synagogue in Bradford, England, a city with a large Muslim community, recently faced a similar survival issue--a congregation still existed, but building issues (a leaky roof) and a lack of funds meant that they were facing the possibility of having to close the building. A local Muslim man decided to help the congregation raise funds, partly due to good local relations in a nearby Pakistani restaurant that was frequented by Jewish people. The Jewish people liked the restaurant so much that in the past they had helped fight the establishment of a competing restaurant.

Zulfi Karim, the 47-year-old secretary of the Bradford Council of Mosques, played an instrumental role in connecting the Jewish people with donors. "'We have so much in common,' says Karim of the two Bradford communities. 'We both have a tradition of helping each other out in business, and strong entrepreneurial, family and community values.'" The Muslim community quickly raised the funds necessary to help their neighbors out. Here's the article (it might only work if you are a Haaretz subscriber): http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/in-one-hard-knock-british-city-a-secret-muslim-donor-helps-save-a-synagogue.premium-1.525183. 

 The Bradford Synagogue (Image from bradforddistrictfaithsforum.org.uk)

Helping strangers and undertaking acts of kindness like this does not need to be religiously motivated. But many faiths emphasize social action and goodwill, so it is always inspiring to hear about religious communities actively reaching out to others. We may never completely agree on our religious beliefs, but I am pretty sure we should be able to agree that for many people, finding a strong religious community and a religious home can contribute to a sense of wholeness and peace. Whatever your beliefs, or lack of religious beliefs, I hope that you, too, are touched by this Muslim community reaching out to help their Jewish neighbors maintain their temple.

In other news, for those who are unaware, interfaith relations really is an active field. It may not always make the major news sites, but conferences and discussions are constantly taking place in an effort to improve religious relations. For example, there will be a conference this summer in the Balkans with young Muslims and Jews that I just heard about today (http://imic.ba/ba/?p=123). It looks truly excellent...maybe I'll try to crash it, since I missed the application deadline? :)

Stories like this are even more important when we hear things like the latest big news story out of the UK today about the first terrorist attack on British streets since the 2005 bombings in London. Apparently, two extremist Jihadist Muslims...used butcher tools to hack a British soldier to death, on a street in London, in broad daylight. This is horrific.

While some argue that Muslims in America do not vocalize their opposition to horrific acts like this enough, it seems British Muslims are quickly denouncing these crazy murderers. There are a ton of articles you can read online about the horrible killing and its apparent "religious" inspirations, but also take a look here to see how the Muslim Council of Britain and others quickly came out in opposition to these people: http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/05/not-in-the-name-of-islam-british-muslims-denounce-the-woolwich-attack/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=not-in-the-name-of-islam-british-muslims-denounce-the-woolwich-attack.

So try not to let the crazies win. Think about Bradford, and the way the Muslim community there helped their neighbors in an act of goodwill. Think about any interfaith interactions you may have had lately: maybe it was a brief conversation on a subway with a woman wearing a headscarf, or dinner with a very religious friend, or a religious service you attended in a tradition other than your own. But try not to let the crazies out there color your views of one religion, or of the world as a whole. We're all better than that.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson